tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post8583447055929357452..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: Fiction of the ’sixtiesD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-43998883048448946452014-02-26T16:34:05.828-05:002014-02-26T16:34:05.828-05:00I just came across your article on the literature ...I just came across your article on the literature of the Sixties and thought you might possibly be interested in my guest post on the Reading the Past blog. http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-sixties-new-frontier-for-historical.html<br />The article deals with the outlook for a wave of historical fiction about the Sixties rather than an assessment of fiction written in the era, but I thought it might appeal to your interest.<br /><br />A couple of related observations: (1) in many respects those living through the Sixties were more affected by authors sho wrote well before the Sixties than those who wrote within the period (e.g. Orwell, Golding, William Blake) and (2) to a considerable extent the literature of the Sixties might be found more in song lyrics than books.<br /><br />Enjoyed your 60s post.Richard Sharphttp://richardsharpnovels.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-81944724635645538882013-07-19T14:11:30.102-04:002013-07-19T14:11:30.102-04:00I'm glad to see DeVries on your list, as well ...I'm glad to see DeVries on your list, as well as the amazing Stanley Elkin! Both highlu under-rated, I think.kevin quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04880872194080353414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-60104478018437089752013-06-14T17:15:24.978-04:002013-06-14T17:15:24.978-04:00I enjoyed this post probably because I read many o...I enjoyed this post probably because I read many of these books when they were first published. If you read book reviews in The New Republic, you knew about both Stoner and A Fan's Notes. Also I appreciated your listing Ross Macdonald's Black Money, perhaps the finest novel of a writer who was more widely read in the 60's than today. <br /><br />Walter Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-28974620702528927912013-06-10T14:12:30.550-04:002013-06-10T14:12:30.550-04:00As for Joan Didion, whom Carol mentions. Her maste...As for Joan Didion, whom Carol mentions. Her masterpiece, <i>Play It As It Lays</i>, was her second novel, published in 1970. Like Adams’s, Didion’s first nove, <i>Run, River</i>, was a warmup.<br /><br />Btw, I own a first edition of <i>Play It As It Lays</i> which was a gift from Carol Sklenicka.D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-5145939517666211782013-06-10T14:10:28.247-04:002013-06-10T14:10:28.247-04:00If it’s not clear from her comments it should be: ...If it’s not clear from her comments it should be: Carol Sklenicka is working on Alice Adams.D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-16461741916156988352013-06-10T13:21:38.614-04:002013-06-10T13:21:38.614-04:00I think Adams's warmup novel (CARELESS LOVE) c...I think Adams's warmup novel (CARELESS LOVE) could be seen as a warm up for a whole genre of novels by and about women that rained upon us in the 1970s. It's focused on a single woman adventurer/victim whereas Adams's next set of novels attempted to look at phalanxes and tribes of characters held in interesting social tensions. Maybe it's that single-focus that makes CL a practice novel, but ... well, it depends on what our criteria are here. Your list is good. And the people complaining about "no women" are missing their own point, so to speak. There weren't as many workaday literary novels by women in the 1960s. They often didn't get published. Writers like Flannery O'Connor and Ozick transcend categories. What about Leonard Gardner's partner, Gina Berriault? Ella Leffland did not publish till 1970. Or Diane Johnson? Carolyn See? Joan Didion? You'll argue RUN RIVER is a first novel? What's interesting to me, I realize as I type, is the sleeper wave of serious writing by women on the west coast that's moving toward shore in the late 1960s. Which is a different subject from your list, but thanks for the opportunity to comment. Carol Sklenickanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-5588440717072414032013-06-10T12:49:16.325-04:002013-06-10T12:49:16.325-04:00Probably Families and Survivors and Listening to B...Probably Families and Survivors and Listening to Billie and Rich Rewards are Adams's most original novels, but Careless Love, albeit first, also has the virtue of genre-bending; she's following a sleezy romance pattern and making it smart and funny, a transformation that was lost on her American reviewers but appreciated by the Brits. She had, by the way, written several unpublished novels before she sold CARELESS LOVE. One thing I bet we can agree on-- she wrote fatter and worse novels in the 1980s. Thanks for fixing my italics. I don't know how to do that.Carolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-89297808702110560682013-06-10T10:59:32.985-04:002013-06-10T10:59:32.985-04:00For those of you keeping score at home, “Carol” di...For those of you keeping score at home, “Carol” directly above is Carol Sklenicka, biographer of Raymond Carver.<br /><br />Carol and I were at Washington University together in mid- to late ’seventies.<br /><br /><i>Careless Love</i> strikes me as a “typical” first novel—a warmup by an obviously gifted writer for better stuff to come. And better stuff came in 1975 with <i>Families and Survivors</i>.<br />D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-12529134649834484782013-06-10T02:48:51.813-04:002013-06-10T02:48:51.813-04:00You had a list not too different from this one whe...You had a list not too different from this one when you were getting your M.A. at Washington University in the 1970s. I've often wished I'd saved my copy of that list, but this will be a good replacement.<br /><br />How about Alice Adams's first novel, CARELESS LOVE (aka THE FALL OF DAISY DUKE in Britain) ?Carolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-68298997860592406202013-06-09T13:00:47.807-04:002013-06-09T13:00:47.807-04:00I'd put "Big Sur" by Jack Kerouac on...I'd put "Big Sur" by Jack Kerouac on a list of notable fiction of the Sixties. It movingly employs haunting language to chronicle the terrors and madness of alcoholism. It is a spiritual work that tries to stay the demon of despair. We don't quite get the sense that the Kerouac figure in “Big Sur” succeeds in this attempt (indeed, Kerouac himself would die of alcoholism eight years later.) Nonetheless, the writing is lyrical, even poetic. Kerouac's unique voice is too often overlooked when putting together a canon of writers from the fifties and sixties. Frank Gibbonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15680790857395183602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-36388887179539937192013-06-08T19:44:36.534-04:002013-06-08T19:44:36.534-04:00An intriguing post. At the moment, I'm reread...An intriguing post. At the moment, I'm rereading "Slaughterhouse Five" and think in holds up nicely. I think "Revolutionary Road" has many virtues, but its take on America is ultimately vulgar and reductive. Despite its many flaws, I like Cheever's "Bullet Park". You're right, though: A great decade for fiction.George Sim Johnstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06118646718241361980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-35467175230638575682013-06-08T17:55:13.880-04:002013-06-08T17:55:13.880-04:00Stoner by John Williams was also recorded by Black...Stoner by John Williams was also recorded by Blackstone Audio and read by Robin Field. Silently reading Stoner's NYRB Classics edition while listening to it read is especially good because it helps solve the mystery of the novel for the reader more than doing either alone. It's a pleasure easily obtained by courtesy of the public library.Paul Joseph Strassfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15507897955226505757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-16123167027881293792013-06-08T13:48:20.966-04:002013-06-08T13:48:20.966-04:00
1966:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Been_Down_So_...<br />1966: <br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Been_Down_So_Long_It_Looks_Like_Up_to_Mesrhcbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06007109160584748993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-78681651336301641712013-06-07T17:23:15.978-04:002013-06-07T17:23:15.978-04:00Perhaps I should point out that Cynthia Ozick’s Tr...Perhaps I should point out that Cynthia Ozick’s <i>Trust</i> dates from 1966. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Cynthia Ozick’s fiction. But I don’t I love <i>Trust</i>.D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-25006294501035554412013-06-07T17:07:45.599-04:002013-06-07T17:07:45.599-04:00I had assumed that Harper Lee and Joyce Carol Oate...I had assumed that Harper Lee and Joyce Carol Oates and for that matter Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan were not mentioned because David did not think the relevant books were good enough.<br /><br />Grant seemed to think their absence meant David did not know they existed. I was puzzled by the argument.<br /><br />My own experience as an enthusiastic young student of American literature, circa 1990, matches this post, that the 1960s were an exciting time in American fiction. Plus poetry was not yet withered, essay writing was innovative. Of course, the 1920s through the 1960s as a whole form an amazing period for U.S. literature. <br /><br />The 1960s are also a rich period for Latin American fiction and quite strong for French. I don't know what was going on.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-51273563106345017792013-06-07T15:41:27.703-04:002013-06-07T15:41:27.703-04:00שבת שלוםשבת שלוםR.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-6016360676340089012013-06-07T15:03:37.161-04:002013-06-07T15:03:37.161-04:00Regarding Linda Grant's argument, Harold Bloom...Regarding Linda Grant's argument, Harold Bloom would be amused. I am likewise amused, but I am also weary. These kinds of demands that the canon be "opened" to apparently overlooked "others" are annoying because of their subjectivity, lack of specificity, and self-serving haughtiness. I suppose that statement will also annoy Ms. Grant.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-34944675579858529322013-06-07T14:40:21.047-04:002013-06-07T14:40:21.047-04:00Well, I wouldn't cut Mary McCarthy or Katherin...Well, I wouldn't cut Mary McCarthy or Katherine Anne Porter, but that's me. <br /><br />Here are a few more American women writers, classics, to consider: <br /><br />Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” 1961<br />Susann’s “Valley of the Dolls” 1966<br />LeGuin’s “The Left Hand of Darkness” 1969<br /><br />But one of the great novels by a woman in the 1960s is written by a British writer: <br /><br />Spark’s “The Pride of Miss Jean Brodie” 1961<br /><br />Thanks for the list!<br /><br />Stacey Lee Donohuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247602168205239028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-54077478208334027712013-06-07T14:05:09.226-04:002013-06-07T14:05:09.226-04:00What intrigues me about novels of the 60s is the f...What intrigues me about novels of the 60s is the fact that I belatedly encountered them; during the 60s, I (with my foxhole mentality) was preoccupied with surviving military service, and reading "literature" was far from my mind.<br /><br />Now, though, I return often to the 60s via literature, and I discover how much I missed. Because of my interests in the ways religions affect people, my favorites from among your listed titles are The Violent Bear It Away, The Moviegoer, and Morte d'Urban.<br /><br />BTW, O'Connor's stories and novels are perennial favorites among students in my Intro to Lit classes; however, they most often enjoy O'Connor's works for all the wrong reasons. Ah, O'Connor would enjoy the irony there.<br /><br />Now, here are two questions for you: (1) Why do you suppose the novels from the 60s remain so worthwhile? (2) Would you care to identify and explain your favorite from among those you have listed?<br /><br />Both of your answers would graciously extend and expand the blog dialogue. <br /><br />R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-18726903868055368832013-06-07T13:23:26.282-04:002013-06-07T13:23:26.282-04:00Interesting post, thanks. Will follow some of thos...Interesting post, thanks. Will follow some of those up. I read Stoner recently & blogged about it, having had it on a shelf for 2 years. I've read 'I Am Mary Dunne' at least 3 times (I wrote an undergraduate dissertation about Moore) and agree it's a terrific novel, but calling it an American one is a stretch. Moore might have been living in Malibu by then, but he was born and grew up in Belfast, and had Canadian citizenship having lived there for about a decade until not long before he wrote IAMD. While it's a leap forward in his fiction, it has a lot of things in common with my favourite of his novels, 'The Doctor's Wife'. (That said, one of the things I love about Moore is that he never wrote the same kind of novel twice - he was always stretching himself).David Belbinhttp://www.davidbelbin.comnoreply@blogger.com