Where to Begin with John Barth
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- In which I go over John Barth's narrative style and each book in the early part of his career.
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Chapters:
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00:00 Intro
02:20 The Floating Opera & The End of the Road
03:44 The Sot-Weed Factor
06:40 Giles Goat-Boy
10:39 Letters
11:46 Lost in the Funhouse
13:31 Tidewater Tales & Sabbatical
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Books Featured (With Amazon Links):
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The Floating Opera & The End of the Road: amzn.to/4awajnx
The Sot-Weed Factor: amzn.to/3TP26DO
Giles Goat-Boy: amzn.to/3VQfvhG
Letters: amzn.to/3PUHYiv
Los in the Funhouse: amzn.to/4aJG78f
Tidewater Tales: amzn.to/3VQaZ2r
Sabbatical: amzn.to/3J9NdXF
I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I can create these links for any books I choose, so this does not affect my choice of what books to cover for this channel.
Thank You..
Look forward to your return.
Nice to see some love for GILES. I don't know why so many people who loved Sot-Weed got filtered by it, I found it hilarious and engaging all throughout. Currently on LETTERS and it too promises to be quite a ride.
Yeah, perhaps the "academic" setting and nods toward academia generally feel obtuse, but once you get through a couple chapters it becomes clear the aspects of world-building at play and how much heart carries the story at its core.
Another thought: Barth wrote four books about boats in a row.
-Sabattical
-Tidewater Tales
-The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor
-Once Upon a Time: A Floating Opera.
Just thought that was funny.
That makes me wonder if they were all written while he was on a boat of his own, such that art imitates life.
Thank you so much for this amazing video!! I'm starting my Barth's journey after reading his collection of short stories "Lost in the Funhouse" for my short story class which was an absolute terrific experince! It was like a whole new door to language and narrative opened for me. Very excited to deep dive into his works!!
Wonderful! There is plenty to appreciate in his careful attendance to language and meta-structural trickery. I'm glad my video was of help to you!
This is such a terrific video!
Coming from you that means a ton!
Thanks for this fascinating introduction to John Barth. I wasn't familiar with his work, but your enthusiasm for his writing style and the selections you picked to read to us here are a great testament to what he achieved.
I also recently filmed a video showing folks by John Barth collection. I started reading Barth back in the 70's. Barth is one of my favorite American writers. I enjoyed your video on Barth's works.
Hi, Johnny! I've been subscribed to you a while (on my personal RUclips account), and your Barth video is excellent! You have such a pure adoration for literature, an earnest love that is so precious on BookTube. Thank you for reminding me to watch your vid again, a drift back to a conversation with a wonderfully bookish mind.
Really appreciate the video. Finding things out in terms of information or even reliable information is sparse at best, and I feel like I would’ve never found of Barths passing without it.
thank you for this lovely tribute to an author i so enjoyed when i was young. and will need to revisit soon.
Excellent stuff from you once again! I have exactly the same copy of The Floating Opera and The End of the Road.
That edition feels great in the hand, though mine is starting to feel delicate once opened. It was nice flipping through his books once again. His works seem they may not stand the test of time-there are aspects I didn't cover in this video that hinder some of the re-reading experience; still, I could feel his singular voice, one that garners nostalgia now upon his leaving. Maybe I'll do a complete re-read someday, then assess how well his works retain their worth across time.
Going back to the Floating Opera tonight. I’ve got a lot of his work yet to read, but felt fun to go back to the start.
Yeah, when I return to re-read his works, I'll go back to the start as well. Seems fitting.
Great video, btw !
Thank you! I'm glad you appreciate it. :)
This is interesting. Will you do something similar for David Foster Wallace?
Very likely, yes. I read all of his books. That makes it feel almost obligatory that I create something covering the range of his output. There are a few other videos I want to complete first, but that one is definitely on the list of to-dos.
Good overview of Barth's works. I read his novels and Funhouse back in the late 70s, and his sense of humor really comes through especially in Giles and Sot-Weed. I hear him speak on our campus around the same time, the last time being when he was finishing LETTERS and read a selection to us. Great reader, also, along with T.C. Boyle (one of my favorites - WATER MUSIC is not dissimilar to SOT-WEED) and Sherman Alexie (ditto). Not sure how "significant" his works will remain - he always reminds me of Smollett and Sterne, with a wink in his eye to the reader.
Yeah, I get the sense that because John Barth is so playful he will fade in time, not enough profundity in his fixations, which is a shame as he has a musical brilliance to his prose and there is heart amid the joyous toying.
I've yet to read anything by T.C. Boyle, though I've heard his name many times. Would you say Water Music is a good starting point?
@@ToReadersItMayConcern WATER MUSIC is an excellent start, then move onto THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE (there's a mediocre film of the novel, starring Anthony Hopkins and John Cusack, among others). THE WOMEN is one of his best - fictional account of Frank Lloyd Wright and the women in his life (spoiler: he was a jerk). Sample his early short stories, also!
This is excellent! Thank you!
I was at a bookstore yesterday and found a new reprint from Dalkey Archive of 'Chimera', the first of his I ever read.
I need to read him again.
I actually don't own and haven't read Chimera yet, though I hear it's among his best works. Now is as good a time as any for me to finally read it.
@@ToReadersItMayConcernYou'd like it.
I would avoid Dalkey’s new reprints. They’re littered with typographical errors. Their reprint of The Sot-Weed Factor didn’t even get the title right on the spine - it said “Sot-Weet.” Look for the old Anchor editions instead.
As it turned out, in a sense he was John Barth.
It's as if the key to the treasure were the treasure itself. Ah, indeed.