Crash... thus far

The world that J.G. Ballard depicts in Crash is not necessarily a world too unfamiliar. While the characters all seem a bit more morbid than the average individual, they are definitely reminiscent of peoples’ dark fantasies. Most people, whether they admit it to it or not, often have thoughts that are inappropriate, and therefore not said aloud. In the world that Ballard has created, these thoughts are possessed and often practiced by nearly everyone, creating a dark cast of characters.  Not only does Vaughan fantasize and obsess over car crashes, he actually goes through with them. Catherine and James wish to have extramarital affairs and they both do. Vaughan is extremely masochistic and sadistic as he gains pleasure from the pain and destruction caused by a crash. Even Catherine, who is outside of the men’s car crash fantasies, is jealous of the fact that James was able to “legally” kill a person. Although crashing cars is an extreme method of achieving arousal through pain, sadomasochism is a fairly common fetish. Vaughan also sees crashes as romantic, like when he imagines dying with Elizabeth Taylor. James and Vaughan both have very perverse minds and associate everything with sex. Every topic that James touches upon somehow incorporates genitalia and intercourse. Ballard’s descriptions are extremely graphic and as a reader, I can fully picture his bizarre imagery, whether I want to or not. James’ mind is completely exposed and the reader can know every thought he is having, no matter how distasteful it may be. It is quite possible that Ballard has an actively sexual mind and James is a vessel for Ballard to express his thoughts without seeming like a sick person in the “real world”. In the 1970’s, with the influx of new technologies, Ballard is possibly mocking individuals who have become obsessed with machines. He is comparing the dependency on technology to the absurd preposition that people will begin to abuse them and obsess over them so much that they will gain arousal and harm themselves simultaneously. 

Nabokov & Bakhtin

All throughout middle and high school, my teachers would assign us "show not tell" exercises in order to prepare us for the annual standardized exam. At the time these assignments seemed tedious and pointless, but Nabokov's Natasha exemplifies the importance of such a writing technique. By describing everything in full detail, the reader is able to picture and grasp what is happening in each scene. Just in the beginning when Wolfe is described ascending the stairs, there is a vivid image of how this man moves and carries himself; the ailing Khrenov gropes and creaked and breathes heavily. The description of the lake and countryside where Wolfe and Natasha spend their day is so clear and could also seem somewhat romantic. Wolfe, Natasha, and Khrenov's personalities are not explicitly stated by Nabokov, they are revealed through their interactions with each other. When Natasha and Wolfe are sharing their fantasies with each other, their playful and hopeful attitudes are displayed. Their lives are rather uneventful so they fill their minds with fantastic stories. This is an example of what Bakhtin describes as polyphonic writing because the narrator is allowing the characters a chance to describe themselves by having just as much speaking time as the narrator. The heteroglossia is extremely important because it is the way the reader is allowed inside to the characters' persona. Every word they use is specific to their personality. Natasha is young and innocent, while Wolfe is an older gentlemen who possess childlike whimsicalities. Dialogic writing is shown in Burroughs' Naked Lunch between the boy and the Buyer. Words like "cancha" and slang like "get fixed" are connected to the two characters to show the unsophisticated vocabulary of two junkies. Burroughs, as a narrator, disconnects himself from his characters, neither condoning nor condemning the Buyer's behavior but merely stating it as fact. 

The Trials of Dr. Church Part 4: Ripple Relation Hallelujah (The War's End)

 "It's been middle hydrogen tested". This was said by Dr. Sheen Church, a notable and highly influential scientist who was leading the research team. His glossy syntax shined beyond compare. He looked at the waning floor, debating his next move. He was one side vet away from giving up his project without a solution. Dr. Church almost allowed his maggoty shelf fear to take over, until he remembered his previous days as a soldier in training. He recalled hearing his replacement major, Ratcliff, shouting orders in his ear for hours on end. "I test bungalows for a living and these look like shit!"; this was motivation to work harder today. Raring Circulation Bioengineering (RCB) was on the brink of discovering the cure to the Russian super virus and if Dr. Church didn't produce results, there would be hell to pay. After analyzing the protein's helicoidal structure, he noticed the rhymed hirudin stubbed upwards. "My god", Dr. Church muttered, "hand me the ingate silt and we'll send a mold to Washington". Church's colleague was in awe of his mentor's genius and could do nothing more than give an approving nod, "the Russians don't stand a chance".

William S. Burroughs

The technique of creating cut-up poems, much like those of William S. Burroughs, demonstrates the effect of taking phrases and placing them out of context. Dividing the text into sections and arranging it randomly often transforms the meaning of the work. In the excerpt from Naked Lunch he does not use cut-up poetry, but his paragraphs seem to be out of sequence and jump around in time. The Buyer is first described, possibly derived from Burroughs’s own experiences with pushers and junkies. The narrative then shifts to the interactions with the District Supervisor and then with the court Judge.  Similar to cut-up poetry’s lack of flow, Burroughs’s writing in Naked Lunch shows the out-of-place and untraditional lifestyle of someone involved with drugs.

Burroughs was inspired by a variety of writers as well as by his own writing. He was well versed in science fiction, and the characteristics and situations given to his characters are often otherworldly as well as extremely descriptive to the point of disturbance. He said that all of his books are basically one book and they spill over into each other. Burroughs was true to his own writing and wouldn’t omit passages that he believed to be important to his story.

Burroughs seems to be an intelligent individual. He was vocal about his views and did not fall victim to conformity. He openly admits to being bored by politicians and lacking respect for certain poets. He stated that many poets are simply lazy prose writers. He exemplified this claim by creating poetry out of already existing material and showing how little criteria there is for a poem to be considered a poem.

Burroughs also understood that including his own life events can contribute to the honesty of his world. It is also more relatable and appealing to an audience if these situations are absurd yet familiar. Writers often write what they know and if something is truthful, it makes the diction all the more powerful.

It would be difficult to publish picaresque novels if a writer had no foundation. Burroughs borrowed from his cut-up poetry and personal experiences to create work that he claimed has no plot. His “series of incidents” are like memoirs that can depict the postmodern era with a high degree of truth. Picaresque novels are meant to have traits of humor and inappropriateness. He exaggerates to a certain extent, but this contributes to the “transgressive” quality of verbal innovation. The transgressive style is new and difficult for just any writer to follow. It requires a sense of humor and the ability to appreciate the underground grime.

Blogging for the blog-less

When are blog posts due? Blog posts are respons

Night before a class in which a reading is due. So

Tuesday before 9.

What do I say in all these blog posts?

Before you Assignment icon and the date the

And questions which should give you ideas abou

Novel or piece of criticism we are reading for th

Initiative to make your blog creative and explore

Other media. As a rule, I will as a specific quest

Open for the one due on Tuesday night. Feel free

If you like, respond to the readings with creative

Works in a way that contributed to your underst

What if I get behind on blog posts? Such lapses wi

Reading, you should do your post immediately a

Discussions or lectures if you aren’t up-to-date

You keep up. Your posts should show your kno

Do I have to read Robin’s blog? Yes, when you ch

I’ve soted. I’ll try to put in information that wi

“postmodern” British literary scene. Some links

All right! All right! What else do I have to write

Write a 12-15 page interpretive study of a single

Criticism form reputable sources (literary journ

Aspect of the book’s satirical intent, language,

The work… in other words, you need to find so

Ence from the book.

End of the semester, you will write a 15-20 page term

Ent generally. A peculiarity of this assignment is that

E class, plus one additional work, from the American

Some aspect of contemporary satire- some concern or

On. You may also r both papers, you should discuss your ideas and plans

Case of the first paper, you will have the opportunity

O late papers will be accepted except in the case of

rolling, I’ll post a list of presentation days and

st of doing a little research on a topic related to the

ssion leader. This is really a way to give class members

ke the stage a bit. Don’t sweat it: it’s meant to be

ASS

Sy to do well in this class: if you do all the reading on you’ll get a high grade. I want you to have the full

A community of fellow readers.