It's official:
The Recognitions, a dense novel by William Gaddis, has defeated me; I put up a valiant effort and nearly reached the 600 page mark before I shook hands with this allusion filled Modernist tome; the book seems to be about art forgery and counterfeiting and religion, but there's obviously some deeper theme which I have failed to recognize . . . and I'm not going to to kid myself and say that I'm just taking a break and I'll pick it back up this winter, because now I'm reading the new Slavoj Zizek book (
Living in the End Times) and it seems clear and logical, as compared to
The Recognitions . . . and when a book makes Slavoj Zizek seem clear and logical, then it is certainly beyond me.
I'm right around this spot in the book, and just started reading Zizek's latest, God in Pain, for a break and I'm feeling the same way. It's refreshing, logical, clear, and funny! But there are elements that remind me of The Recognitions. I was curious is Zizek ever read and had an opinion on it. So far I haven't found anything but your blog.
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