/lit/ - Literature

I've heard that this is secretly one of the greatest novels of all time, but it's out of print. Has anyone read it, and if so, would they give their opinion on it?

Is there even an anon who has read it ?
what other books seem never to get mentioned?

This novel is fucking flawless

Holy shit, this is the best thing I've read in years.

enjoy, Robert

Am I going to have to become Therouxposter? Listen: it's encyclopedic, erudite and brimming with Jacobite rancor. It's postmodern in a sense but (like Gaddis) deeply concerned with Perrenial Themes (love, revenge, God) that are neglected by, say, Coover. There's a palpable regard for the English language and its development. Satire worthy of Nabokov and Swift. Short chapters. Is there anyone here aching to discuss this novel? I'd like to talk about Crucifer.

I finished this a while ago but never made a thread on it or have seen one of it.

Any interesting thoughts?

IMO, it has some of the best prose writing I've ever read; sadly however Theroux isn't a super-original author and I think Joyce, Nabokov, and Proust are destined to be better remembered as masters of prolix, poetic prose because they were more revolutionary in what they did. This book is pretty much a straightforward realist novel with some postmodern gimmicks.

The ending IMO was disappointing and cliched, he spent so much time building up a complex, morally ambiguous and interesting tale and characterization of Darconville and ruined it with a corny and out-of-character redemption of Darconville; also the fact that his last words are "My cat!" which is the title-drop I also found really corny, because it seems to have no relation to the rest of the book.

Is this book worth finishing, /lit/? It's entertaining enough but not what I was expecting, and feels like Theroux's shy author romantic fantasies factor in way too much. The writing is fine though, even good sometimes.

>>6717648

This is coming through ILL soon. Anyone here read it?