Reader's Block
Reader’s Block is a 1996 novel written by David Markson and published by Dalkey Archive Press.[1][2][3][4][5] [6] With this work Markson has begun a tetralogy consisting of this book, followed by This Is Not a Novel (2001), Vanishing Point (2004), and The Last Novel (2007). [3][4]
Synopsis
[edit]Reader's Block employs an experimental collage writing technique and does not have a traditional narrative structure. Also, the narrator, who is called The Reader, questions the book's genre, asking if it functions as a novel, an autobiography, or a poem. Instead of a standard plot, the text is composed of literary fragments, i.e., 333 unannotated quotations and anecdotes connected to Western literature and historical authors. The fragments are wide ranging covering literary trivia, dark topics such as author suicides and lists of writers with anti-Semitic views. The tone that is perceived as both playful and highly serious.[7] According to Publisher's Weekly, within non-traditional format, the book explores the concept of novel-writing, and critiques the standard narratives of novels.[7] This work has been recognized as being similarly styled to James Joyce's notebooks for Joyce's novels.[8]
Reception
[edit]Anne Beattie writing for Ploughshares says, "Markson’s novel advances by allusion and cumulative effect, like a big snowball going downhill... This is really a work of genius: real flotsam and jetsam, recycled as philosophy. It’s hypnotic and unique; of course, that would guarantee that the mainstream press wouldn’t give a damn.”[9]Joanna Scott writing for The Nation says, "...Markson’s narrator weighs life against death and death against art, testing the effects of time and the resilience of the human imagination.[5] Kirkus Reviews says, "A novel, in all, for the ultra-readerly only, though in its own way often deeply melancholy, suggestive, and moving. [In this book] Nabokov speaks for Markson's aesthetic aims, while Shakespeare synopsizes the personal wistfulness and deep sorrow permeating this remarkable book.[10] Michael Boylan reviewing this work for the Library Journal of New York says, "[The book] is intensely personal, with nothing really universal presented about the human condition, and as such has a very limited appeal.[11]
References
[edit]- ↑ Drag, Wojciech (2015). “A Novel Against the Novel”: David Markson’s Antinovelistic Tetralogy. Polish Journal of English Studies, 1(1), 11–25. Free PDF download.
- ↑ Tabbi, Joseph (1997). "Solitary Inventions: David Markson at the End of the Line". Modern Fiction Studies. 43 (3): 745–772. doi:10.1353/mfs.1997.0066. JSTOR 26285658.
- 1 2 Sims, Laura (2008). "David Markson and the Problem of the Novel". New England Review vol.29 iss.3. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
- 1 2 Ferguson, William (January 12, 1997). "Reader's Block". The New York Times. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
- 1 2 Scott, Joanna (November 1, 2010). "A Passionate Reader". The Nation. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
- ↑ Watterson, Carrie.(2006) "The Politics of Pastiche in the Postmodern Novel." Brown University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses # 3227964, pp. 25-45 ProQuest 305356138
- 1 2 Magazine, Staff (November 4, 1996). "Review: Reader's Block". Publishers Weekly.
- ↑ Schork, JOE (1998). ""This Strangely Neglected Topic..."". James Joyce Literary Supplement. 12 (1): 17. JSTOR 26634678.
- ↑ Beattie, Ann (Spring 1997). "Reader's Block by David Markson". Ploughshares. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
- ↑ Kirkus Reviews. October 31, 1996.
- ↑ Boylan, Michael. Reader's Block. Library Journal 121.17 (1996): p. 91. ProQuest 196757779. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- ISBN 9781564781321
- Video review: Reader's Block by David Markson, YouTube, 2024.
- Directory
Further reading
[edit]- Clemens, Paul (March 9, 2008). "Review: Reader's Block". New Haven Review. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
- Drag, Wojciech (2022). "Collage autothanatographies". Orbis Litterarum. 77: 19–36. doi:10.1111/oli.12296.