Listomania discussion

I found this on the Believer website: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200... It's Barthelme's Syllabus, and it would make a good reading project if you're really ambitious and open to experimental fiction:

At Swim Two-Birds, Flann O'Brien
The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brien
Collected Short Stories, Isaac Babel
Labyrinths, Borges
Other inquisitions, Borges
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez
Correction, Thomas Bernhard
Nog, Rudy Wurlitzer
Gimpel the Fool, Isaac B. Singer
The Assistant, Bernard Malamud
The Magic Barrel, Bernard Malamud
Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison
Under the Volcano, Malcolm Lowry
Samuel Beckett entire
Hunger, Knut Hamson
I'm Not Stiller, Max Frisch
Man in the Holocene, Max Frisch
Seven Gothic Tales, Dinesen
Gogol's Wife, Tommaso Landolfi
V, Thomas Pynchon
The Lim Twig, John Hawkes
Blood Oranges, John Hawkes
Little Disturbances of Man, Paley
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, Paley
I, Etc., Susan Sontag
Tell Me a Riddle, Tillie Olsen
Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country, William Gass
Fiction and the Figures of Life, Gass
The World Within the Word, Gass
Advertisements for Myself, Mailer
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
Journey to the End of the Night, Celine
The Box Man, Kobo Abe
Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams, Peter Handke
Kaspar and Other Plays, Peter Handke
Nadja, Andre Breton
Chimera, John Barth
Lost in the Funhouse, John Barth
The Moviegoer, Walker Percy
Black Tickets, Jane Anne Phillips
Collected Stories, Peter Taylor
The Pure and the Impure, Colette
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please, Carver
Collected Stories, John Cheever
Would Have Saved Them If I Could, Leonard Michaels
Collected Stories, Eudora Welty
The Oranging of America, Max Apple
Collected Stories, Flannery O'Connor
Mumbo Jumbo, Ishmael Reed
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
The Death of Artemio Cruz, Carlos Fuentes
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, Milan Kundera
The Rhetoric of Fiction, Wayne C. Booth
Henderson the Rain King, Bellow
The Coup, John Updike
Rabbit, Run, John Updike
The Paris Review interviews
How We Live, ed, Rust Hills
Superfiction, ed. Joe David Bellamy
Pushcart Prize Anthologies
The Writer on Her Work, ed. Sternburg
Manifestos of Surrealism, Andre Breton
Documents of Modern Art, ed. Motherwell
Against Interpretation, Susan Sontag
A Homemade World, Hugh Kenner
Letters, Flaubert
Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Mamet
The Changeling, Joy Williams
The New Fiction, ed. Joe David Bellamy
Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien
The Palm-Wine Drunkard, Amos Tutola
Searching for Caleb, Ann Tyler
Thank You, Kenneth Koch
Collected Poems, Frank O'Hara
Rivers and Mountains, John Ashbery
Tragic Magic, Wesley Brown
Mythologies, Roland Barthes
The Pleasure of the Text, Barthes
For a New Novel, Robbe-Grillet
Falling in Place, Ann Beattie

Please discuss merits/demerits/omissions below! Has anybody actually read any Barthelme's own books? I think I've read a short story or two a long time ago.

What a score! Amazing.

But, also, regarding the group description, the way you can make lists is to make a new bookshelf, and then name it, say, Barthelme's Syllabus. Then you could fill it with all these books.

I hope you are doing well Jimmy. Holla.

Holla!

Yes, I guess I can do that, but that's so much work. And you can't really "rank" a list that way.

Welcome to the group!

Links for your convenience:

At Swim-Two-Birds Flann O'Brien
The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien
The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel
Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings Borges
Other Inquisitions: 1937-1952 Borges
One Hundred Years of Solitude Garcia Marquez
Correction Thomas Bernhard
Nog Rudy Wurlitzer
Gimpel the Fool: And Other Stories Isaac B. Singer
The Assistant: A Novel Bernard Malamud
The Magic Barrel: Stories Bernard Malamud
Invisible Man Ralph Ellison
Under the Volcano: A Novel Malcolm Lowry
Samuel Beckett entire
Hunger Knut Hamson
I'm Not Stiller Max Frisch
Man in the Holocene Max Frisch
Seven Gothic Tales Dinesen
Gogol's Wife and Other Stories Tommaso Landolfi
V. Pynchon
The Lime Twig John Hawkes
The Blood Oranges John Hawkes
The Little Disturbances of Man Grace Paley
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Stories Grace Paley
I, etcetera: Stories Susan Sontag
Tell Me a Riddle Tillie Olsen
The Hero with a Thousand Faces Campbell
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country & Other Stories William Gass
Fiction and the Figures of Life William Gass
The World Within the Word: Essays William Gass
Advertisements for Myself Mailer
A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess
Journey to the End of the Night Celine
The Box Man: A Novel Kobo Abe
Invisible Cities Italo Calvino
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams Peter Handke
Kaspar and Other Plays Peter Handke
Nadja Andre Breton
Chimera John Barth
Lost in the Funhouse John Barth
The Moviegoer Walker Percy
Black Tickets: Stories Jayne Anne Phillips
The Collected Stories of Peter Taylor
The Pure and the Impure Colette
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? Carver
Collected Stories John Cheever
I Would Have Saved Them If I Could Leonard Michaels

The collected stories of Eudora Welty
The Oranging of America and Other Stories Max Apple
The Complete Stories Flannery O'Connor
Mumbo Jumbo Ishmael Reed
Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
The Death of Artemio Cruz: A Novel Carlos Fuentes
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Milan Kundera
The Rhetoric of Fiction Wayne C. Booth
Henderson the Rain King Bellow
The Coup John Updike
Rabbit, Run John Updike
The Paris Review Interviews, I
The Paris Review Interviews, II
How We Live ed. Rust Hills
Superfiction, or The American Story Transformed: An Anthology ed. Joe David Bellamy
The Pushcart Prize XXX: Best of the Small Presses, 2006 Edition
Writer on Her Work: New Essays in New Territory ed. Sternburg
Manifestoes of Surrealism Andre Breton
Documents of Modern Art ed. Motherwell
Against Interpretation: And Other Essays Susan Sontag
A Homemade World: The American Modernist Writers Hugh Kenner
The Letters of Gustave Flaubert, 1830-1857
Sexual Perversity in Chicago and the Duck Variations: Two Plays Mamet
The Changeling Joy Williams
The New Fiction: Interviews with Innovative American Writers ed. Joe David Bellamy
Going After Cacciato Tim O'Brien
The Palm-wine Drinkard Amos Tutola
Searching for Caleb Ann Tyler
Thank You and Other poems Kenneth Koch
The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara
Rivers and Mountains John Ashbery
Tragic Magic: A Novel Wesley Brown
Mythologies Roland Barthes
The Pleasure of the Text Barthes
For a New Novel: Essays on Fiction Robbe-Grillet
Falling in Place Ann Beattie

I've read three of Barthelme's books. Sadness, 40 Stories and The teachings of Don B. They are all very enjoyable reads. There is always an experimental surprise in Barthelme's writing, sometimes resulting in great humor and other times provoking thought. He is very imaginative and It is interesting to see his syllabus. Thanks for posting it.

- jpd

In John Barth's introduction to Not-Knowing, he shares an anecdote about Barthelme. When asked how to be a better writer by one of Barth's students, Barthelme said, "For starters, read through the whole history of philosophy, from the pre-Socratics up through last semester." The student replied, "But Coach Barth has already advised us to read all of literature, from Gilgamesh up through last semester..." And Barthelme said, "That, too. You're probably wasting time on things like eating and sleeping. Cease that, and read all of philosophy and all of literature. Also art. Plus politics and a few other things. The history of everything."

So basically this list is a starting place on the Barthelme syllabus.

This is one of the coolest things I've seen on Goodreads in quite some time. Thanks...

And the Barth/Barthelme story is hilarious.

Wasn't this a Beach Boys song?

'Barth-Barth-Barth-Barth-Barth-Barthelme'

My New Year's Resolution is to make significant inroads into this list. Besides the 3-and-a-half I've already read, I've just claimed the scalps of 'The Moviegoer' and 'Chimera'.

My life now has a structure. I can think about this in times of confusion.

I read Chimera last year. What did you think of it?

It is in parts brilliant, in parts infuriating. There is a wackiness that rears his head too frequently for my liking, but...

The central concern, one of wondering about one's own story, is THE subject, really. And while some of the diversions are frustrating, I feel that, more often than not, Barth himself is frustrated, rather than smug, which gave me a sympathy towards the novel.

I can see why people find it ridiculous however.

Carly wrote: In John Barth's introduction to Not-Knowing, he shares an anecdote about Barthelme. When asked how to be a better writer by one of Barth's students, Barthelme said, "For starters, read through the whole history of philosophy, from the pre-Socratics up through last semester." The student replied, "But Coach Barth has already advised us to read all of literature, from Gilgamesh up through last semester..." And Barthelme said, "That, too. You're probably wasting time on things like eating and sleeping. Cease that, and read all of philosophy and all of literature. Also art. Plus politics and a few other things. The history of everything."

Great anecdote!

I know this is an OLD thread, but I juts finished Barhtelme's The Dead Father and thought it was pretty great. My own father having just passed away in March, it was a timely read for me...

Cool. I'm not a fan of Barthelme's brand of fiction. I've only read some of his short stories (does he do novels? I don't know). But it seems to me all concept, and not at all satisfying for me.

But I do like his taste in books.

Most of what Barthelme writes is short fiction, but The Dead Father is a novel...and a pretty good one at that.

I also just read Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King, which is on this list: it was pretty fantastic.

Cool, I'll have to look into those then.