SansPoint

A list of all the books in my collection, as a pretty and impressive lookin’ web page.

The above created with Delicious Library.^[1]

1. Sorry, Mac only. ↩

For your Memorial Day^[1] reading pleasure, I’ve thought of a few books that really influenced my writing style and view on fiction.

1. Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the GalaxyDouglas Adams gift for language is really unparalleled. As a writer, I can only try to approach DNA’s apt visual descriptions and humor. For example, his description of hovering alien spaceships: “The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.” Clever, accurate, and funny all at once, the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy is littered with this sort of thing, making for an amazingly pleasant read. If you’re unfamiliar with his works, start here.
2. David Foster Wallace - Infinite JestSomeone out there may be groaning now. I don’t care. DFW is another author whose use of language and description blew my mind. He has a knack, as well, for amazing metaphors, but he also uses multiple points-of-view and multiple narrators to great effect. While my work doesn’t strive for the same kind of structural experimentation, Wallace shines a light in the direction I want to go. That, and Infinite Jest is just a plain fun read.
3. Kurt Vonnegut - Welcome to the Monkey HouseThis collection of short stories contains my favorite thing Vonnegut ever wrote: “Harrison Bergeron.” Beyond that, Vonnegut’s fiction blends stark, sharp language, elements of pathos, and a wry sense of humor. His writing is taught, stripped to the essentials, and a good antidote to anyone who feels that they need to load up their writing with endless adjectives, purple prose and other garbage to look “literary.”
4. Thomas Pynchon - Gravity’s RainbowI know. Sticking this and Infinite Jest in here makes me look like some sort of pretentious twat, but I have a reason: Pynchon’s fiction is really just that good. Brilliant language, wild humor, experiments with form, the regular winks at the observant reader combine to form something terribly capitvating and fun to read. If you’ve never read Pynchon before, I would suggest starting with The Crying of Lot 49, which is comparatively a pamphlet and still has all the trademark Pynchon quirks.
5. Strunk and White - The Elements of StyleIf you write, and you have never read this book, then shame on you. The guidelines set down in this little volume will improve anyone’s writing, substantially. In fact, I should give it a re-read, myself. The most useful aspect of Elements of Style is how, once a writer has the rules, they can figure out when is the best time to break them. Hard-line adherence can create dull, cookie-cutter writing, and the book even mentions that one should find one’s own style. This is essential.

1. United States readers only, of course. ↩

Okay, disclaimer: I helped get this book made, as part of the pre-order project. I even sprung a bit extra for a commission.^[1] I wouldn’t have bough it if I didn’t think it was something impressive and amazing. Keep this in mind.

Templar, Arizona is an amazing webcomic that invents a plausible alternate reality for its setting with lavish detail. Described as “a slightly irregular Arizona that fell off the back of a truck somewhere, and now all the power outlets are a weird shape and a couple of wars never happened,” the titular city is a character in itself. Though it largely takes a back seat in the first chapter of the story—better to introduce the humans first—it pervades every aspect of the narrative. Templar has its own history, its own geography, and its own unique subcultures, religions, and quirks. It feels genuinely real.

The first print collection has the same lavish attention to detail. Beyond a remastering of the comic to fix errors in the online version, there is also the comic’s first intermission, copious annotations for both the main story and the intermission, and eight pages of sketches detailing the visual evolution of the comic. Oh, and the art is spectacular. Such a thing is required to be said. If there’s any shortcomings here, it’s in this being only part of a whole that is still in progress. As of this post, the webcomic is in Chapter 3, and the print edition of Chapter 2 is being fundraised for. It really leaves the reader wanting more.

It’s actually very difficult to say anything about Templar, and about this first collection that hasn’t already been said. If you’ve never read Templar, Arizona, start now. Pick up the book, if you like. This is something that is going to be very important.

1. The commission is of the band POLYSICS, and it is awesome. ↩

Haruki Murakami has been hesitant to have his first two novels, Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 released in America. This is an understatement. They have been translated, though, by Alfred Birnbaum, one of his regular translators, exclusively for use by Japanese students of English. These translated copies routinely fetch stupid amounts on used book sites and eBay.^[1] I was able to pick up a copy Hear the Wind Sing on eBay for the surprisingly reasonable price of $13, including shipping. It was a revelation.

It’s a brief little book, pages about the size of a 3×5 card. I managed to finish it in one night, pausing every few chapterettes for a breather. For such a short novel it’s amazingly captivating, and even this early, the key elements of Murakami’s fiction are in place. You could almost use a checklist. Disaffected, first-person narrator? Check. Flashbacks to important events in narrator’s life? Check. The one main thing missing is the Murakami surrealism, which must have developed a bit later, probably in A Wild Sheep Chase. In some ways, I can understand why Murakami has disowned the work. It’s not a masterpiece like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, but whose first novel ever is? I suppose some of the atypical elements and lack of a real plot are shortcomings, but the darn thing is really quite good.^[2]

Compraing Hear the Wind Sing to After Dark, it’s easy to see how far Murakami has come as a writer. After Dark, and the previous novel, Kafka on the Shore^[3] feature Murakami taking more risks in his fiction and style. After Dark is completely unlike any other novel Murakami has written. Ditching his familiar style is a serious risk, and the reviews I’ve read are mixed on the new direction—if it is even a direction and not a momentary diversion. I like it, and have said so, quite vocally. Considering these stylistic deviations, it only makes sense that after a twenty-some odd year literary career, perhaps Murakami is trying to experiment more, and I can’t blame him.

Even as a young writer, I feel the need to push the limits of what I do with fiction. Certainly, there is nothing in Murakami’s work that could be considered “standard,” at least to the eyes of this American reader, but his stylistic development is something that is worth noting. It is also incredibly inspiring and reassuring to read his earliest works, realizing that Murakami, too, had his missteps and mistakes, and had to find his voice and style. I just need to save up for that copy of Pinball, 1973.

1. At the time of this writing, prices for Pinball, 1973 on AbeBooks run from a quasi-reasonable $45 to the absurd and insulting price of $2000. ↩
2. Of course, if it were to suddenly find itself translated and released in America, the audience may not realize it’s a first novel, and Murakami’s reputation would take a hit. ↩
3. Which is sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to get to it. Soon. ↩

In about a week and a half, I will be the proud owner of a Bachelor’s of Arts in English.^[1] It has taken me six years, including a pointless three semester stint studying the wrong major (Computer Science) to get to this point. I’m quite proud.

If there’s anything, this means I will officially be qualified to talk about the sort of things I started this blog to talk about. I can analyize, criticize and interpret with impunity. I’ll have the piece of paper to make the point. Furthermore, it’ll remove the biggest time-suck from my life… Academics have a way of pervading every aspect of one’s life. My limited free time between classes and work exists with further academic responsibilitys dangling over my head like a Sword of Damocles. It is finally going to be taken away, and I can finally focus on my personal projects, which include:

• This blog.
• Fifty-Two Stories
• Finally finishing Against the Day
• The rest of my pleasure reading

I am more than ready. All that stands between myself and glory are two exams and a five-page Philosophy paper. They will be finished, I will celebrate with drinks, and I will be free. Expect big things. Wish me luck.

1. This, of course, is dependant on passing all my classes this semester, but the odds of that not happening seem fairly slim. ↩