I’ve just ordered three novels by Elfriede Jelinek a writer I’ve always meant to read. The books are LUST, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL TIMES, and WOMEN AS LOVERS. If I like them, I plan to continue on and read her most famous work THE PIANO TEACHER.
I admit being a bit put out off by what I’d read about Jelinek in particular three things 1.) Her connection to a type of feminism that compares marriage with rape which I strongly disagree with (We’ll see how this translates into her writings) 2.) The dissenting comments of a committee member when she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2004 who called her work whiny pornography 3.) Critiques of the structure of her writing specifically the abrupt stops and starts and seemingly random text.
Well, after reading some excerpts on the Internet, I must say, as far as #3 goes, I like the structure. It seems to suit the jarring nature of her narratives. Her stories seem well thought out and many of them are critiques of her native Austria and the ties that still remain with the days of Nazism and fascism.
I figured she’s worth a shot so I will be reading and then reviewing the three books. Normally, I don’t do a pre-reading write-up like this but I I figured she has some big baggage. We will see if the bags are fully packed or completely empty.
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