Advice for future potential readers
For Thomas Bernhard, i'd like to make some notes myself instead of just saying to research.
Style - his style is unique, in his mature work it's all in one paragraph, and is like a rant. I love a good rant, and the prototype is Dostoevsky's Underground Man. Interior monologues, seamlessly fluctuating perspectives, it may be confusing for those who have to know always who's supposed to have said what, but the interesting advanced form of enjoyment in his work will be to see how when a person relays what another said is different than what was actually said.
Attitude - he was of the bleak mindset, always thinking morbidly, and against his own country, so he was dark and savagely critical. The outraged moralizer i think was how some described him.
When thinking of what people said of him before i chose, i wondered how immersive it could be, would it be dull and boring? That could be the case for prospective readers. But he does what he does well, the reader may find that it clicks for them, that the prose is hypnotic.
Bleak, depressing, yet funny - if that combination makes sense to you right off the bat, like how a dark sardonic wit functions, chances are you'll appreciate TB.
Search for some videos if interested, go not by just one source, in all things you wonder about and either choose for or against. An informed decision is best for Thomas Bernhard.
But if you want a taste of his work, before devoting to the whole of his prose, listen to those sources, Wittgenstein's Nephew has been said to be a good choice, it's short and representative of his mature style.
For me however i shall approach his work in this manner
One main novel at a time, chronologically
along with the memoirs, short stories, novellas and poetry.
No matter what you read, make sure you're enjoying it.
Style - his style is unique, in his mature work it's all in one paragraph, and is like a rant. I love a good rant, and the prototype is Dostoevsky's Underground Man. Interior monologues, seamlessly fluctuating perspectives, it may be confusing for those who have to know always who's supposed to have said what, but the interesting advanced form of enjoyment in his work will be to see how when a person relays what another said is different than what was actually said.
Attitude - he was of the bleak mindset, always thinking morbidly, and against his own country, so he was dark and savagely critical. The outraged moralizer i think was how some described him.
When thinking of what people said of him before i chose, i wondered how immersive it could be, would it be dull and boring? That could be the case for prospective readers. But he does what he does well, the reader may find that it clicks for them, that the prose is hypnotic.
Bleak, depressing, yet funny - if that combination makes sense to you right off the bat, like how a dark sardonic wit functions, chances are you'll appreciate TB.
Search for some videos if interested, go not by just one source, in all things you wonder about and either choose for or against. An informed decision is best for Thomas Bernhard.
But if you want a taste of his work, before devoting to the whole of his prose, listen to those sources, Wittgenstein's Nephew has been said to be a good choice, it's short and representative of his mature style.
For me however i shall approach his work in this manner
One main novel at a time, chronologically
along with the memoirs, short stories, novellas and poetry.
No matter what you read, make sure you're enjoying it.
