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A review by novabird
Omensetter's Luck by William H. Gass
4.0
“What good was a wall that did not blind and deafen?” Gass effectively tears down any such wall between good and evil. At first he portrays Omensetter and Furber as bearers of these roles and then carefully sets about throwing our understanding of these two polarities into question.
The bulk and middle of the book focuses on a stream of consciousness,’ told mainly through the perspective of Furber. I enjoyed the flow and texture of unusual word combinations and phrasing. However, what I found nauseating was the continual spew of degradation from the mind of Furber and at times, I was overwhelmed by the vileness of the prose so much so that I had to take a break from it. It almost had the sense of disgust that one has when one knows that there is a horrible contagion nearby, with the accompanying sense of fear of ‘catching it,’ or for example, not wanting to live in the house where the murders happened.
The last chapter unravelled the inherent philosophical questions posed: those of luck vs. goodness, and bad intentions vs. actions. Henry’s actions were then understood as an inability to reconcile the relativity of goodness and evil. This was an ‘ah-ha,’ moment for me, when I recognized that the postmodern concept of relativity placed within a historical context deepened my understanding of the longstanding battle between good and evil and this in turn led me to:
Which also resulted in my adding Hayden White’s, ‘The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation,’ to my to-read list.
Almost five.
The bulk and middle of the book focuses on a stream of consciousness,’ told mainly through the perspective of Furber. I enjoyed the flow and texture of unusual word combinations and phrasing. However, what I found nauseating was the continual spew of degradation from the mind of Furber and at times, I was overwhelmed by the vileness of the prose so much so that I had to take a break from it. It almost had the sense of disgust that one has when one knows that there is a horrible contagion nearby, with the accompanying sense of fear of ‘catching it,’ or for example, not wanting to live in the house where the murders happened.
Spoiler
Fortunately, Gass gives us an antidote to Furber’s ranting mind, as it loses its power to influence and becomes increasingly irrational and maddened.The last chapter unravelled the inherent philosophical questions posed: those of luck vs. goodness, and bad intentions vs. actions. Henry’s actions were then understood as an inability to reconcile the relativity of goodness and evil. This was an ‘ah-ha,’ moment for me, when I recognized that the postmodern concept of relativity placed within a historical context deepened my understanding of the longstanding battle between good and evil and this in turn led me to:
Hayden White argued that historical writing mirrors literary writing in many ways, sharing the strong reliance on narrative for meaning, therefore ruling out the possibility for objective or truly scientific history. White has also argued, however, that history is most successful when it embraces this "narrativity", since it is what allows history to be meaningfulWikipedia
Which also resulted in my adding Hayden White’s, ‘The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation,’ to my to-read list.
Almost five.