Among the great chronicles that, for English-speaking readers, have been mislabeled as novels is Jacques Roubaud's "The Great Fire of London." Although he is an Oulipian, Rouabaud is a great admirer of the conventional, middle-brow novel, particularly in its British incarnations, so he almost certainly is under no illusion that his great avant-garde work fits into the genre. It is indeed a chronicle, but one of the most complex and artful ever composed - and one of the least-recognized masterpieces of modern literature. For many years only the first volume was available in English, but a couple of years ago Dalkey Archive brought out another, "The Loop," and will soon release a third, "Mathematics:"
No comments:
Post a Comment