Wallace on Updike

An essay by David Foster Wallace on John Updike.  I was peripherally aware of this piece, but now that it has come into full consciousness and expresses my thoughts about the several writers mentioned at the beginning, I shall reread and seek to find if Mr. Wallace has expressed my own reservations about Mr. Updike's fiction.

Comments

  1. AnthonyMarch 9, 2010 at 3:39 PM

    Steven - I have a distaste for Updike comparable to your own for Roth. I have tried but have yet to complete one of Updike's novels, partly because of their unnecessary length but also due to their mawkishness and unbelievable characters.

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  2. StevenMarch 9, 2010 at 3:48 PM

    Dear Anthony,

    I'm trying to figure out whether or not I have a "distaste for Roth". Sometimes I think I do, but I struggle to figure out where Roth stands on a lot of issues and his language can be, at times, ravishing. And, he has one book (at least) that stands out as an unqualified winner--The Plot Against America. There may be others--I just don't know enough of the opus yet.

    Updike on the other hand, other than the nonficiton, I tend to agree with your assessment. Oh, and some of the short stories--some of them are splendid. But as for the novels, I have forged my way through several and with the lone exception of The Centaur have wondered whether it was really worth the trouble to have done so.

    shalom,

    Steven

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