994. Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point
David Markson

2004
Around 190 pages

Even in my advanced age, the List can still surprise me. I actually really like an experimental novel! How  did that happen?

Basically, the Author of this book is organizing his notes to write a novel. So it's pretty much a series of random tidbits and observations about art and history, which don't quite reconcile with the versions of these events or people we have in our heads. For example, Tennessee Williams didn't want to hang out with E.M. Forster because he was an old man with urine stains on his pants. Or that the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was published the same year the Declaration of Independence was signed.

You know how at the final level of a video games, you usually have to fight all the previous enemies you've encountered in the game, before facing the final boss? That was my reading experience in the context of almost being done with this List. Most of the writers mentioned here were on the List, and seeing them referenced, and then having their humanity exposed, really felt like a culmination of all our entries here.

So I found this fascinating and digestible, and it's probably my favorite experimental novel, right under the buzzer.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "David shouldn’t thank Fate for letting him write such a good book in a time when large numbers of people could no longer be wowed by a novel, no matter how excellent." Is he talking about me?

UP NEXT: The Master by Colm Toibin