Paul French - najluđa knjiga ikad (koja možda i ne postoji)

Ovo bi mogla biti najluđa, najbolja nenapisana knjiga ikad. Prilično je izgledno da je ova recenzija podvala/štos. Ili Paul French ipak postoji? Vjerojatno u nekom antigravitacijskom svemiru. Nigdje drugdje naime nisam našao nikakvu informaciju o njemu. Ali, o maj god, kad bi ova knjiga zaista... o, maj, kad bi ova knjiga zaista postojala !!!!!!! 






Anonymous

Untitled
by Paul French
Beggar Press, 2011
784 pages / $19.95 Buy from Beggar Press
Rating: 0.0

 Paul French’s Untitled (2011) is either his most brilliant or most obnoxious novel yet—probably, it seems, his most obnoxious. What’s brilliant about French’s novel is this: for Untitled French has invented, not just fictional characters (as you might get in a realist novel), not even just a fictional world (as you might get in a sci-fi novel), not even just a fictional universe (as you might get in a fantasy novel)—Untitled isn’t set in our universe, it isn’t even set in our dimension. For the novel French has invented fictional systems of mathematics, of physics; electromagnetism, nuclear forces, gravity, French has done away with them altogether. French’s characters aren’t made of cells, and within those cells atoms, and within those atoms protons and neutrons, and within those protons and neutrons quarks. French’s characters aren’t even length/width/height-type characters: whatever dimension Untitled is set in, it’s not the traditional dimension in which one would set a novel (the third).
In that sense Untitled may be the most fictional novel ever written: everything within the novel is fictional. French hasn’t relied upon even a single nonfictional fact to build his story. Capitalism doesn’t exist in Untitled, for example; economics doesn’t even exist; greed itself doesn’t exist. Untitled took French almost thirty years to write—his last book, Come Hither Ye Stockbrokers, he published in 1984—and it’s easy to see why. The novel French built in those years is, in a certain sense, a masterpiece.
What’s obnoxious about Untitled, however, is that it seems French felt the premise of the novel required him to write Untitled in a fictional language. The fictional language is named .: (the language itself is a dot-based language, like a visual Braille; “.:” translates to, in English, “Wary”). Unlike books like the Codex Seraphinianus and the Voynich manuscript, it is actually possible to read Untitled—but, as it turns out, that’s what’s so obnoxious. The first several hundred pages of Untitled are an English/.: textbook—French has made it possible for an English speaker to study and become fluent in .: before reading the novel itself. (Some of the language exercises French has invented are, admittedly, actually sort of fun.) .: takes the average student about seven months to learn, the textbook’s introduction tells (warns) readers, but even after those seven months, the next several hundred pages of Untitled are a kindergarten-level textbook, written in .:, that teaches readers about the physics within the novel and the place this novel is set. Untitled is, without question, the most laborious, exhausting, obnoxious novel ever written.
However, what’s also true is that—after one has read both of the introductory textbooks—the next (last) several hundred pages of the novel do make it all worthwhile.
(For those unwilling to become fluent in .:, Untitled does have, also, lots of shiny pictures.)



U komentaru recenzije Mike Kitchell kaže -

I totally loved "come hither ye stockbrokers" and i'm totally excited to read this. In an interview with French in a early 80s issue of Sub/Stance, French mentions that he was working on a book that would teach humanity the way to the future if they were willing to abandon their myopic insistence on the geometric use of space-- I guess this is it, and that's awesome

- no čini se da se samo uključuje u šalu.

 Igra se nastavlja na ovoj opskurnoj stranici, gdje piše:

Paul French’s novels include Come Hither Ye Stockbrokers, Pudding Cups For Mary, and Untitled.
French is a resident of Brooklyn, formerly a resident of Los Angeles, formerly a resident of an unnamed island in Lake Michigan, formerly a resident of Ann Arbor.


Naravno, kada kliknete na Untitled, dođete na početnu recenziju na Htmlgiantu. 
No ta je stranica dodatno luda zbog slijedećih "informacija":

THE AUTHOR

The Numberless is an interlinked novel by Jianyu Pên. Although born in China, Pên now lives in France, and most of The Numberless was originally written in French. The novel has been here translated into English by Matt Baker and published by Beggar Press. The novel’s first page was published in 2010. The novel’s pages number, as of today, at 979. New pages are added about once a week and will be added until Pên’s death.
All drawings within The Numberless were drawn by Jianyu Pên. All songs within The Numberless were composed by Jianyu Pên. All videos within The Numberless were directed by Jianyu Pên. The Numberless always has been, always is, and always will be free to read. Jianyu Pên pays for his bread by other means.
Jianyu Pên’s randomized novella Kaleidoscope can be read at http://www.kaleidoscopeof.com/ Jianyu Pên’s serialized novel Afterthought can be read at http://www.afterthoughtof.com/
Pên’s other novels include Birdlime, Qwerty, and The Butcher’s Ennui.

ACQUIRE

Rare unpublished pages from The Numberless may be acquired for $100 by contacting the press. Each of these pages has been handwritten in English by Jianyu Pên—only one copy of each page exists. Collectors of these pages own more than ink on paper; they possess exclusive access to unexplored sections of the story.
Additionally, maps of The Numberless may be acquired for the same fee. These up-to-date maps, handdrawn by Pên, chart each and every passageway in the novel. A must for newcomers and fanciers alike.
  
                                                                                         SUBSCRIBE
New pages are added to the novel about once a week. By subscribing, these pages will be mailed to you automatically as they are published. You can subscribe by email or by tweet.
To subscribe to The Numberless by tweet, visit here. To subscribe to The Numberless by email, enter your email address into the box below.

 (Taj spomenuti tweet  zaista postoji i također je jako zanimljiv. Intrigantan je tweet "Staging a revolt against the laws of physics" - što nas vraća priči o Paulu Frenchu. )

THE AUTHOR

Afterthought is a serialized novel by Jianyu Pên. Intended to be posthumous, the novel will be published the year after Pên’s death.
Although born in China, Pên lived at various times in a houseboat in Palestine, a houseboat in Vietnam, and a yurt in Russia, and Afterthought was originally written in Arabic/Vietnamese/Russian. The novel has been here translated into English by Matt Baker and published by Beggar Press. Like Pên’s other novels, Afterthought always has been, always is, and always will be free to read. Jianyu Pên pays for his bread by other means.
Jianyu Pên’s interlinked novel The Numberless can be read at http://www.thenumberless.com/. Jianyu Pên’s randomized novella Kaleidoscope can be read at http://www.kaleidoscopeof.com/.
Pên’s other novels include Birdlime, Qwerty, and The Butcher’s Ennui.

THE PRESS

Founded in 1984, Beggar Press publishes internet novels by international authors of literary fiction, including Paul French, Elizabeth Klemm, and Jack Dowland.
The company has offices in Manhattan, Nashville, and Reykjavík.

Hehe, s tim da je Elizabeth Klemm bio pseudonim Davida Fostera Wallacea, a Jack Dowland, pseudonim P. K. Dicka.

Priča se nastavlja na stranicama Afterthought i Kaleidoscope

Contents

The nine parts of this novella:

The Part About What Was Kept In Sr. Granja’s Freezer
The Part About The Robotic Dog
The Part About Massacres And The Galaxy And Towns Where It Snowed
The Part About They
The Part About DAXA680315HSINXR91
The Part About The Other Shadow
The Part About Fractals And Mezcal And Monsieur Z
The Part About The Duel
The Part About Kaleidoscope Of

In all likelihood, not in that order.

The Author 

Kaleidoscope is a randomized novella by Jianyu Pên. Although born in China, Pên has lived in Mexico and Ecuador, and Kaleidoscope was originally written in Spanish. The novella has been here translated into English by Matt Baker and published by Beggar Press. Published in 2011, Kaleidoscope always has been, always is, and always will be free to read. Jianyu Pên pays for his bread by other means.

Jianyu Pên’s interlinked novel The Numberless can be read at http://www.thenumberless.com/. Jianyu Pên’s serialized novel Afterthought can be read at http://www.afterthoughtof.com/.
Pên’s other novels include Birdlime, Qwerty, and The Butcher’s Ennui.

  

THE TRANSLATOR

Matt Baker trained as a translator of Spanish on the islands of Galápagos. Kaleidoscope is his first translated novella.
Baker’s own fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, American Short Fiction, Denver Quarterly, Ninth Letter, Meridian, Conjunctions, Redivider, Colorado Review, Memorious, Annalemma, HTMLGIANT, Devil’s Lake,  Harpur Palate, Catch Up, Pank, Booth, Bull, Juked, Versal, Lumberyard, and Hayden’s Ferry Review. Baker was the founding editor of Nashville Review.

ABOUT THIS NOVEL

Afterthought is a serialized novel by Jianyu Pên. Intended to be posthumous, the novel will be published the year after Pên’s death.
As Pên hasn’t died yet, the novel’s pages remain unpublished. However—although you’ll have to wait for Pên to die before you can read Afterthought—you can subscribe to Afterthought at any time. By subscribing, the novel’s pages will be mailed to you automatically as they are published (after Pên is dead).
To subscribe to Afterthought, enter your email address into the box below.

“Under cover of my cloak I can kill the king.”

— Unknown

Kaleidoscope (Part ? of 9)

(taj zadnji link zaista vodi na ulomak teksta koji pak ima link na slijedeći ulomak itd. u krug)


Mogući autor cijele ove genijalne podvale mogao bi biti, čini se,  navodni prevoditelj, Matt Baker (osim ako je to pseudonim Mikea Kitchella).