You Bright and Risen Angels by William T Vollmann | BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 13 лип 2024
- “You Bright and Risen Angels” by William T. Vollmann
BUY IT HERE: amzn.to/3KXV7lO
First published by Andre Deutsch, 1987
Published by Penguin Books, 1988
Paperback, 635 pages
ISBN: 0140110879
Goodreads: bit.ly/37EJ3HS
Storygraph: bit.ly/3itWTiB
Today Episode in Audio: open.spotify.com/episode/5GBJ...
Today’s Episode in Text: wastemailinglist.substack.com...
Sections:
00:00 Preamble
04:06 VOLLMANNIA
05:47 The Programmer
12:14 Angels at a Glance
18:00 The Cartoon
23:54 Source Code
30:08 The Eternal Winner
34:46 A Bug’s Life
41:30 Paging Dr Dodger
49:36 Cowboys and Indians
01:05:33 A Response to the Critics
01:14:04 Recommendations
01:17:19 End Notes
Readings from p. 4, 9, 12, 15, 17, 34, 65, 111, 153, 173, 195, 266, 345, 407/8, 409, 632
Secondary Resources:
1. My Beyond the Zero Interview: bit.ly/36vqoyd
2. VOLLMANNIA Podcast: vollmannia.buzzsprout.com/
3. Talking Writing with William T Vollmann: bit.ly/3ioeCrN
4. William T Vollmann: nyti.ms/3L67g8i
5. You Are Now Entering […]: bit.ly/3JvcytH
6. Why the Phrase ‘Late Capitalism’ […]: bit.ly/3L7Y6sd
7. The Dispassionate Chronicler: lat.ms/3N9QFm5
8. KCRW Bookworm Interview: kcrw.co/3ItlsGX
9. William T Vollmann Critical Companion: bit.ly/3Ju97nd
10. Kirkus Review: bit.ly/3D3zBK0
11. ReadWatchGame Review: bit.ly/3N85FRj
12. Gordseller Review: bit.ly/3isiE25
13. FBI Suspect William T Vollmann […]: n.pr/3iqAsL7
INSTAGRAM: / wastemailinglist
TWITTER: / wastemailing
EMAIL: wastemailinglist@gmail.com
SUBSTACK: wastemailinglist.substack.com/
ANCHOR.FM: anchor.fm/wastemailinglist
Music: “I Hate That” by ThisKidsNoGood
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One of the better newer book UA-cam channels! Keep doing your thing and take your time. Trust me your fans will thank you for it.
I thought I had responded to this earlier but I guess it didn't take. Thanks so much for the kind words David. I know the market for long-form is certainly more limited than other more rapid fire work (within the Booktube ecosystem) but I'm keen to stick by my guns and focus on the deep dives
I've always loved the story of Vollmann subsisting off of candy bars and working on his novel all night at his office. If the version I heard was right, he wasn't really doing any work and they eventually fired him.
Great video and dive into Vollmann.
Hahahahaha! I hadn't heard the part about him being fired. I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case. I appreciate the kind words mate!
Stories like that must be true as there is no other was he could have produced so much literature and scholarship in his lifetime.
Can't believe I've been here since day 1. This channel truly is something special.
Cheers mate!
Cheers Hassan! Your continued support really does mean a lot to me. Got a new video up for you to enjoy as of today!
Love having these deep dives into challenging books. Vollmann is an interesting character. You would think he'd intense in person, but the two times I've gotten to meet him he's been mellow and outgoing.
wow, thanks for your video and the heads up on Vollmannia!!!! I just got started reading him and splurged on 25 of his books he has such an astounding breadth!
Cheers for your voice mate, there’s no way I won’t be watchin all your videos from here on out
Well that compliment just made my day. Stay excellent Ellis!
I was searching for vollmann's books and here it is your magnificent channel. Chris has done an amazing job regarding vollmann bibliography. But with this book you have blown my mind away. Stunning review! Thank you very much. I hope you will review other vollmann' books ASAP!
Fantastic video! I had originally written off this book after reading up on it. I had thought I would skip what must of have been a rocky start from a first-time author, but this review has definitely changed my mind. Always excited to see another video from you!
Look, it's not perfect (I talk about this a lot in the "response to the critics section") but I think is made up for with boundless ambition, creativity, and intent to construct a moral calculus as it relates to oppression and victimisation. It's worth your time.
Fantastic presentation( essay, episode?), I find this novel utterly fascinating and not nearly talked about enough so I'm very glad to see someone so insightful really taking the time to sink their teeth into it.
Cheers Jared, thanks for taking the time out to drop me a line. It's a tragedy unto itself that Vollmann is so underread, and this book is considered minor among his works. I'm adamant on bringing it to more readers if I can.
You know you're in good hands when a reviewer cites a Bookworm interview.
All hail, our lord and saviour Silverblat! All jokes aside, I appreciate the kind words. I know I use "Review" in the title but I'm really only doing that to feed the algorithm. I prefer to position these videos as... me working my way through understanding difficult or misinterpreted novels, and trying to provide a little insight for prospective readers to deepen their appreciation for them. I'd rather that than simply "x aspect is good, y aspect is bad", you know?
@@wastemailinglist726 Absolutely! The deep-diving analysis is where it's at, and as you've mentioned, Chris Via is one of the only other channels that's doing it well. I'm sure there's a temptation to shorten things in order to increase viewership, but there's definitely an audience for what you're doing. For our sake, please keep it up!
@@billyewell6552 Done and done my friend. Longform is where I plan to stay
Great video, Seth! I finally finished YBARA today. I agree with what you said about it being a sort of "gateway drug" to the rest of his work; I've read bits and pieces of his other writing -- both fiction and nonfiction -- and am totally hooked. His prose is hypnotic. The giant walls of text mixed with encyclopedically dense writing were a joy to read.
This book requires (and deserves!!) slow, deliberate reading and re-reading. I remember you said you read the first 100 pages, said "what's going on and who is Big George," then re-read that entire section; I did the same thing and I urge others to as well. Read slowly, re-read often, and look things up so you can really sink your teeth into this book.
Looking forward to reading more Vollmann! And I hope you make another Vollmann video soon.
Thanks for this video. I've been putting off a more substantial engagement with Vollmann for years. The only thing I've read by him is Whores for Gloria, which I really liked, but the main reason for choosing it was that it's short. One of my reading goals for next year, though is to read some books by him next year I'm especially drawn to The Royal Family for what I understand to be its extensive focus on the intersection between poverty and social marginalization (especially of queerness and transgressive sexuality). So, I might start there, but before now the only descriptions of You Bright and Risen Angels I'd come across described it is mediocre Pynchon-aping. Your account of it, though, has whet my appetite!
Based on how an understanding of queerness has become such a big focus of public discourse in the US, you'd think that Vollmann would be experiencing a Renaissance now. In the past, I've come across a lot of talk that describes him, in a roundabout way, as a perv because of how much he writes about the transgression of norms around gender and sex. Based on reading as well as excerpts from Poor People, though, my sense is that Vollmann simply has a deep love and compassion for socially marginalized people - including for those who are too beaten-down to be hailed as heroes. If you do more videos on Vollmann, I'd love to see your take on one of his books that really hones in on such folks - the aforementioned ones, or Lucky Star (another one high on my list), or even The Book of Dolores.
I watched every minute of this and really enjoyed the analysis. I havent read the book, but youve got me excited to))
Seth, have you thought of releasing these as a podcast? I would eat that up!!
Hi Cameron, thanks for reaching out. If you go to the description of the video, you'll find a link to the audio only version of this episode. It's hosted on Spotify and a few other platforms
Here's the link: open.spotify.com/show/5miLzV90JolgEsfCudyMU2
Phenomenal video! I don't think I got even 100 pages into this the first time I read it. Now I'm hyped to give it a second go!!
Appreciate the feedback Ryan! Look, it's not a very audience-friendly reading experience. The authorial voice is fairly hostile to a well-paced, rhythmic consumption (if that makes any sense). That's on top of being digressive and highly multifaceted in its concerns. That being said, I think there's a ton of substance to mine in the text if you give it the time of day and I hope that watching that maybe helps you wrap your head around it a little further.
I'm fairly ignorant about Vollman, but he is a fascinating character. Poor People was a short and fascinating read with some great insights. The Dying Grass I skipped thru, I mean that alone is a huge and sprawling work. It's hard to comprehend how much he has produced. He seems to have a mind that never stops racing and inquiring.
Such an underrated writer. I'm still on the first half of your video, so I don't know if you mention it, but you should definitely add Riding Toward Everywhere to your Bill reading list; He takes you into the world of train hopping, it's about hobos, trains, and the road.
Riding Toward Everywhere is high on my to be read list. I don't make mention to it this video but am keenly aware of it. The first half of the video is mainly a background and overview of the novel. The latter half is where most of the substantive thematic discussion occurs.
@@wastemailinglist726 Awesome. Are you planning on doing a video for every Vollmann you read? So far, I'm really enjoying this one.
@@billypilgrim1 I'm keen to discuss any book which I respond strongly too. Vollmann is a new and nourishing source of fascination for me so I guarantee I'll be covering him again the future. Something longer - thinking Imperial, The Lucky Star, or The Dying Grass. I've got a few more immediate priorities to get out of the way before then though
@@wastemailinglist726 Great! Just finished the video, I think I might be picking Angels very soon. I still have an unread copy of Europe Central staring at me, so maybe I should crack open that one first.
@@billypilgrim1 Europe Central is another one I intend on tackling in the coming months so I think you'd be in a good position with either one of them. Thanks so much for taking the time out to give it a watch. I hope you get just as much out of YB&RA as I did
Great video, just read some of my first Vollmann not too long ago! Gotta love Billy T.V.👍🏼
Cheers mate! Appreciate the kind words. Which book was your entry point to Vollmann? Do you recommend it as a starting point?
@@wastemailinglist726 I read The Terror by Dan Simmons and it spurred me down a path of these books about the lost Franklin Expedition, and similar to you I knew Vollmann's name but never dove deeper until I heard about "The Rifles."
Then I found out my nearest library has the unabridged Rising Up and Rising Down set and I blew through the first two volumes and it totally amazed me how engaging it was for non-fiction. So I'm probably going to go back and start the Seven Dreams series from the beginning! A bit of a spastic reading pattern for sure haha not quite to be recommended, but it seems like a lot of people start with one of the books in the Seven Dreams series as a Vollmann intro!
I'm sorry, what?! Your library has the entirety of RU&RD? That's incredible! What a place to start.
The rifles is one I'm really looking forward to after reading that sequence from The Atlas. I've got Father and Crows on my shelf in the meantime.
@@wastemailinglist726 I know right!! Haha, I was very, very surprised they had it - technically its part of a community college library but still!
I read this a long time ago after seeing a review somewhere in a magazine, I think. I'll have to find my copy and read it again. Enjoyed it the first time.
Really appreciate that mate. I think it's a woefully misunderstood novel and can be appreciated much more with a close reading. If you do decide to pick it up again, definitely read Miles Leibtag's essay which I reference in Part 10 (Cowboys and Indians). It brought my critical appreciation of the book to a whole new level
@@wastemailinglist726 I will, thanks. I've read nine of his works. Most recent was The Dying Grass about the Nez Perce War prompted me to travel in the northwest USA extensively to experience that country afoot and on my mountain bike. His story about how his sister died really stuck with me too (I don't recall which book that was in.)
💪🏾Great 😎👍🏾
I love such in-depth dives💯
Call them Spoilery but what's the point of a rant if your pleasure or slogging through hell is 🤐gagged?
I'm stoked already to get my hands on every Vollmann I can get.
I have a theory : "Paul Foster" is just the literary "apostle" William Foster Wallace.🤕
Now may you read Jake Arnott's ~ The House of Rumour.🚀
I guess it’s up to us to change the trajectory of Vollmann crit. Challenge accepted.
Are you willing to help me out in this endeavour? I'm gonna need all the help I can get!
@@wastemailinglist726 100%
I'd like to add after listening to your comments on Bright and Risen Angels that if readers can't take the discursive quality of Vollman they should pick up Blood Meridian.
Unexpected comparison, Tom. I hadn't even mentally associated WTV with McCarthy. In saying that, I've also read very little McCarthy (Blood Meridian included) so I'll have to read it before I pass judgement myself.
Would you consider their prose stylings to be a similar ilk?
@@wastemailinglist726 No, prose styles are different but the depictions of colonial mentality is salient in both. Hungerford has some interesting lectures on Blood Meridian ua-cam.com/video/FgyZ4ia25gg/v-deo.html ua-cam.com/video/7ZFmf4T5L3o/v-deo.html
At least according to Wiki, "Vollmann described the book, his first, as "an allegory in part", inspired by his experiences with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan." Do you think that's consistent with your analysis of the themes (colonialism, etc)?
Good pickup Brett! Absolutely, I see his experiences in Afghanistan as comporting with this reading of the book. I address this directly at 8:16 and 50:10. The Mujahideen were living in an occupied state at the time he was there and part of his intention (in my understanding) was to "right the balance on paper" which he wasn't able to do in reality.
What is that blue and red book next to piranesi
Ducks Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann. A thousand-page single-sentence delight about a woman baking pies in her kitchen. I tore through it in like two weeks given it's hypnotic quality. Highly recommended