I just finished it (after letting it sit in my laptop bag for over a month after buying it). Very sad, especially since I'm in such crappy condition (mono). The only thing I really didn't like/understand was when he went on his Catholic dogma-trip. I really didn't understand if he was just going crazy and whether there was a point to its being in the book at all.
Ask the Dust
- Thread starter Ninjerk
- Start date
may come from his Italian descent.
I just ordered it (among other things) for a plane ride i'll be on next week. Looking forward to reading it...
Is that, you need a tip what to read next?
Try ARTHUR RIMBAUD: 'A Season in Hell'. - You won't regret!
(I dunno about the English translations, but I DO know, the quality of German translations does VARY a LOT! So, if possible, compare before buying.)
wallace fowlie's english translation is pretty good.
isn't that from The Road to Los Angeles?
i loved Ask the Dust. One of my favorite all time books. the impact that Fante had on Buk is unquestionable
Brother Schenker
Founding member
Indeed it was---the very same book I am currently reading. I don't find it nearly as interesting as Ask The Dust. Seems immature. I doubt I will finish it this time around. May give it another go in a few years.
I must say I enjoy his polite way of talking about jacking off in the coat closet (or jacking off in general), but that alone isn't enough to keep me interested. For me, books give off vibes of attraction or repulsion and this one does not attract. It was given to me as a Xmas gift so I thought I'd give it a whirl. If I had picked it up in a bookstore I probably would not have bought it.
Waving to you from under European skies...and always the same sun & moon.
I remain (the golden needle, blah blah blah).
'The road to Los Angeles' doesn't hold as well together as the other three Bandini books but there are still some enjoyable parts, I especially like the bit where he distinguishes her matchstick strike mark on a wall from the others and gives it a good sniff :D
HenryChinaski
Founding member
Are you kidding me? The Road To Los Angeles was a better read than Ask The Dust. Its really an early novel. Also, its very Hamsunesq because Fante was highly influenced by Hunger at the time.
You mean to tell me, the crab scene was immature? Thats classic shit man. Getting attacked by crabs, finding them crawling all over you, in your clothes and everywhere, then getting picked up by the police for vagrancy.
thats great writing.
Brother Schenker
Founding member
I thought it was a ridiculous scene. I felt embarrassed for Fante.
HenryChinaski
Founding member
i guess it's all a matter of opinion, brother schenk, but I do like The Road To L.A. better.
right now i'm reading Full Of Life. Fante never fails to captivate me. his writing is so fucking smooooth, such a joy to read.
right now i'm reading Full Of Life. Fante never fails to captivate me. his writing is so fucking smooooth, such a joy to read.
justine
stop the penistry
Brett Easton Ellis' novel "The Informers" opens with a quote from "Ask the Dust":
"One night I was sitting on the bed in my hotel room on Bunker Hill, down in the middle of Los Angeles. It was an important night in my life, because I had to make a decision about the hotel. Either I paid up or I got out: that was what the note said, the note the landlady had put under my door. A great problem, deserving acute attention. I solved it by turning out the lights and going to bed."
"One night I was sitting on the bed in my hotel room on Bunker Hill, down in the middle of Los Angeles. It was an important night in my life, because I had to make a decision about the hotel. Either I paid up or I got out: that was what the note said, the note the landlady had put under my door. A great problem, deserving acute attention. I solved it by turning out the lights and going to bed."
mjp
Founding member
Remember that The Road to Los Angeles was Fante's first novel, so it isn't surprising that some would consider it to be a lesser work than the other Bandini novels.
In Cooper's Fante biography he describes how trusted or respected people were pulling Fante in different directions as far as Road to Hollywood is concerned, and how the manuscript was rejected by three publishers (Knopf said it was "unworthy of publication," and rejected it with "particularly great disappointment"). Fante wanted to burn it after the third rejection.
I think Road is very funny, and certainly a precursor to Bukowski's attitude toward, and writing about, work. It's a great beginning to the Bandini saga, but to me, does read like the work of a young or first time novelist. That's one of it's charms though.
In Cooper's Fante biography he describes how trusted or respected people were pulling Fante in different directions as far as Road to Hollywood is concerned, and how the manuscript was rejected by three publishers (Knopf said it was "unworthy of publication," and rejected it with "particularly great disappointment"). Fante wanted to burn it after the third rejection.
I think Road is very funny, and certainly a precursor to Bukowski's attitude toward, and writing about, work. It's a great beginning to the Bandini saga, but to me, does read like the work of a young or first time novelist. That's one of it's charms though.
LickTheStar
Sad Flower in the Sand
Even though this is about a month old and all... The crab attack scene is from Road to Los Angeles (and is awesome!), however getting attacked by crabs and then picked up for vagrancy is in Brotherhood of the Grape. ;)
Brotherhood of the Grape is second only to Ask the Dust as far as my favorite Fante novels go... There's something endlessly meloncholy (can't be buggered to spell that word correctly...) about it... Something strange and sweet. I love it. But Ask the Dust is still the king for me.
ROC
It is what it is
No shit?!
I must check that out.
I've liked some of his work.
Is the Informers any good?
justine
stop the penistry
ROC,
i really enjoyed it. it's a collection of vignettes and the characters in each story are connected in one way or another. mostly it's about the shallowness and superficiality of their existences, the inability of the characters to communicate in any kind of honest way with each other. it's gloomy and brutal and harsh and very funny - and there's even a story featuring vampires! here's my favourite line from the whole book (it's the opening to "water from the sun"):
Danny is on my bed and depressed because Ricky was picked up by a break-dancer at the Odyssey on the night of the Duran Duran look-alike contest and murdered.
i really enjoyed it. it's a collection of vignettes and the characters in each story are connected in one way or another. mostly it's about the shallowness and superficiality of their existences, the inability of the characters to communicate in any kind of honest way with each other. it's gloomy and brutal and harsh and very funny - and there's even a story featuring vampires! here's my favourite line from the whole book (it's the opening to "water from the sun"):
Danny is on my bed and depressed because Ricky was picked up by a break-dancer at the Odyssey on the night of the Duran Duran look-alike contest and murdered.
I have to agree with you. I read 'Brotherhood..' recently and it's leapt into my list of favourite books (narrowly squeezing out 'The Da Vinci code!! ;))