Leselampe

von Graham Hains
Australischer Fotokünstler, der seit 2015 die internationalen Dichterinnen und Schriftsteller Berlins porträtiert. Vom 16.2. bis zum 25.5. ist seine Ausstellung "INK - The Stadtsprachen Portraits" im Literarischen Colloqium Berlin zu sehen.

William H. Gass
Der Tunnel
(Roman), Aus dem Amerikanischen Englisch von Nikolaus Stingl, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 2011

With the passing of William Gass on December 7th 2017 I thought to pay homage to this giant of the English language and reread his masterpiece "The Tunnel".

A novel, a compendium of sentences/words, what does such a label matter to an anti-novel masterpiece such as this? To read/engage with this book is an experience of pure joy, an opportunity to bedaub oneself with language by a master of the word.

Words as pictures, marks on a page, puzzles, no once-upon-a-time, words loaded with meaning, meaninglessness, sad, funny, sadly funny, terrifying, exhilarating, words as sounds, songs, sonatas, symphony.
There is a plot and a structure to this book, but they are of secondary importance, if they’re of any importance at all. One reads this book to engage with language, to marvel at the brilliance of a book that took over twenty-five years to write.
There is also an audio CD of the book available in which W. Gass reads the book’s entire 651 pages. It takes him 45 hours.

Having almost finished the rereading of "The Tunnel" and needing more, I’ve ordered the CD, and as of this writing I’m eagerly awaiting its arrival.