Joseph and His Brothers vs Rabbit Angstrom

Joseph and His Brothers vs Rabbit Angstrom.

Which is the superior tetralogy?

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Joseph of course

Updike has amazing prose though

Quite impressive to read two 1,500 page books.

Im just in the middle of another Updike read through. This time it's In the Beauty of the Lilies and im enjoying it more then any book in recent memory; and those include Mann's A Man And HIs Dog and Confessions of Felix Krull, so there.

I've only read 2 of the Rabbit books and none of Joseph, but im thinking of following up In The Beauty of the Lilies with Buddenbrooks, if for no reason then the two being ,i imagine very different, generational novel's

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It’s lucky, I read Mann very recently but Updike I’ve been familiar with for years. He is a great modern American writer to study in terms of style and realism.

I read Buddenbrocks recently, was very impressed. The balance of characters, the way he handles the long historical sweep without getting bogged down, the detailing.
Can't believe its the work of such a young man

I wonder why Bloom didn't list it in The Western Canon.

Joseph is much better. Rabbit is good, though.

Since we're talking tetrologies, The Sea of Fertility is also great.

Never heard of that book. Heard of the author, though. Did you read it in Japanese?

I did not; I read it in English and the translations that are out there are wonderful.

which translation of joseph and his brothers is the best

john e woods

Which translation?

Rabbit. Updike's prose is great, some of his descriptions never fade from memory, they're so lucid and sensuous. I don't think there's a single poorly drawn character in Updike, although he does have a phony moment here and there.

Mann's themes are puerile and platitudinous all the way through. His characters are dead words on the page. I don't think he even intended them to be anything but marionettes for le big ideas.

Are you memeing?

Which translator did you read?

Is a tetrology the thinking man's trilogy? Think pic related may be the best of English modernism

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Got really bored of this one about 80 pages in to the first book, should I try again? I really love The Good Soldier.

I'd give it another go. It starts very conventional, both on terms of technique and in terms of plot, but that slow start pays off later.
As the book goes on the narrative and the prose get increasingly cubist, fractured, confusing, reflecting the impact the war has had on both Tietjens and that staid world those early chapters detail.
It sounds like you might have stopped just before it gets interesting.

I didn't realize that was four books.

Why would anyone want to read fiction written about ancient Egypt. Sounds horrendous

>Mann's themes are puerile and platitudinous all the way through

Im on team Dike as well, but Mann has plenty of life in him. Confessions of Felix Krull is nothing but life and Peeperkorn from TMM is another obvious example.