An Essay on Difficulty; Or, A Defense of The Recognitions 

I’m glad you posted this. I remember watching that video by the book chemist and feeling uncomfortable because of the deafening ignorance

Thanks brother. I loved JR and am halfway through the Recognitions now. Gaddis is an amazing writer and I will be addressing this as well in my live Friday evening

Thank you. This video really 'healed' me from others I watched recently (not only about the Recognitions).

Excellent video. I’m not at all familiar with gaddis but find it immensely liberating to ease up on thinking of books that are difficult as “whoah, difficult book, lots of work” and so on because it tends to overshadow the gratification and reward in the experience. And of course the whole “I read difficult books” shtick is just embarrassing, you do a great job of pointing that out with this idea of seeing oneself as the ideal reader. Haven’t thought of it like that before, thanks for the perspective

I salute you for your efforts. The video of the Bookchemist is filled to the brim with contradictions and you point out every single one of them. This Ben Marcus essay really hits the nail on it's head, and rearticulates my own thoughts regarding difficulty in the most lucid manner possible. I don't have anything to add. I guess maybe I wouldn't say Art is salvation. For me it's more an exploration or adventure, like a semi-lucid dream which is deliberately pushed to it's limits by the creator and reader. But for others it can definitely be a form of salvation.

This is beautiful. I felt hurt for the book community when I watched his review of The Recognitions. It was an insult to one of the most perfect books I've ever read for no good reason. It saddened me to see people in the comments saying they will take this book off their to-read list because of the video. So to watch you respectfully refute his argument was perfect Plus, your reasons for reading and your thoughts on "difficult literature" are some of the best I have ever heard. Instant subscription from me and I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts down the road.

Man, you're churning out the uploads nowadays! Keep 'em comin'!

Yes indeed, this needed doing and you were just the one for the job! Just hope a few of his viewers drop by this channel! Most eloquent, many thanks.

I found this very educational and inspiring, am reading The Recognitions, thank you very much!! A book i seek to learn from, and that is what books worth reading should be.

Thank you for this articulate and pointed response. TBC was my portal to BookTube during my Pynchon phase and he always seemed to take at least a mostly academic approach to his reviews, despite eventually choosing to focus on blander and lackluster titles. But any clout he had left went out the window with his lazy review of The Recognitions. Its intellectual dishonesty was so blatant that I honestly couldn’t finish watching it. His dismissal of the disappearance of Wyatt’s name as a pointless difficulty was the final straw, as if there wasn’t any sort of symbolism or meaning behind an art forger becoming anonymous to the narrative. Dude is supposed to be a freaking literature PhD... My disappointment in him is deeply seated.

Excited to watch this!

An excellent video. I've a similar mentality with a lot of "difficult" books. If one doesn't understand a particular section there is an opportunity present to learn something, or a reason to read the book again. No need to whinge about it.

Whew! Great commentary!

Well said! I read The Recognitions twenty years back and just read JR in January. I love the experience of reading Gaddis's funny, clever and intricate fiction. I was thrilled when Ben Marcus shot back at Franzen for the "Mr. Difficult" hatchet job. My wife's favorite novel in The Flame Alphabet and neither of us can stand Franzen's stuff. I watched Book Chemist's video and felt sorry for him. What is it about difficult literature and music that gives smart people such an inferiority complex?

sounds like you need a heavy dose of 'all them witches' ;) - i agree with you my friend. glad you speak up about things that burn inside you. keep up the content , we all really love hearing you.

I subbed to bookchemist for the longest time and I always had trouble getting through his videos. But it wasn't until his Recognitions review that it clicked for me how shallow his analysis tends to be. And while I hadn't read it at the time his criticisms of Gaddis seemed so absurd to me that I just couldn't believe it. When I eventually got to read it became clear just how blatantly wrong he was. I think you nail it with your analysis. Much needed video.

Great video man, ya I thought the TBC review in question was pretty bizarre and didn’t finish watching it. Seemed almost like he just wanted to make a video of something he disliked. Thing is, he could have done it properly but was not interested in doing so. I dunno, it was just weird...you nailed it though. (I got about as far as he did a few years back and gave up, but absolutely psyched to try again)

I subscribed for the thumbnails. Never disappointed.

A quote from Alexander Theroux's Theroux Metaphrastes comes to mind - "I have a very amplified prose style. You will understand little of this white paper, reader, and sympathize with less, in assuming outright that nothing worthwhile can proceed from that extremity."

Serendipitously, I received a comment on my Gaddis video very recently inquiring about how homophobic The Recognitions is. The commenter was asking because they'd, "heard [it is] deeply homophobic even for the time period." I did a quick google search and didn't find any substantial claims of homophobia (or any at all, really, sans one GoodReads review) so I was left wondering where the commenter had heard this. Now I know, of course. I couldn't recall any segments from the book that were so-called homophobic (and in fact, I'd made up my mind that Gaddis probably reserved judgment on the matter), so I'm not surprised to hear that TheBookChemist's indictment lacks actual evidence. Though, I'd be very interested in (and open to) knowing what it is he thinks is homophobic about The Recognitions, assuming the indictment is somewhat sincere and not just a cop-out. I wonder what he thinks about DFW's depictions of transgenderism in IJ... or if he's read any Vollmann...

I couldn't agree more with your sharp critiques. Death is a gang boss.

Hi! New sub here. I had a similar experience in my 1 year at a "good college" I’ll just say that I felt that my parents money was being wasted and couldn’t stay there any longer, I enjoy studying but can’t connect with the institutions of "education". I have never heard of the book/author you talked about, but now I’m interested. 🤔

Great vid, dude

1:03 Justice? You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law.

Great video; a defense of reading.

I too was mystified by that tbc review. Im struggling through mcelroy right now and its very difficult. But does that make it bad? No. I wouldn't have made it halfway through lookout cartridge if it was bad. Even a book I hated, like Freedom by Franzen, I hesitate to call bad. It wasnt my bag, man

I got the feeling watching his video that TheBookchemist doesn’t understand American history/culture in the least. The stuff about Gaddis being a Beat writer is just one datapoint in support of this.

Man... just watched your video and then went to watch the book chemists' review of The Recognitions... man oh man... You're correct. He should be absolutely embarrassed by that video. How a person can record themselves saying they did not even finish the book yet go on a 15 minute diatribe on the work as a whole is ridiculous. The amount of times he assumes, incorrectly in my opinion, Gaddis' personal views, intent and characterization from a book that he didn't even complete is astounding and his self awareness is shockingly nonexistent. His video is the exact kind of fraudulent nonsense that a book like The Recognitions, that is already heavily underappreciated, doesnt need and attempts to expose. The book chemist would fit right into one of the party scenes. 👍 Great video.

You should be ashamed of this video. Jk I actually agree with you a lot and am really disappointed by his hipster comment(and his weird WASP comment). Especially since if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have read all of Pynchon or all of Umbert Eco. I think its okay to not like these mammoth works, I certainly don't like Infinite Jest but not because it's "difficult". Actually a portion where I differ from you is that I seek out difficult works. I love the challenge, they always present new modes of thinking that I wasn't previously used to and the ones that captured me informed my world view. It's the same when reading philosophy or as you said mathematics. Also like my favorite teacher said this is not chemistry where you get the same reactions each time. Human interaction is vast and unpredictable so why would you expect the literature(communication theory in this case) to be easy. Telling an artist not to write difficult prose is like telling a musician not to play fast. If they're playing random notes sure but there is something captivating about seeing a person's intellect on display, even more so when it ties into a very human message.

Need more Gaddis vids

Having spent 3 months deep-reading the transcendent Ulysses, I found The Recognitions almost categorically not difficult, aside from the beautifully dense first 200 pages or so, before it descends into what I consider banal banter and bathetically-executed scenes (and I do mean bathos with a 'b'). I mean this in the best way possible: you have a kind of Adam Driver coprophagic grin about you, which I found delightful to watch. Keep up the great work! And but so the 'debate' against difficulty is beyond old and tired at this point, especially when it's so subjective. I'll leave people with this, from Steve Moore's My Back Pages: "the main charge is ‘difficulty,’ yet only in literature does this seem to be a sin. One rarely sees a music critic complain that Philip Glass expects too much of his listeners, or reads that Merce Cunningham expects too much from his audience. In diving competitions and magic acts the degree of difficulty is admired. But let a writer execute a difficult task with breathtaking technique, and mostly what’s heard is heckling-whining and moaning about how much effort is involved in watching the artist work. What should be a privilege is treated like an affront.” Warmly, George Salis

Once TBC made it through the greatest hits of the 20th Century what remained was someone with very little individual or interesting taste. His literary takes outside of his phd focus (and even many within it) are lackluster. Thanks for the chat.

As of late I see a lot of indiscretions being made on booktube and they go unchallenged. This is very infuriating and difficult to watch. I am often caught between wanting to leave a comment calling out these heinous things or just walking away because I know my comment will just end up at the bottom. I suppose I am just glad I see at least one horrible indiscretion being challenged.

For a community of people that read, and have also probably written their fair share of theses, the "book-tube-community" pretty much worships the content of its creators without challenging any of their claims. So, while I don't really have a stance on either side here (have not read the recognitions yet) this video was still interesting to listen to. What I specifically found interesting were your comments about being alienated while in college. I'm also from a family in that American lower-middle-class grouping. I think it is because of that upbringing (plus working for minimum wage to pay for my classes at a community college), that I also have never fully fit in with the sort of faux-bohemian-crowd you're describing here. I also kind of hate that I see them as a "type of person" because it only further feeds into this cycle of alienation. I'd be interested to know if you struggle with that part of it at all? Also, towards the end of the video you mention Derrida in a not so positive fashion. Again, I really have no attachments to that opinion either way, but just out of curiosity wanted to ask: What is it that you don't like about Derrida? Do you reject the concept of différance? Or do you just dislike / reject post-modern philosophy in general?

I've finished 'The Recognitions' yesterday and I have to say that I couldn't agree more with you; stupid superficial stuff (really indefensable stuff) like what the Bookchemist said about this book are also unnervingly close to the cheap critics' reactions that Jack Green enumerated in 'Fire the Bastards!' and Gaddis himself predicted in the very God damn book - dismissive 'reviews' being made by people that didn't even actually read the thing, bastards seeing and judging everything in terms of reputations and biased expectations, etc. And here we are, that many decades later, still dealing with the same shit. (Oh, and thanks a lot for the Ben Marcus essay that you linked in the description: really really good.)

Fire the Chemists!

There might be people out there who read difficult books just for the sake of difficulty but this is obviously not sustainable. Sooner rather than later they will give it up. This is why I think the vast majority of people are genuine in their appreciation of a book like The Recognitions. I cannot fathom reading thousand page books just to get through them, it would be such a waste of one’s life. There is something to be said about pushing your limit, but if there’s no enjoyment and you hate every page of it, there is no point. Come back to it in 5-10 years, maybe you will enjoy it then. There are novels out there that I don’t understand the appeal of myself which are considered masterpieces but I will not tear them down. I never liked people’s arguments that describe a book as difficult and diss it mainly because of that. You don’t like it, fine, put it down and pick something else.

Hi there, I saw the book chemist video on the recognitions the other day and it was a horrible experience. Maybe because I'm starting to read the book.... , it doesn't really matter to me if the book "seems" difficult (I just started to read it in Spanish, and it not seems like that), but I understand your point and I agree with you. And I like also the second part of the video.

You're dressed like one of those dudes from Star Trek

The Book Chemist has high praise for Less by Sean Greer which is downright awful so I don't take much stock in his opinions. I don't recall him doing reviews on any William T. Vollmann works. I wonder how "diffcult" he is for him.🤣😂🤣😂

I love both your channel and the chemist’s. I watched the video to which you are responding, and I agree that its not my favorite video of his. But I think the guy should be allowed to voice his opinions. I dont think he is claiming to make some masterful critical essay on Gaddis. I think he is just posting a little video about his experience reading it. I think maybe you are taking his video a little too seriously is all Im saying, even if it isnt his best.

Oof. RIP, the Bookchemist.

I remember when he all of the sudden changed his mind about DFW.

Kinda good to see this now , I’ve been saying he and the book food dude are d-bags for years I really don’t even think they read , just skim essays and branch , probably listen to 30 minutes of an audiobook and then make up some “review”... one of them actually hacked one of my old reviews and used whole sentences I said in my video in their “review”... I never bothered hitting back cuz whatever 🙄 since I do actually love reading, part Of me loved the swindle lol ... anyway at the same time I feel that reading tastes do change over time and I’ve always agreed that no book is actually “difficult” if you spend any real time with a book it will Show you how to read it, especially the classics I have been struggling recently with war and peace but only because I just am Not really in the mood and the themes are too obvious to Me So I find it kinda boring tbh know that sounds pretentious. I also don’t understand why if a book actually is homophobic or anything else it actually matters? I’ve never seen a community like it in my life, readers and stuff who want to approve of censoring or cancelling artists. anyway thanks for making the response

Wait where does Better than Food lift it like a weight? I wanna see that hahahaha

maybe amend your comment on his video summarizing points made here. would be seen by more people who otherwise would take the schmuck at his word.

Thrice unlucky Herman Melville! … This is an odd book, professing to be a novel; wantonly eccentric; outrageously bombastic; in places charmingly and vividly descriptive. The author has read up laboriously to make a show of cetalogical learning … Herman Melville is wise in this sort of wisdom. He uses it as stuffing to fill out his skeleton story. Bad stuffing it makes, serving only to try the patience of his readers, and to tempt them to wish both him and his whales at the bottom of an unfathomable sea … Mr. Melville cannot do without savages so he makes half of his dramatis personae wild Indians, Malays, and other untamed humanities … What the author’s original intention in spinning his preposterous yarn was, it is impossible to guess; evidently, when we compare the first and third volumes, it was never carried out … Having said so much that may be interpreted as a censure, it is right that we should add a word of praise where deserved. There are sketches of scenes at sea, of whaling adventures, storms, and ship-life, equal to any we have ever met with … Mr. Herman Melville has earned a deservedly high reputation for his performances in descriptive fiction. He has gathered his own materials, and travelled along fresh and untrodden literary paths, exhibiting powers of no common order, and great originality. The more careful, therefore, should he be to maintain the fame he so rapidly acquired, and not waste his strength on such purposeless and unequal doings as these rambling volumes about spermaceti whales.” -London Literary Gazette, December 6 1851

Great commentary. As an aside, you're a handsome guy, but the camera needs to be further away.

I could see BChem tramping all over my favorite novel, which is Musil's brilliant Man Without Qualities, and might then blast him with all barrels. this being noted, i have to say BChem in that vid several times notes he is expressing his personal opinion as to when to quit a book. He finished half way through. had he persevered, as i did recently with Mason and Dixon, the substantive review might have differed. Trying tto figure out were next to spend my time. Having watched a Gaddis interrview, I'd have to skip the Recognitions in favor of some other modern books. Gaddis seemed a mediocre intelligence to me in the vein of Cormac McCarthy , Faulkner, Steinbeck. And, have yet to see a review of Recogitions- perhaps Orpheus will provide one--to cause me to run out and buy the book.

Have you tried having a conversation with the guy before dragging him around? I’m sure you guys would get along and some of your cheeky questions would be answered. Unless that isn’t what you want.

'fucking lifts it like a weight' LMFAO

He's like a werewolf, except that with each additional gray hair, the Book Chemist becomes more of a woman

I must be stupid. Gaddis vs Einstein. And the word is library not libarry.library. You didn't read and understand and enjoy Finnegan's Wake. MELVILLE is not difficult. Pompous does seem like the right word. Name dropping the Fairy Queen.

bro chill

I watched Bookchemist’s video when it came out a couple weeks ago and I thought, “huh, he had some criticisms” and I went on about my day fully intending to read The Recognitions in April. Your harsh tirade about the Bookchemist has actually made me less likely to read the book. Just thought you should know.

Your interpretation sometimes is uncharitable.