Posted by guillermo maynez
on 29/11/2011, 12:36:15, in reply to "Re: Omensetter's Luck by William H. Gass"
189.178.234.130
Thank you!! Well beyond, but really fascinating. The map is much duller in Mexico, where almost everybody is Catholic!!
Now, for all I know, Methodist preachers are allowed to marry. But Jethro Furber doesn't sound like someone attractive enough, and certainly not with a sanely developed sexuality! His character shows, far deeper than any other I've read about, the extent to which religion may cause acute sexual repression, frustration and then perversion. In this he reminded me of the tortured, alcoholic priest in Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory".
--Previous Message--
: This is getting well off the topic of the novel, but
: there's a fascinating set of maps here:
: http://allthingspolitical.50megs.com/Religious_denominations.html
: that shows the distribution of various religions and
: denominations in the U.S. You can see that the
: Methodist church is particularly strong in southern
: Ohio.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Yes, I agree, Steven. Furber is probably a Methodist.
: Although Methodism is commonly associated with
: "low church" practices and beliefs, it
: encompasses a very great range, including liturgical
: "high church" forms of worship. It also is
: a likely choice for the only church in a small town in
: Ohio in the 1890s.
:
: Lutherans and, of course, Episcopalians are also
: liturgical churches. Most American Lutherans seem to
: be of Scandinavian extraction, which does not seem to
: be the primary heritage of the residents of Gilean.
: Episcopalianism did not spread like Methodism partly
: because it remained an apostolic denomination. You
: have to be blessed by a bishop to join the church.
: The Wesleys and their followers realized that the
: church could spread much faster if ordained ministers
: could admit new converts.
:
: Furber is certainly not associated with Calvinist
: non-liturgical churches such as Presbyterian or
: Baptist. The more I think about it I definitely think
: that Furber is a Methodist with high church leanings.
: (And no faith.)
:
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: --Previous Message--
: I'm pretty sure that Furber is a Methodist. I recall
: something said about its being considered unusual that
: he had not married. The Methodist church is
: predominant in that region and would have had a church
: in every town. Methodism was one of the earliest
: evangelical movements to break away from the Anglican
: church, and its services and use of imagery bear more
: resemblance to the Anglican and Catholic models than
: do those of other Protestant denominations.
:
: --Previous Message--
: I have read some very long and difficult novels, and I
: have immensely enjoyed some of them (Joyce's
: "Ulysses" or Broch's "The Death of
: Virgil" come to my mind). With this book, I
: traversed a deep valley: I started enthusiastical
: about the structure and narrative point of view
: (Isrobestis Tott), remained interested in the
: "story" (Henry Pimber), and then struggled
: through the excruciating 80+ pages of Jethro Furber's
: first chapter. I confess I was close to giving up, but
: fortunately a long experience as a reader has taught
: me that, with works of literature well established in
: reputation after some time, it is usually worth it to
: persevere (not always, of course). So I did, and I am
: glad about it.
:
: I hadn't, of course, thought about
: "Amadeus", but the comparison is
: illuminating. Throughout the book, I was constantly
: reminded of Faulkner, especially the latest book I
: have read by him, "The Hamlet" first
: published in 1940. I am also convinced that Henry
: committed suicide; I see no reason for Omensetter to
: having killed him, but I'm not sure there was an
: affair between Pimber's wife and him. By the way, am I
: right to think that both wives (Pimber's and
: Omensetter's) are called Lucy?
:
: Now, of course the central character is Furber, and I
: don't think anyone could call him a likable character.
: Obviously the man has serious sexual frustrations and
: fixations. Is he a Catholic priest or a Protestant
: minister? All the imagery (and celibacy, of course)
: indicates to me that he's Catholic, although I've
: never thought of Ohio as a very Catholic place, except
: for Italian or Polish immigrants. And obviously, he's
: a bad man that has a "change of heart" at
: the end of the book, accompanied by a severe nervous
: collapse.
:
: --Previous Message--
: I think this book--it's hard to call it a novel--would
: appeal to those who like David Markson, John Barth,
: Harry Mathews, or Robert Coover. It's quite different
: from, but in a way supportive of, Omensetter's Luck
: It was first published in 1968.
:
:
: It sounds very interesting. I don't know who Harry
: Mathews is, but I used to love John Barth. I haven't
: read any of his work written since the 1980s. I have
: read only one work each by Coover ( The Public Burning
: ) and Markson ( WM ) but both were terrific. I
: definitely plan to read more Gass.
:
: I hope others will be joining the two of us in this
: discussion.
:
:
: Yes, I wish that we had a broader discussion of
: Omensetter's Luck , too. Guillermo said that he
: planned to read it, and I seem to recall that Lale
: might join you in reading The Tunnel . I hope they
: and some of the other less active members (joffre, for
: instance?) will read this difficult but glorious
: novel.
:
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: --Previous Message--
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