The Recognitions

In a habit I sustained in college I make it a practice to underline the most quotable lines of novels I read: The Recognitions has underlines on every page. Gaddis is a major literary talent who hasn't yet even begun to receive the following of which he is worthy. This novel concerns the discoveries, both major and minor, of what is authentic in life: The Recognitions is enlightening, almost beatific, in the way in which it focuses upon the shortcomings and moral lapses of humans in pursuit of true art. From the starving painter whose unappreciated genius leads him to forge Flemish masters to a musician whose copied work played upon a great pipe organ brings down a chapel to counterfeitors of money and plagiarists of drama, this of work of Gaddis is the real thing. It is brilliant, witty, original and his command of the language is breathtakingly stunning in its execution. One can see the influence of James Joyce throughout the writing in an experimental style that is breakthrough. It is incredibly inventive and funny and astonishingly intelligent. It's no wonder that The Recognitions went unrecognized for so tragically long -- Gaddis is, without doubt, one of the top half-dozen of American literary novelists of the 20th century ranking with Bellow, Barth, Vonnegut, Hemingway and Faulkner. The writing is work by a fellow of verifiable genius: I strongly recommend that you to discover Gaddis -- he will enrich your life and help you better understand the nature of the personal epiphanies that give meaning to life.

I read Gaddis's masterpiece about 5 years ago. Like any formidable task, I had to persist to finish it. But The Recognitions has influenced me as much as the Holy Bible.The book is difficult. It entwines a variety of themes, characters, and vignettes. But the pervasive theme is forgery. With great entertainment, Gaddis suggests that most lives are forgeries, as are most works of art and texts -- in one sense or another. Recognitions, whereby one tastes a sense of something real, occur rarely in a lifetime , if at all. (For me, reading this book was a recognition.)Gaddis's favorite and most resonant metaphor is the church, in particular the Roman Catholic church. Many of his characters are named for the saints, who, along with bishops of all sects, wore and wear gowns, while hiding a thousand yards of material up their sleeves. No only do their gowns, or robes (feminine by custom) deceive us politically,socially, and economically -- not to mention religiously, they are sexually alluring, suggesting easy entre' both homosexually and heterosexually. The former is better disguised in the book -- as befits its theme, but it makes the greater imprint (especially since homosexuality is still proscribed by the Church as unnatural and spiritually and physically injurious)... Gaddis is after more than our personal forgeries and those of our art, he is out to "expose" the most sacred of our cows: our beliefs and our faith.

Gaddis' Recognitions is a stunningly huge book, and if you have any appreciation at all for the likes of Thomas Pychon (ditto David Wallace and Kurt Vonnegut), you definitely should check this one out. It kicked off the whole mess. It's a postmodern headscratcher supreme.The main character of the book, Wyatt Gwyon, drops out of the priesthood and eventually becomes an art forger, a practice that seems at odds with the pious life. But by the time the book is done, using the forgery of art as a symbol for all the world's forgeries and half-truths, the concepts of authorship, originality, faith, and reality itself all come into question.The second plot, concerning a playwright named Otto, focuses on the act of artistic creation, the corruption of the publishing world, the parties and thoughts of so-called "intellectuals," and the basic moral poverty in America today.In still another plot line, Stanley, the organ player, religious as any saint in the Bible (a slightly shorter book) is used to challenge notions of faith in every context - political, social, and religious.Weaving these far-flung plots together is a difficult job, but Gaddis pulls it off with an effort that threatens to break through the pages. At times labored and over-dense, the book still comes off as a success. While balancing such a full plate research finds its way in, research on our collective past: Flemish art, Mithraism, early Catholicism, philosophy, protestantism, myth and folklore, stigmatics, ad absurdum, but it's also absolutely mind-boggling to behold. This book is difficult, as complicated as any I've ever read, but the effort, though it requires an extraordinary one sometimes, pays off. If you read to rest your eyes don't let the sun set on you here; if not, challenge yourself!

The Recognitions is the extreme terminus of "The Catcher in the Rye." Both are concerned with exposing the phony, the counterfeit. Gaddis' work is far more mature, wide ranging and dispairing. His erudition is breathtaking. The work attacks the fake and counterfeit in society, art, Christianity, personal morality and business. My favorite bits are Gaddis' thrashing of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People", and the weird flashes into the pagan underpinning of Christianity. Many questions are raised and left unresolved, indeed are unresolvable. The narrative is left in fragments that bleed in all directions, blurring the line between narrative and non-narrative, the conscious and the unconscious. It is a beautiful if bitter book.PS In my opinion The Recognitions and Gravity's Rainbow are very different and not derivative one from the other. The Recognitions is about fakes, its style jagged fragmentation, highly realistic. GR is paranoid, fragmented like an opium dream or acid trip, and it comes off like a big practical joke or comic book. Read both! Don't think if you've read one, you've got the other.

When asked to explain The Recognitions, to cover all its unforgettable characters, exceptional dialogue, or breathtaking prose, you find yourself at a loss for words... Why this novel so unread is beyond me. Its big, yes, but goes by quickly; it has loads of references, yes, but who cares: if you get them, fine, if you don't, don't sweat it--they're not integral to the story. I think the biggest misconception is that the book is difficult. It is not. Not like Ulysses, or Gravity's Rainbow (must reads, too!)... it's simply a beautiful book full of characters you'll never forget. And it's hilarious to boot. Do yourself a favour and read it! Shall I sing the love song of Otto & Esme?