tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post6642008693260618148..comments2024-03-27T18:12:22.027-07:00Comments on RAWIllumination.net: Robert Anton Wilson and Bernard Wolfe? Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-73415344924580524042015-06-20T05:46:38.484-07:002015-06-20T05:46:38.484-07:00My impression is that Wolfe was treated better by ...My impression is that Wolfe was treated better by critics; true? Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-8336753933727085302015-06-20T05:45:08.210-07:002015-06-20T05:45:08.210-07:00No, not too facile at all: I'm fascinated by t...No, not too facile at all: I'm fascinated by the comparison. I love the way you toss off interesting ideas.<br /><br />Which Wolfe books should I try? Thinking of Limbo. Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-35750758902125860492015-06-20T02:25:38.449-07:002015-06-20T02:25:38.449-07:00Bergler was the Savonarola of Freudianism: All sex...Bergler was the Savonarola of Freudianism: All sex other than monogamous man-above babymaking was "Neurotic Counterfeit-Sex." Wolfe loved his theories, which was a big part of what was wrong with Wolfe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-84502548057363134372015-06-19T16:14:44.391-07:002015-06-19T16:14:44.391-07:00I saw a similarity in "careers" as write...I saw a similarity in "careers" as writers. Their interests intersected in many interesting ways, but Wolfe was 17 yrs older than Wilson. If I'd have known you were going to seize on my passing thought, I'd have been more careful: I confess I wanted more RAW fans to check into Wolfe. <br /><br />There's somewhere in my notes where RAW says he admires Wolfe's writing. He quotes Wolfe a few times, for example, in _Sex, Drugs and Magick_:<br /><br />"The blood of the rebel runs thin." (82)<br /><br />On p.84 RAW quotes Wolfe's metaphorical take on the human brain: "hive of anarchy."<br /><br />What I was privately thinking when I suggested the similarity of CAREERS as writers: they both came from the East Coast, and ended up on the West Coast. They both were trained for "responsible" careers (Wolfe: psychology/psychiatry; RAW: engineering), but they gave that up to be writers. They both "dreck" for money and they both compiled oeuvres - both non-fiction and fiction - that were so erudite and odd that the New York intellectuals didn't review them. They both had/have a sort of "cult" status. They both went through a Trotsky phase. I think Wolfe lived too early to let the 1960s rewire his orientation. <br /><br />I see both writers as producing a body of work that cultural curators tend to not understand fully (or even know about), and if they do know about their work they don't know how to classify them. Both writers were very much free agents who were massively erudite and used much humor. Neither guy belonged to a school, but Wolfe's main exegete (as far as I can tell), Geduld, seems to see Wolfe's influence, the psychoanalyst Bergler - who thought humans had a masochistic streak that is the Big Deal in human history - as possibly too influential on Wolfe's post-Really the Blues book. <br /><br />Similarly, it can be argued that RAW was perhaps too influenced by Wilhelm Reich for a time, although I personally find this one of the more fascinating and intriguing aspects of RAW's thought. <br /><br />I could go on, but your point is well-taken: there are crucial differences between the two, and my lines were probably too facile.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5887440039323868659.post-5748950711861920732015-06-19T11:14:00.191-07:002015-06-19T11:14:00.191-07:00I mostly agree with you about Bernard Wolfe: Old L...I mostly agree with you about Bernard Wolfe: Old Left Marx/Freud reductionism and a mean streak you could run six lanes of traffic on. Bit he had a sense of humor and wrote great dialogue. I particularly liked <i>The Late Risers</i>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com