FLOATING OPERA / THE END OF THE ROAD PDF, EPUB, EBOOK John Barth | 188 pages | 11 Mar 1997 | Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc | 9780385240895 | English | New York, United States Floating Opera / the End of the Road PDF Book Theodore Dreiser and Thomas P. Loved each and every part of this book. View 2 comments. Such a position he takes, and soon Horner finds himself involved with a young couple - a fellow teacher, Joe Morgan, and his wife, Rennie - with decidedly determinist views on human behavior. Philip Roth. He said, "I wrote those when I was just about your age. I also don't think that the character is being used as a means to comment on the ideas, instead of presenting them. May 30, Allison rated it liked it. The End of the Road was published by Doubleday in ; it received only marginally more attention than The Floating Opera. My e the passage that I will take to my grave: "So I left the ticket window and took a seat on one of the benches in the middle of the concourse to make up my mind. Our protagonist is a bit of a nihilist, exposed to all kinds of traumas, his PTSD expresses itself as an aloof attitude and philosophy towards life, as well as physical ailments that torment him for years. Since the trio have been involved, Jane has had a daughter whose father could be either of the men. His therapist is a nut, and that's an interesting side story. May 22, Griff Hibbard-Curto rated it really liked it. The ending was unexpected and left me somewhat unsatisfied, but I found it to be a good story with an interesting writing style This book was first published in and my version is from This book was first published in and my version is from Jul 30, Lyn rated it really liked it. Both concern strange, consuming love triangles and the destructive effect of an overactive intellect on the emotions. This is the only John Barth book I have read, and I understand that it pre-dates the more experimental writing style - starting with The Sot-Weed Factor , in - for which he is best known. In that case, we can't Jan 04, terrycojones rated it really liked it. Rennie is afraid of the former because he is truth, he is perfect. Reading The End of the Road. Some consider these first two novels little more than apprentice works, while others see them in light of the later works, removed from their historical and social context. Their relationship to each other is evident not only in their ribald subject matter but in the eccentric characters and bitterly humorous tone of the narratives. To accomplish this he turns on several kerosene lamps and an acetylene torch and then opens the gas burners on the ship stove. Everyone in this book is pretty awful - Jacob treats other human beings like dirt, and the couple have children who barely seem to feature in their "enlightened" scheme of thinking. Published March 11th by Anchor Books first published I understand. Rating details. As a student at Johns Hopkins University he was fascinated by Oriental tale-cycles and medieval collections, a body of literature that would later influence his own writing. I started reading existential literature when, at age 17, I got the U of Illinois pre - enrollment summer reading list. Well, I think I was reading this wrong. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. The Spoils of Poynton. His mastery of non-sequential time structures makes them always seem logical rather than simply divergent and tangential. Anyway, ultimately he becomes so enmeshed in his best and only friends' Joe's and Rennie's lives, that all blows up. Lists with This Book. The Sporting Club. Oddly, despite owning the paperback of "Opera" and "End of the Road" together since what seems like the dawn of time, and too despite the fact that "End of the Road" has long been one of my favorites if not my favorite novel, I never got around to "Opera" until today. I can still do what I want with that message, but I like to understand what it is at least. Always a great time with Mr. Floating Opera / the End of the Road Writer And the second one, with its own empty Meursault in leading role, as the embodiment of the absurd, takes estrangement to its outer limits. In Joe he meets a kindred spirit, who also wants to remove society's masks. He is also very good a co-opting literary styles and making them his own, in this case the narrator is a novice writer who through his inexperience breaks narrative conventions as he understand them, and still manages to tell a compelling story. There are plenty of glimmers here of what would later become Barth's signature brilliance. Its first-person protagonist, Jacob Horner, suffers from nihilistic paralysis: an inability to choose a course of action. The Floating Opera For a first novel, this book has everything -- love in the trenches, a best buddy who shares his hot-wife, a suicide, an attempted suicide, a failed mass murder, a minstrel show, fortunes gained, fortunes lost -- he really packed it in. Jack introduces him to his wife, Rennie. Reading John Barth's "The Floating Opera and The End of the Road" is as much fun that you can have while wearing pants, though you could read the book naked just make sure nobody is looking in on you through the window or if your going to read nude close the curtains. Dead Babies. The fact that these two men met each other is a cosmic comedy in of itself, but it is a testament to Barth's writing that he avoids making these two characters the most deplorable creatures at least in my opinion. These two novels are a much better reading experience than GG-B I told him I loved the two books so much. I could also see why someone especially a woman would consider it sexist tripe that is properly consigned to a time of attitudes in society and in literature that's better left dead. Barth's next novel, Giles Goat-Boy, of comparable size, is a speculative fiction based on the conceit of the university as universe. Well now Mr. When you buy a book, we donate a book. She apologized for apologizing, so he hit her again. Autumn I read the book quickly postponing a lot of stuff but I would only advise it to experienced readers not ridden with sexism. Now the show audience is in the same literal and figurative boat as Todd — their death could come at any second, just like his. Read or Don't Read this book but don't call yourself a writer or lover of literature if you don't go forth and read it go forth in your Levi's and if you don't own a pair well then you can order a pair on Amazon. I read these two books in college and had the opportunity to meet John Barth at a book signing in the mid-eighties. Happy to have finally read it. I liked "The Floating Opera" a lot when I read it in high school, but not so much when I re-read it later in life. May 21, Jeff Buddle rated it really liked it. Truth to tell, I knew that all along. She comes across as devoid of an ego, " A man she detests for his deeds and rhetoric, and yet she grows attracted to because of this Probably no need to do so] "Whereas the book ends with an abortion, the film is an abortion from beginning to end. Feb 01, Josh Friedlander rated it really liked it Shelves: existentialist , comedy. Foreword The Floating Opera was written in the first three months of ; its companion piece, The End of the Road , in the last three months of the same year. Become a LibraryThing Author. The Floating Opera remains the very first novel of a very young man, but I'm pleased that it will sink or float now in its original design. University of Missouri Press. Although, it is tackling big themes such as the nature of grief and the intrinsic value of life it is also an engaging narrative told by a charming and somewhat sympathetic narrator. In Duvall, John N. Otherwise you may get infected with some very questionable ideas that come up in the book but are not served as truths or justice as far as I can judge. Yet all those around her seem to regard her with condescension and disdain. Virginia Woolf. Jun 30, Ian "Marvin" Graye rated it really liked it Shelves: sartre , read , reviewsstars , wittgenstein , barth. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. May 27, Dustin rated it really liked it. Another old-style, yellowed paperback that is going in the recycling bin. There are a few places of laugh-out-loud humor. John Barth has notoriously endorsed the view of critic John Simon whereby it is said that view spoiler ["The principal difference between the novel and the film is that the novel concludes with a harrowing abortion, whereas the film is an abortion from start to finish. He demonstrates his approach by asking how many seats there are in the Cleveland Municipal Stadium: "Logic will never give you the answer to my question. Others, at a glance, "Horner" looked like "Homer". Probably no need to do so] In other way they are simply men looking at the same map but with two different compasses.