RIP Bill Styron

(whoops, messed up the linking) and Elegant Variation's links and more links for Styron here.

I saw him at the Paris Review Revel a few years ago. I really wanted to shake his hand and tell him that his fiction has meant a lot to me. I got to tell him, but he just kinda stared at me. He looked so feeble ... hope his passing was a calm one.

i work at the hospital where he died, and i got to see him and his family a lot this week. he was well-loved and his stay and passing was quite memorable. i can't say more, but it was nice that everyone that loved him had so much time to say goodbye.

i'm embarrassed to say that i've never actually read one of his books! i definitely want to read lie down in darkness someday. needless to say, anyone who had a hand in creating the paris review is much appreciated by me. or maybe it isn't needless to say. in any case, i appreciate the paris review.

Sad news. I read Lie Down in Darkness last year, sort of on a whim, because it was mentioned favorably in Dan Wakefield's memoir New York in the 50s, having never read anything by Styron previously, and never having seen Sophie's Choice. Despite having some of the typical faults of a first novel, it was big and ambitious and contained many remarkable passages. Then last month, I read Darkness Visible, which was well worth the 80-pages of reading time.

Yeah, I actually picked up Darkness Visible today.

Lie Down in Darkness is among my favorite books--alternately beautiful and chilling. I liked a lot of his essays and Darkness Visible as well. He came to read at my school once, and he signed a book for me, drawling that the battered condition of the book was "a good sign."

Can I just say that I cannot stand Sophie's Choice? The vast majority of it is stupid and juvenile and narcissistic. It's the only book I can think of where you're RELIEVED to get to the Nazi stuff, because everything else is just too trivial to bear. I maintain that it's an artistic failure because the juxtaposition of "ultimate evil" and "obnoxious young man tries to get laid" is just too jarring.

Also, being even remotely familiar with Styron's early career ruins the character of Stingo even further. The slushpile reading job, the opening scene of Lie Down in Darkness, smug cutesy references to its critical reception.