Kafka, Joyce and Bulgakov

[Veva]

Hi , why do you think that Kafka, Bulgakov and Joyce are innovative?

[a lost weekend]

Hi , why do you think that Kafka, Bulgakov and Joyce are innovative?

Well, gee, I don't know if there is much debate as-to-whether Herr Kafka or Monsieur Joyce are innovative -- like 'em or not... jj is the most influential writer of the the last century, and kafka (w/ his, kundera-coined, anti-lyrical prose) still haunts us today w/ his irony and his nightmares.

bulgakov, however talented, is not (obviously) as innovative as kafka or joyce & seems, to this casual observer, out of place (perhaps, even, out of his league)...

[kelby_lake]

i like kafka. mad!

[johann cruyff]

Well,although he wasn't the first one to use it as a technique,I think stream-of-consciousness reached its pinnacle with Joyce and it indeed was quite innovative.As the above poster said,one of the most influential writers of the century.

Kafka...well,do you really need someone else to tell you?:) The writing technique he uses may not be overly original,but his ideas are,in my opinion,unmatched to this day.

And Bulgakov...ah,one of my favourite authors,such a brilliant writer - try reading Master and Margarita or Heart of Dog and you'll find it's some of the best satire ever written - sometimes a bit too complex,but well worth reading.I know this doesn't exactly explain why he's innovative,but then again,originality isn't necessarily the mark of quality.

[a lost weekend]

I suppose Beckett would be suitable replacement for Bulgakov in the trio mentioned...

[JBI]

or Woolf, or Faulkner, or even Hemingway, or Proust. Anna Akhmatova seems the more important innovator on Russian letters by far, but for prose I would stick Yevgeny Zamyatin above Bulgakov. Seriously though, Bulgakov not that influential and revolutionary on letters, not nearly as influential as the others.

[ben.!]

I've read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and Dubliners by Joyce.

Enjoyed 'em both! I found The Metamorphosis a bit dull and dry in places however, and Joyce's short stories were occasionally long-winded too, The Dead anyone?

But yes, I believe both authors are innovative in their writing style and ideas.

Never read Bulgakov.

[JBI]

Dubliners is not even close to as innovative as any of his later works.

[Il Penseroso]

Who did originate the idea of stream-of-consciousness as a deliberate tool by the way? I actually believed it had been Joyce.

[JBI]

William James, brother of Henry James created the concept, Édouard Dujardin is said to have first used the technique in literature, and May Sinclair first used the term to describe the literary style,

[a lost weekend]

Who did originate the idea of stream-of-consciousness as a deliberate tool by the way? I actually believed it had been Joyce.

Édouard Dujardin--Joyce acknowledged his debt, although the Irishman (obviously, i.e. clearly) honed the technique himself.

[Il Penseroso]

thanks JBI and a lost weekend