Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155325 in Books
• Published on: 1969-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
Fourteen short literary experiments intended for perusal in sequence are set in contemporary society and classical Greece.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic collection of experimental fiction!
In his story, "The Immortal," Jorge Luis Borges describes a labyrinth as "a structure compounded to confuse men; its architecture, rich in symmetries, is subordinated to that end."* Similarly, the stories of Barth's collection _Lost in the Funhouse_, present a labyrinth of narrative fiction, in their exploration of the story as medium, voice, and tool of the magician. The fourteen stories, reflecting Barth's idea of a narrative as a structure, take the varied forms of Mobius strip, letter, autobiography, and tale; what makes for additional complexity, is the insistence by each of the stories' characters (who include a siamese twin, heroes of the Odyssey,and an abandoned court minstrel) to have his or her say. Inherent in this is Barth's insistence on the infinite number of possible constructions of a narrative, which stun the reader through his descriptions, plot lines (knots, in some cases), and ideas. Read _Lost in the Funhouse_ to witness Barth's magic, and to be reminded of the combined power of voice and language, storytelling. *(Jorge Luis Borges, "The Immortal," _Labyrinths_: New Directions Books, 1962.)

"Listen, and put your head under the tree of awe"...
... is what another minstrel once said, and it best sums up my experience of this book. I'd been well on my way becoming a fan of John Barth after having read "The Floating Opera" but this book made me fall in love with him his writing the narrator who tells the narrated untellable etc. etc.:) In honest, the chaotic whole made up of these seemingly disjointed stories, is simply awe-inspiring. At least two of them, "Echo" and "Menelaide", are my personal favourites. As a reader you are made to pull your own weight in the medium-that-is-the-message part, and it's not always easy. Other times, you are just invited to laugh or wonder or cry and often all at the same time. I am looking forward to reading all of his other books - there's no turning back now...