Re: GG and The Last Puritan

["Anne M. Marble" <amarble@sff.net>]

> On a side note, has anyone here read "The Loser" by
> Thomas Bernhard? Sorry if it's already been discussed but
> I saw a review of the book somewhere and Glenn Gould was
> mentioned in it. I haven't read the book yet though and
> wonder how Gould is described in the novel. Thanks!

Other people will be better able to discuss this one. But
from what I've heard, Bernhard wasn't writing about the
_real_ Glenn Gould. He was using the name "Glenn Gould" for
his pianist, but they were not really similar. Someone on
this list (Bob? Bob? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?) said that
Bernhard was using the name as a "placeholder" for the
concept of "famous pianist."

>From what I've read, one of the concepts of "The Loser" was
that two of the main characters gave up the piano because
they realized that they would never reach the level of
Glenn Gould. That is definitely not a Gouldian concept. If
you love the piano, or the kazoo, or whatever, play it
anyway. (BTW the kazoo is harder than it looks, and it makes
your lips feel funny.)

A really nifty book about a Glenn Gouldian character is the
award-winning Canadian children's book "The Maestro" by
Tim Wynne-Jones. This character is _not_ named Glenn Gould,
but he obviously is GG. Tim Wynne-Jones rocks. :->