Donald Barthelme and The Dead Father

Donald Barthelme is the king of post-modern fiction and one of my favorite authors. He has an amazing knack for combining humor and philosophy in his works of flash fiction and novels, which is evident in his novel "The Dead Father". One of the best things about this novel is Barthelme's ability to create a cohesive narrative, while the structure of the novel is anything but that.
"The Dead Father" tells the story (fragmented, but nonetheless a story) of nineteen people dragging the carcass of a half-man, half-machine, father by means of a cable across a strange land. From a philosophical reading of the novel, the dead father himself, an aging, once powerful patriarch, can be seen as a God-like figure, while his ‘children’, who no longer respect him, are members of a religion that have lost their faith. At the end of the novel *plot spoiler* the dead father is led to a large grave where his children stoicly bury him alive -- God is dead...death or religion.
Chapters focus on singular events, and give immense detail to specific moments, thoughts, and actions. In this technique, Barthelme becomes an omniscient storyteller able to reveal all aspects of the characters. What makes this truly post modern fiction and separates itself from other omniscient narrations is the style in which Barthelme utilizes in order to accomplish this sense of omniscience.
At times in "The Dead Father" Barthelme writes without clear punctuation and identification of speaking characters. He also fails to decipher which phrases are thoughts, speaking parts, or details of what’s occurring in the scene. While confusing, and at times frustrating, it does accomplish omniscience. This reminded me of a script of a play, including all stage notes, without the inclusion of names, punctuation, and other helpers that would aid in the overall understanding of the play. The following is an excerpt of a scene in the novel:

Elegant way of putting chairs here and there.
A lady always does.
Any artist will do.
Chewing red candy hearts.
And the myriad flower stalls with their burstin-sun dapple...of the rainbow...good God.
I read about it. In Die Welt.

Confusing, but yet encompasses all aspects of the scene. The phrase chewing red candy hearts is the action taking place by one of the characters, the myriad flower stalls is what's happening in the setting, and the rest could have been said or thought, it's up to the reader to decide.
Leaving it up to the reader to decide is the great thing about this novel. The style of the writing and the plot is all left open for interpretation. The reader can take this novel for an analogy of religion, or simply as a story of people dragging a body. The style or writing can be seen as gibberish, or either as a unique way of narration. Regardless of the interpretation of this particular work, or of Barthelme's body of work as a whole, Barthelme's work is a staple of post-modern fiction, and important in understanding the movement as a whole.