Foie Humain is the the first story in Will Self''s short story collection "Liver". In it he gives full reign to his legendary verbomania. The writing is overly rich and relentless - It's the literary equivalent of being force fed butter. It's also, obviously, deliberate. The story relates the making of human foie-gras and the writing seems to reflect the experience. As I said I think this "self-similarity" is intended

The Craftsman reminded me a little of this. The first 2 sections felt like an "apprenticeship" - You're introduced to a few new tools but they don't sit comfortably in your hand. But you persevere. After many false starts and a few wrong turns, finally everything comes together. It's just a matter of patience, doggedness and a little extra time ( but thankfully not 10,000 hours! )