vineland

[Bonnie Surfus (ENG)]

Paul writes (was it Paul?) that in _Vineland_, Pynchon chose to simplify 
his prose, I suppose "taking a break" from the complexities of a work 
like GR?  He notes that other "great" artists have done the same, 
specifically, Springsteen (ugh), Gaddis, and Prince (no comment).

Sorry, Paul, just jave to jab at "the boss" whenever possible.  And 
Prince, well it just saddens me to think of whatever "happened" to him, 
and I don't just mean with the &,%,*, whatever, but, for me, the demise 
began with Purple Rain.  ANYHOW, Just a thought on Gaddis: YOu may have 
something in this, at least it's what I would have argued in a small 
portion of the paper I was to read at Warwick.  I think that, despite its 
"flatness," that many bemoan, it's really the only "natural" course in 
the iterative process that Pynchon began with _V._  Talk about decline.  
Where does' Gaddis come into this?  Think about _J.R._  Wasn't the 
"message" largely in the absolutely tiring work of reading that book?  
Yet throughout we sense some ethical thread that forces us on, despite 
the difficulty of reading it.  Agape is "agape".  And what do we do with 
that?  Shut down?  Write that nasty fact off as "flatness," and refuse to 
recognize the reconfiguration that confronts us as unworthy of our 
consideration?  Personally, I liked _Vineland_, probably more than many 
others, if what I read and hear is worth anything.  Pynchon inundates the 
reader with factoids that, in themselves, recall so many after-school 
moments filled with adolescent angst that, for me, real feeling is 
revealed beneath the glare of the cathode ray.  That is quite an 
accomplishment.  And it's not just the references to shows like "The 
Brady Bunch," but the entire scope of the electronic network that, like 
Gaddis' (or rather, Jack Gibbs') "god damn," reflects a world, a 
language, and the individual lives that have been so distorted and 
estranged from any notion of renewal or redemption that the reader 
struggles on to locate, in the most minute and subjective manner, 
anything, that will indicate some distance from the world of _J.R._ or 
_Vineland_ and herself.  This became, for myself anyhow, the imperative 
to read on.  And besides, I just plain liked it.  Simple as that.  As 
Jack Gibbs says (and I perhaps ellaborate on the "meaning" here) "don't 
bring a God damned thing to it, can't take a God damned thing from it."
I think we all brought much to the reading and, if we think a little 
harder, try to dissolve our "academic" personas for just a bit, we will 
find that we can take much from it, as well.

Bonnie Lenore Surfus