Thomas Pynchon

[Parker Douglas]

Who are "They"?

On Thu, 5 Jan 1995, Bonnie Surfus (ENG) wrote:

> I couldn't agree more with John.  In fact, the recent criticism of 
> Altman's Pret a Porter reminds me of VINELAND criticism.  I believe, 
> beyond what John says, that the "flatness" of VINELAND is part of 
> Pynchon's "message" (I hate to use that term, but there it is.)  Language 
> has continued to deteriorate since V., when Pynchon's work began to show 
> evidence of the destruction of the poetic faculty, at the hands of They 
> who feel themselves fit to rule.
> 
> On Thu, 5 Jan 1995, JOHN M. KRAFFT wrote:
> 
> > X-News: miavx1 rec.arts.books:111012
> > From: davide at obalona.rr.rapid.kla (David Emery)
> > Subject:Re: Thomas Pynchon
> > Date: 4 Jan 1995 19:25:29 GMT
> > Message-ID:<3eesn9$opb at kla.com>
> > 
> > In article 1 at minnie.imd.nrc.ca, parsons at minnie.imd.nrc.ca () writes:
> > > 	I am interested in Thomas Pynchon but haven't seen an appropriate 
> > > place to ask questions.
> > > 	Does anyone have any idea where he is, what he is doing, why he is 
> > > so reclusive, why the last novel was such a come down fron Gravity's Rainbow?
> > > 	Open a discussion here?
> > 
> > 
> > With the kind of interest TP arouses in people, and the way the media
> > intrudes on celebrities, who can blame him for hiding out? Not everybody
> > wants to be in the public eye, but he probably has other reasons of his
> > own as well. Sometimes I wonder if Zoyd and TP are one and the same. 
> > 
> And as I suggest, on the heels of Paul (or was it Brian?), Zoyd is Roky 
> Erickson  (I've just sent the article to Rolling Stone, who expressed an 
> interest--so pray, cross your fingers, think good thoughts, etc. etc. etc)
> 
> > Despite its apparent deficiencies as a Pynchon novel, I think all this
> > talking down about Vineland is really a drag. By the kind of standards 
> > we apply to other postmodern American writers, Vineland was a really good 
> > book with many provocative themes and personalities, arriving at a time
> > when many middle-aged Americans needed to take a look backward rather 
> > than at their future investments. 
> Yes, a very fine postmodern novel, even a deterministic postmodern novel 
> that, in its dullness(?) does more work than many others, especially many 
> cyberpunk, sci-fi atrocities that are so densely packed with "stuff" in 
> their feeble attempts to "appear" postmodern.
> 
> For taking on the difficult themes of 
> > American cultural diversity, neo-Nazism, the lost generations, and pastoral 
> > revival, Pynchon should be regarded as a literary hero, rather than a fading
> > has-been. Why should Vineland be viewed as any worse than Crying of Lot 49 
> > or V? 
> 
> Here, I disagree.  V. is a brilliant novel.  Sorry for the lack of 
> conjectural space.  It is a brilliant novel.  
> 
> 
> I thought it was better, 
> especially compared 
> to V, which was a mess, > brilliant as it may have seemed at the time.
> > -- 
> > Forwarded-By:
> > 
> > John M. Krafft, English                 | Miami University--Hamilton
> > Voice:   513-863-8833, ext. 342         | 1601 Peck Boulevard
> > Fax:     513-863-1655                   | Hamilton, OH  45011-3399
> > E-mail:  jmkrafft at miavx2.ham.muohio.edu
> >          jmkrafft at miavx1.acs.muohio.edu
> > 
>