The Silence of the Lambs

[BlanchardD at aol.com]

Nick Lester wrote: >> 5. After the plot has vanished from memory, what
remains? Good question for all of TP's works. <<

Tim Ware responded: >> I guess to answer THAT question, we're first gonna
have get those  damned "plots" vanished from our memories. <<

Actually, Nick asked a perfectly valid question. Since I'm in the middle of
GR, I'll use LOT 49 as my example. I read that book for the first time about
a year ago, and while the plot of course is uniquely memorable, what sticks
with me is WHY the plot is so memorable. It's because the typical
straightforward style of storytelling is thrown out the window, and instead
becomes kind of a series of flaps that open and shut on each other, not
necessarily in any logical sequence. Or to use another analogy, the book is
paced like a driver without a road map, who keeps making right and left hand
turns for no apparent reason, and yet no matter where the driver turns,
there's that blasted muted horn! In other words, whether Oedipa seeks the
horn or the horn seeks her, the horn is always turning up. 

Beyond the plot, though, what sticks the most for me is the appreciation
Pynchon has for language, and his rare gift for doing new things with that
venerable English we all use.

Dave Blanchard