GR excludes the preterite????????????

[Bonnie Surfus (ENG)]

On Wed, 22 Mar 1995, Jan KLIMKOWSKI wrote:

> 
> Andrew Walser writes:
> 
> >Why, I wonder, did Pynchon choose a loose style for VINELAND?  I
> >suspect that the decision relates to his politics -- that Pynchon
> >himself may have sensed something inegalitarian and exclusive about
> >GRAVITY'S RAINBOW.
> This is patronising nonsense.
I'm not sure about "patronising," but I do think "reductive" might 
describe it.  Isn't _Vineland_ rather, even self-described (by Sasha 
anyhow) as  "flat"?  And isn't there anything in the novel that attests 
to flatness as a condition to be considered critically?

I doubt that Pynchon decided that GR was over our heads and so created a 
more reader-friendly text, purposefully.  Rather, I see _Vineland_ as a 
logical next-step after GR, even one that traces to _V._, where all the 
destruction seems to begin (in the novels, anyhow.) In fact, that critics 
can't find anything more to say about the flat land of the novel seems 
suggestive of purpose.  I kind of feel like there may be some clever 
sense of redemption in _Vineland_, a kind of inventiveness that is called 
for in light of our situation (media culture, etc.)  Call it "myth," or 
call it "patronising."  It is too late, anyhow.

By the way, has anyone noticed how often the phrase "it is too late" 
appears in the 3 novels of Beckett--_Molloy_, _Malone Dies_, and _The 
Unnamable_?  In fact, the similarities are staggering.  The mandala 
structuration, entropic thematic sensibilities, etc.  I know there have 
been discussions of BEckett and PYnchon.  Can anyone name any 
PARTICULARLY good pieces on this?  I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.
Bonnie