from gibes to gambols

[Heikki Raudaskoski]

Maybe, in the long run, a way out of this on *this* list would be to
do "comparative literature" and compare Wallace more with Pynchon --
this is I think what distinguishes the recent DFW thread from those on 
Joyce, Gibson, Nabokov, etc: these guys have nearly always been discussed
in connection w/ Pynchon. Whereas, tell me if I'm wrong, very many 
of the mailings on _IJ_ have not touched Pynchon even implicitly.

Saying this makes me feel quite uneasy, because I certainly can understand
the enthusiasm for this novel, even without reading it: a thirtyish dude 
coming out with something that seems to set the stakes for his generation 
like the 26-year-old Pynchon did with _V._ in 1963. Something that R. Powers,
e.g., hasn't obviously managed to do so far.

It's another thing if biographical things, or references to one's past, 
present and future work on Pynchon -- I feel myself guilty of both -- 
are something with which one shouldn't plague other list members. In my 
case it's mainly because I feel quite uncertain of my English (I have 
never studied the language at the university - I was first in Finnish lit,
then switched over to Comp Lit, which one can study in Finland without 
studying any particular language, would you believe it), and want often 
to put my evolving thoughts to the test first on the list, hoping that 
they will arouse discussion -- to do this before moving into more official, 
yes, "square" arenas. And I do like this list. - And, I don't know why,
but I've always had difficulties with taking an "objective" stance where 
one's everyday experiences have been erased, even at the risk of being
killfiled by many.

However, here's something that tries to be less biographical, at last:
the title _Infinite Jest_, esp. when read in connection with those lines 
by Hamlet, brings to my mind that preliminary title, _Mindless Pleasures_.

Heikki