Letter to the Editor (New York 11/25/96)

[Jester]

Greetings,

So happy to see my letter made it to *New York* and to Pynchon-L.  Thanks
davemarc.  Also happy to see that I am in the minority -- of the three
letters printed.  Though I do agree with some of the negative sentiment re:
Ms. Sales' article -- after all, it was somewhat an invasion of TP's
self-declared privacy --  it is an amazing feat of journalism!  I don't
think she went too far, though.  After all, she never really focussed on
him, just let us see the blurred edges of who he is.  I will say that I
think the photo went too far, and I wonder, was it a completely candid shot,
or was he purposely attempting to evade her.  Couldn't discern that from the
photo, and it wasn't mentioned.  Aside from that, I wholeheartedly disagreed
with Bloom (obviously).

Anyway, what are your general thoughts on the article.  I imagine many of
you have gotten hold of it (I hope).

Cheers, (from that FRINGE guy who actually welcomed Jules "Seigal's
intrusion," and         thanked him for it).

JJ "Jester"

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Letters to the Editor (*New York* 11/25/96)

Congratulations to Nancy Jo Sales and *New York* for pulling off the
literary/journalism coup of the century!  Imagine, finding Thomas Pynchon
["Meet Your Neighbor, Thomas Pynchon," November 11]!  Kudos to a great
article that admirably respected the author's right to privacy while
expounding the mythos surrounding both him and his great works.
        As always, Harold Bloom remains shortsighted in his tainted
observations of *Vineland* as a less-than-magnificent novel.  What he terms
a "terrible book" was actually an extension of *Gravity's Rainbow* for the
Information Age.  It met video and television head-on as *Gravity's Rainbow*
confronted film.  What William Gibson's *Neuromancer* has done for cyberpunk
and the Internet, the combined texts of *Gravity's Rainbow* and *Vineland*
do for the modern American consciousness.  These novels together illustrate
the individual's continued existential angst in a society where information
is commodity and where faith, trust, and hope are readily exploited for
cash.  Mr. Pynchon, a prophet of our age, has looked into the face of modern
Western civilization and decided, quite virtuously, to disassociate himself.
Looking forward to *Mason & Dixon*.
John-James Sargent

Jester at snet.net    http://www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu/~sargent001/
JesterWeb / Dinner With Mr. Sardonicus / Scream Queen Salad / WesWeb
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