Difficulty of TRP (was GIANT ADENOID for lease)

[Andrew Dinn]

LBernier at tribune.com writes:

> Seriously, I think women have a much harder time with Pynchon
> than men.  There's a lack of seriousness in a lot of his writing that is
> antithical (sp?) to "good" writing theory, more so to "women's" writing
> and especially to "WOMYN'S" writing.  You've got all the themes you see in
> a lot of modern day books - hints of incest, child sexual exploitation, 
> homosexuality, violence, but I think a lot of people, especially in these
> neo-puritan days, find the WAY it deals with those topics pretty darn
> offensive.  If you don't convey the proper dourness and disapproval of
> behaviour outside the currently defined model for properness, 7 kinds of 
> hell will come down on your head.

Hmm, so what excused Angela Carter from such opprobrium?

Surely, whether or not a woman (or a man) takes such a neo-puritan
view depends very much on how much whale-bone she (or he) has stuck up
her arse i.e. it's not really a woman thing, per se. Interesting also
that you include homosexuality amongst your list of no-nos. Lots of
men have *real serious* problems with that topic, particularly as
presented by Pynchon, buggery and all. Doesn't seem to stop them
enjoying the book, though. I suspect that the science and technology
thing is part of the problem. Not just that grills know less about it
than boyls but also that they are usually not trained in early life to
salivate at the sight of a giant, gleaming, phallic machine like the
V2. It's a Pavlov thang, you know.


> So I don't know what that makes us gals on the list who love Pynchon.  
> I guess we'll never get to be a part of the feminist elite! (Drat!)

Well, if it's any consolation I know how you feel. . . .


Andrew Dinn
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And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.