disappointments

[Jester]

>
>From: Ad Hoc <adhawk at hotmail.com>
>
>am i the only pynchophreak that was deeply disappointed by vineland?
>
        To be honest, I was more disappointed in _V._   I was first
introduced to TRP with _C0L49_, then _GR_  followed by _Slow Learner_,
_Vineland_, then _V._.  I rate them like this:

_COL49_
_GR_
_Vineland_
_Slow LEarner_
_V._

        It could be that my disappointment with _V._ was because I knew what
TRP was capable of and would deliver later on in his writing career, so I
can't honestly say the novel is inferior -- just earlier and, hence,  less
successful. My experience of  _Vineland_ came after _COL49_ and _GR_, so
following THAT reasoning, it should have been STUPENDOUS!  It wasn't -- but
it was not the "terrible" novel some critics label it.  It succeeds in many
respects, as it fails in comparison to his greater works.  It's a turbulent
read -- and doesn't sit well with the American Conscience.  In my opinion,
it is a Twentieth-Century "Gospel" of the modern/postmodern individual
amidst the tide of mass population, insipid political corruption and swift
frame-by-frame juxtaposition of reality vs. perverse imagination for
entertainment value (and the capitalistic exploitation thereof) by ravenous
Media.  [All the warnings of Neil Postman and Harlan Elison apply.]

I dunno.  Just some thoughts.


JJ "Jester"

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