Pynchonian Rorschach

[Henry Musikar]

On  6 Jul 97 at 18:14, jporter <jp4321 at IDT.NET> wrote:
<snip>

Quoting Jules:
> >How about right and wrong spelling, as in Siegel? We're not talking
> >about right or wrong but historical accuracy. We've now established
> >that this doesn't apply to the works of Thomas Pynchon. I think
> >that's a good thing and I'm glad that I provoked this consensus.
> 
Jody himself wrote:
> OK, Siegel. We've established that Mr. Pynchon writes fiction, and
> you've made it clear that you don't like it. If you want to delude
> yourself into thinking that you've "provoked this consensus" what's
> the harm? You have

I respond:

Is Jody suggesting that there isn't a consensus, or simply that 
Jules didn't "provoke this consensus?" There never is a consensus on
this list. Bu-ut I haven't haven't heard any reasonable argument
against the suggestion that Pynchon's concern for historical accuracy
has declined post-GR. IMHO, most of the discussion of this issue is
more concerned with whether Pynchon's work should really be considered
historical fiction, and if so, shouldn't we then  "require" it to
stand up to the same tests to which the hold the work of other
historical novelists?

AsB4,
Henry Musikar

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