Vineland and V. (was Re: Holt publishing)

[doktor at primenet.com]

Of V. and its alleged faults, Steven Maas writes:

[snip]

>For
>example, women who hang around with the Crew (except, of course, for the
>major ones) are often not given names, are referred to as camp followers
>or something, and are not given any characteristics to distinguish one
>from another. In contrast, male characters, even those who just stop in
>for one or two mentions, are generally named and given one or more
>distinguishing characteristics.

[snip]

Admittedly there are more men than women in V., but it's hardly a
fraternity, what with Rachel, Esther, Mafia, Fina, Flip, Flop, Brenda,
Paola, and even "the promiscuous Debbie Sensay" (one of the very best
Pynchonian names) hanging with the WSC.  (BTW, is Charisma male or female?)

There may be reasons to dis V., but a somewhat unbalanced gender ratio
isn't a sound one.  If that's a flaw, then it's a flaw common to all of
Pynchon's works, together with most of Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoyevsky,
Kafka, all of the Beats--indeed, most of the Western cannon, if not all
literature.  Maybe this is authorial sexism coming from a less enlightened
age; maybe this is a reflection of the centuries when women were not
"supposed" to be writers, and male authors took the
write-about-what-you-know advice; or maybe this is just an instance of
writers reflecting the age in which they live.  But really, now: how does
having more male characters than female characters make V. flawed?

A slightly weightier charge is that:

>In other ways too parts of the Whole Sick
>Crew chapters to my ear resonate with sophomoric sensibilities.

Well, yes.  What's the point--that writing about people with sophomoric
sensibilities is silly?  That enjoying those sensibilities is worse?  It is
the contrast--and the occasional intersection--between the sophomoric
sensibilities of the WSC and the horrors of 20th century as chronicled by
Stencil that make V. so surprising, so incredible and so enjoyable.

>All this
>aside, I still rate V. as a great, though flawed, work.

One can find flaws in any creative work.  You could probably persuade me of
some in V.  But the two examples given don't.

Cheers,

--Jimmy
  http://www.angelfire.com/oh/Insouciance/