No fawning P-cultie, I

[doktor at primenet.com]

Ouch!  It's been suggested that we're more of a fan club than a group of
independent-thinking critical readers.  And Diana York Blaine cleverly
opines that the reason CoL49 is dissed here is 'cuz Oedipa's a GIRL.  These
two thoughts embolden me as follows.

I confess: I don't much care for Gravity's Rainbow, but Col49 and V. both
rank in my personal Top Five, and are much better books than GR.  GR
reminds me of Mark Twain's description of Wagner's music being better than
it sounds.  Yes, I admire the mind of a man who could produce a GR.  I'm in
awe of his omnidimensional knowledge (there _I_ go with the fan club stuff)
and technical skill.  I think the messages conveyed by GR are profound and
important.  However, I also agree with those Pulitzer Prize judges who, in
voting to overrule the recommendation of the Pulizter literature
subcommittee, pronounced GR as "unreadable."

Someone on the list a few days ago suggested that one reason to get excited
about the upcoming M&D is that it is a long book.  As David Thornburn and
others have pointed out, length ain't strength.  GR's chief fault is that
it lacks a good story.  As Pynchon himself points out, anyone can recite
almanac facts, or in his case, encyclopedia facts.  But I, for one, don't
read novels for their dazzling link-up of arcana, and I suggest that few
literary works that are generally (note: I did NOT say universally) revered
lack a good yarn.  Col49 has the best story of any Pynchon novel.  V.
begins by contrasting The Man With A Story (Stencil) with (The Man Without
A Story) (Benny), and then skillfully weaves the two together.  Stories are
important; they make a novel more than just the sum of its facts, ideas and
characters.  They resonate somewhere south of the brain.  This is what GR
fails to do.

Although I didn't think much of Vineland, I was cheered a bit by its step
away from the arid virtuosity of GR and toward the yarnspinning of V. and
Col49.  May M&D continue this trend.

Easily 90% of the Pynchon-related posts on this list concern GR--hey, so
did my last two.  Maybe Col49 is, as Diana York Blaine suggests, written
off because of its hero-ine usage.  Maybe V. is trashed--or
ignored--because Pynchon wrote it when he was so damn young.  But will
people still be reading GR 100 years from now?  Not as much as they'll be
reading Pynch's earlier fictions, IMHO.

--Jimmy

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

or

http://www.angelfire.com/oh/Insouciance/index.html