Mr. Weierman's post

[Henry Musikar]

Let's not forget our popular caveat: but your mileage may vary.

On  6 May 97 at 14:36, Craig G. Bleakley 
<cgbleak at rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu> wrote:

> I wanted to respond to Joel Weierman, not because I think he's
> wrong, but becasue I'd like to persuade him to slug it out with
> Pynchon just a bit longer.  After all, you say you're simultaneously
> reading two of his books (I'm amazed you can even type with that
> kind of sensory overload), there must be something to it.
> 
> I'm probably most curious as to the specific problems you're
> encountering in finding this reading pleasuareable.  Your message
> implies a contrast between Pynchon's work and an "easy" but
> rewarding book like "The Liar's Club."  I'm sure there's something
> to this claim.  I wonder if the question isn't one of what sorts of
> rewards one hopes to get from a book, and how much one is willing to
> invest to get that reward.       
> 
> The sorts of books you're labeling both easy and rewarding can
> frequently be summed up in a moral; you can boil them down that
> narrowly.  One of the nice things about an expansive novel like GR
> or [insert your favorite long novel here] is that they create the
> space to explore an entire philosophical framework.  As such, much
> of the action of a book like this has to bear a greater burden of
> being "symbolic of something," but this is a difference of degree
> rather than kind.  Certainly Kerr in "The Liar's Club" has shaped
> and selected her material so that it too is symbolic.  Or maybe it's
> that these easily rewarding texts reward us with ideas about people
> rather than ideas about ideas.  It's probably an eaiser writing task
> to engage a reader in the concerns of realistically developed
> characters than in fantastically developed ideas.  
> 
> So, is the more difficult task the more rewarding one?  Most folks
> wouldn't be here if they didn't find Pynchon one of the most
> rewarding writers ever. Period.  Yes, it can be hard work to read
> him, but I think GR, for example, rewards exponentially.  And I'd
> enumerate some of those rewards, but that still wouldn't make them
> *your* rewards.
> 
> Maybe my big question is : what are you hoping to get out of
> Pynchon, and why doesn't that seem to be happening?  I won't try to
> cure you, honest, but a reminder of the obstacles to enjoying
> Pynchon might be a thoughful addition to our current M&D love-fest. 
> I don't know much about that book yet, but I'm told it has a nice
> cover.
> 
> Craig Bleakley          
> 
> 


AsB4,
Henry Musikar

Keep cool, but care. -- TRP
Moderation in moderation. -- Husky Mariner
DON'T PANIC! -- Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy