Gaddis

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

Gary L. Thompson writes:

> Add to this _JR_ ('71, I think), . . .

1976 actually. Important because it post-dates GR which means that
deliberate intertextual references between Gaddis and Pynchon's early
novels may occur in both directions. I mention this because JR
contains a key passage on entropy which, while more than appropriate
in context (it's a major theme in JR) also may be a deliberate nod in
the direction of Pynchon. Not that the nod is necessarily intended to
suggest any alignment of interest or outlook. I suspect Gaddis used
the term `entropy' as a joke to wind up academics and reviewers.

> . . ._Carpenter's Gothic_ (sometime in the '80s, I think) which is more
> manageable in length but postmodern in its absence of resolution;

It might merit the description for several other reasons.

> I would guess that Gaddis is one of Pynchon's 
> forebears (there's a line here that runs from Joyce)--very worthwhile if 
> you're up to some long and confusing, but non-cinematic, reads.

But note that Gaddis claims he never read (all of) Ulysses despite
evidence that he is familiar with some details of it and some lines
from it. The Recognitions is somewhat Ulysses-like in places. In
particular, Gaddis use of unattributed, dialogue-only prose and his
cramming of every daily detail into the story could arguably be
foreshadowed to a degree by Ulysses. But the links are not that tight.


Andrew Dinn
-----------
And though Earthliness forget you,
To the stilled Earth say:  I flow.
To the rushing water speak:  I am.