DFW Debate

[Olly Ruff]

On Mon, 14 Dec 1998, Darcy wrote:

> What is it about DFW that provokes
> such vitriolic exchanges?

I don't know, but I suspect it's something good. Or at least worthwhile.
Of course, I would say that. The whole IJ shebang has stirred up some
fairly visceral reactions, hasn't it ? Maybe it's a *size* issue... ;)

> I won't even
> try to defend _A Supposedly Fun Thing_ 

A substantially easier task, imho.

> He has his own
> distinctive, original (and okay, annoying to some) voice, 

Yep. Although personally, for what it's worth, I've never rated
originality as a virtue, at least in terms of writing style. [This
is probably because I tend to work backwards, as in I started reading
DeLillo a year later than I started reading DFW, so it gets kind of
difficult to keep track. Either way, though : ]

Certainly [to attempt some subject-relevance] I have no problem with
a book being stylistically indebted to Pynchon, as I think IJ is. There's
a lot of mileage left there.

> ...about as accurate as calling Nabokov a second-rate James Joyce.

Yee-haw ! Anyone want to pick this up ? Should keep things going until
the 4th...

vanishing imminently,

O.R.