Writing Theory

[Judith A. Panetta]

The "quality" of the novels (which some think is uneven)
could possibly be the result of something as straigt forward
as contractual obligations...or more simply - making a
living. I seem to recall that Vineland was half of the "two
book deal" that had P all worked up (I'm guessing that M&D
was the other half).  

As for writing one big novel...I believe that a writer will
have themes that reflect his/er
experience...philosophy..ethos...whatever...that will be
echoed throughout the body of the work. So it does not seem
surprising to have themes, ideas, or even characters
reoccur.

As a side bar...I'm new to the list and am enjoying it.
Particularly like the links that are shared from time to
time.

Best, Judy

Doug Millison wrote:
> 
> I don't know about a formal theory to explain this, but your observation
> ("that novelists write 'pre-writes' in the form of smaller novels before
> their bigger works, i.e. no V. without the story from Slow Learner, no GR
> without TCOL49, no MandD without Vineland. It's as though P writes an
> introduction or outline for what he wishes to write later, and it still
> gets published") reminds me of my personal theory that Pynchon is writing
> one big novel, or, at the very least, is engaged in an ongoing project in
> which he addresses similar themes and sometimes similar material in his
> books (although I think his canon is more tightly connected and integrated
> than that).  Sketchy biographical info tells us that Pynchon was working on
> four big novels (I think that's the number I remember from the letter to
> his agent that surfaced in the letters that were sold to the Pierpont
> Morgan Library) in the '60s, which could have been V., GR, Vineland, and
> M&D, or perhaps some other grouping of works both published and
> unpublished. Given the number of specific intertextual references in his
> stories and novels, the appearance of characters from earlier works in
> later works, and the continuity in the material he uses to build his
> novels, I don't think it's an unreasonable conclusion to view the books as
> one big novel. Your mileage may vary, of course.
> 
> d  o  u  g    m  i  l  l  i  s  o  n
> http://www.millison.com
> http://www.online-journalist.com
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