Reading Pynchon

[Craig Duckett]

Hi P-Listers,

I'm slipping my face out from behind the Mask of Lurking just share a couple
of things...

About 8 months ago I decided I was going to read ol' Pynchon "back-to-back"
(not chronologically by publishing date but back-to-back just the same)
starting with SLOW LEARNER, and then work through CL49, V, and GR. Well,
after months of slow and steady plodding (reading TRP alongside the
pertinent reference material) I just got through GR and I find myself
walking around in a kind of haze. I feel as if I've been subjected to 8
months of low-dose LSD therapy and had my brain's neural and synaptic
network permanently re-routed. I mean, my god, these readings have totally
altered the way I am perceiving the world, as if new mental channels have
been opened. I'm freaking out, but it is a good sweet delicious freak.

Anyone else ever get this sense of altered reality after a long reading of
Pynchon?

I'm taking a little "rest" before picking up VINELAND by first reading
non-fiction: Michael Shermer's WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WIERD THINGS and HOW WE
BELIEVE, and Wendy Kaminer's SLEEPING WITH EXTRA-TERRESTRIALS, three books
that deal with belief systems from a skeptical (rational, scientific) POV.
Next, I'll slip back into fiction by tackling Joseph McElroy's 1191 page
magnum opus WOMEN AND MEN. Th-then, cautiously and reverently, I'll crawl to
the feet of the Master to receive another dose ;-)

Keep cool but care,

Craig Duckett

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