V and Orlando

[David Simpson]

Julian asked:

> does anyone think that pynchon's _V._ may be seen as an appropriation of
> virginia woolf's _orlando_? I've only just started reading _orlando_ but
> are'nt they both ostensibly about the same thing, a woman assuming various
> (cultural and sexual) manifestations and apparently materializing ex vacuo
> at various points in european history?
>

Unless one is a fanatical devotee of H. Bloom, similarities between texts do not necessarily imply that one text is an artful
appropriation or revision of the other. The theme of metempsychosis--or reincarnation of a character through succeeding eras or
settings--has been a popular feature of world literature from Apuleius to Joyce. To me, V has more in common with The Golden Ass and
Ulysses than it does with Orlando.

Interesting course.

--
"Clearly human life must be some kind of mistake." -- Schopenhauer.