John Barth Vs. Pynchon

[Richard Romeo]

Otto sed:
>
>Wrong book - try "Chimera," read "The Friday Book" which really helps to 
> >understand Barth and other writers, not alone postmodernists, too.
>Barth is evidently a teacher who teaches the reader about literature while 
> >the reader is reading.
>Barth is "recycling" myths to show that "our body of literature" rests upon 
> >these meta-fictions. >Both authors, Barth and Pynchon, prefer technique 
>(postmodernism, binary
>oppositions, reversions, thresholds, narration, stories-within-stories)
>instead of content.
--------------------------------
Not sure what you mean by content. My quibble with much of Barth is that his 
books seem all technique--I'm thinking more of his later works--Sinbad and 
such.  I did like very much The Sot-Weed Factor but I don't beleive it has 
the richness of M&D--Barth has admitted to culling material from an 
encyclopedia for background.  Who can guess how much Mr. Pynchon digested 
over the years for M&D.

Rich
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