Groupbath of groupthink: VN & Pyncheon

[jbor]

on 7/24/01 7:22 PM, CyrusGeo at netscape.net at CyrusGeo at netscape.net wrote:

> jbor <jbor at bigpond.com> wrote:
> 
>> Yes, it is ironic that some wag or troll within the literary or litcrit
>> industry came up with the "conspiracy theory" that Pynchon was in fact a
>> committee of then-alive "superstar-writers": five if I recall correctly,
>> comprising William Gaddis, William Gass, and three others (Wolfe? Coover?
>> Barth? can't remember.)
> 
> I think the unique and consistent style of Pynchon's work, as well as the
> maturity it has reached through detectable stages, proves quite easily that it
> is the product of a single mind. Moreover, Nabokov is a great stylist, and he
> may have been Pynchon's teacher at the University, but Pynchon's style is
> completely different, singular, distinct and recognized on sight.
> 

Yes, I don't think there is any question about Pynchon's authorship at all,
and I just wonder how seriously the theory that he was in fact a "committee"
was intended. I guess I agree pretty much with your summation of Pynchon's
style and the way that his work has developed also.

best