Chapter 45: The Duck Strikes Beak

[John Bailey]

>From: jbor <jbor at bigpond.com>
>Date: Fri, 05 Apr 2002 18:56:49 +1100

>....By contrast, that (long) story about the duck in
>Armand's tale a few chapters back exemplified one of the least >satisfying 
>aspects of Pynchon's fiction (imo), though some of the >reasons behind such 
>digressions are probably those you diagnose: the >high culture/low culture 
>switching, the otherworldly possibilities, >admiration for the "Badass" 
>etc.
>
>best
>

Taken aback. That section is one of my favourite in all of P's work, despite 
my own interest in automata, 18th C. France, good food and terrible 
representations of accent. But I think I can appreciate why some would find 
it pretty...dumb. There are similar sections of this and other novels I just 
don't see the point of.

I'd be interested in learning what sections of Pynchon novels people 
consider their own favourites. I'll try to think up a list of my own.

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