antw. underrated p-works (was: Re: Chapter 45: The Duck Strikes Beak)

[lorentzen-nicklaus]

John Bailey schrieb:

> It's 3am Sat in these parts, late enough for prematurely aged me, and I've 
> put on my late night spectacles for the occasion, so I'm taking the 
> challenge...

> Some Moments.
> A man on a train who reveals to a young child the electronic switch embedded 
> in his arm.
> A dupe sits in a field in the spot marked X, with a missile being asked to 
> strike it.
> V. in Love.
> A Counterforce of teenage girls taking on the Mall Security Patrol.
> Oedipa meets a sailor.

> It's interesting though, Terrance, that you bring up Benny, as most people, 
> as far as I can tell, really don't give V. (the book) much credence. 

  same goes for "vineland" which is such a great book from first to last page; 
  if i could take only two of pynchon's works to that desert island the second 
  would be vineland (how about a groupread in fall?). "v", by the way, is 
  heavily influenced by "the magic mountain". the whole issue and mood of 
  european decadence plus several details (including v's physical artificiality) 
  are inspired by the other tommy. (& mann's "whiteness of the snow" is kinda   
  missing link between melville and pynchon). i'll come back to this     
  another time. "v in love" makes, i agree, a wonderful chapter: "her room was 
  hot and airless. asprawl in one corner was an artist's lay figure, without a 
  head. old theater posters were scattered on the floor and bed, tacked to the 
  wall. she thought once she heard thunder rumbling from outside" ... later, kai 
      
> For my money (such as it is) V. is at least as complex and rewarding as 
> anything that comes after, and Benny's scenes have a sort of minute attention 
> to tone which isn't found again until M&D, and maybe less successfully there. 
> Maybe not.

> >From: Terrance <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>
> >To: "pynchon-l at waste.org" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> >Subject: Re: Chapter 45: The Duck Strikes Beak
> >Date: Sat, 06 Apr 2002 11:46:00 -0500
> >
> >
> >
> >John Bailey wrote:
> > > 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.
> >
> >
> >For me, nothing beats Benny on the train with the kids and Fina.
>
>
>
>
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