MDDM World-as-text

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/14/02 11:54:10 AM, johnbonbailey at hotmail.com writes:

<< If 
you want an author who thinks he can access that truth, that 'real' world, 
look elsewhere, read Lawrence or someone, but steer clear of Pynchon, coy 
fella as he is, except for the curiously direct sentimentality of the later 
parts of M&D, and some great sections of VL. Post-irony... >>

This is true only in one sense, in another sense, Pynchon is 
very very faithful to the realistic representation of reality,
much as a surrealistic painter, e.g., Dali, is meticulous, almost
classical, with respect to local elements within the frame, 
however bizarre the overall aggregation. His pitch is near perfect,
as well.

I think Pynchon is a painter who for one reason or another
was forced to express his art in words. He reminds me most
of the Dutch/Flemish masters. Bosch is the too obvious
example, but van Eyck, the Breughels, even up to and including
Escher. I can feel the kinship, sharing that wasp/Dutch strand.

It's the attention to detail, even of the common-place.

But there is also the South, here, that pellucid Spanish
plain. He may like Italian Opera but as an outsider. His is
not the Italian but the arid Spanish light- resurrection of
the body, Quixote and Sancho, Iberia.

Of course, this is nonsense, I realize, just my impressions.
I can't back any of it up, but his images are quite real for
me. I think he is a painter who writes.