It's only my opinion

[Toby G Levy]

MalignD wrote:

>I do think that the formulation and conclusion that "no other writer
comes 
>close" to Pynchon is a pretty sorry return on so much time spent reading

>literature.

I understand this is supposed to be flame-bait, but I don't have the time
or energy for a flame war.  I do want to emphasize that I hold a great
many authors in the highest esteem, and I treasure every moment reading
great literature over the span of my adult life, but I have (reading only
in English) found nothing that knocks me for a loop other than Pynchon. 
That's just me.  If you can get as edified reading "My Life As A Man" as
you would reading "Gravity's Rainbow," I take my hat off to you!

Doug wrote:

>I would say he has no peer among living authors writing in English.

I can only read English language books, original or translations.  As
much as I love the works of people such as Borges and Garcia Marquez,
they don't make it to my "Pynchon Plateau."

I also must state that I respectfully disagree with MalignD's assessment
of Vineland as "thoroughly dreary and mediocre."  If I were a college
professor teaching contemporary lit in the years of the W residency, I
would teach Vineland.  I find this book more fascinating and relevant
today than when it was published. I think it is incredibly well written.

Toby

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