Pynchon mention

[vze422fs at verizon.net]

on 2/5/03 7:06 PM, Terrance at lycidas2 at earthlink.net wrote:

> 
> 
> Malignd wrote:
>> 
>> << For some reason in my mind Tom & Huck never became
>> such American heroes as Nat Bumppo and Chingachgook.>>
>> 
>> Twain's review of the Fenimore Cooper books is well
>> worth reading, a leveling dismissal of Cooper's lack
>> of knowledge of virtually everything he writes about.
> 
> Yes. And Twain is a pretty good critic of Cooper. It's pretty clear what
> he would make of Pynchon's bad  case of bad ear.
> 
> Here's Twain in the Explanatory Note to HF:
> "I make this explanation for the reason that without it many readers
> would suppose
> that all these characters were talking alike and not succeeding."
> 
> 
> 
> Twain is not only funny, he's very funny and witty and a brilliant story
> teller. I don't care if you put him ahead of Irving but don't tell me a
> teen that reads HF can't dig it no mo. That total hog-wash. I have
> never, in all my years teaching teens, found a single one that would
> rather read Henry James.  E has a very unusual daughter. She reads 1984
> and she prefers James to Twain.
> 
> HF grabs any teen  right off the bat. First off, it's a tale told by a
> teen. Second, he's a rebellious teen. Third, his language, while it
> ain't hip-hop BK (although he does use the N word nearly as often as
> teens do today) is teen language. He talks about ghosts, witches,
> superstitions, pranks, Death.
> 

My experience seems to be different from yours. HF didn't grab me at all as
a teenager (though I enjoyed Tom Sawyer as an eight year old). Huck didn't
seem all that rebellious by 'seventies standards. In fact he seemed a little
doltish to me. I came to appreciate Twain more as an adult. I guess I like
his politics and tweaking of the pretentious elite.

> Well, I'll save it for TSI. But if you ain't read it recently, maybe
> it's worth a second read? James is deeeeeeeep, but Twain it oh so fun.
> 
> Anyway, TRP doesn't get to James, as far as I know, until GR. If
> Lowlands and VL are Irving Rip-offs, "the Secret Integration" (the only
> decent short story Pynchon ever wrote as far as I know, is a Twain
> rip-off--  HF and TS.

I'm looking forward to "Integration" also. It's definitely my favorite of
the lot. 

Take care
Joe