Pairings in Nabokov and Pynchon

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/17/03 1:07:11 PM, dedalus204 at attbi.com writes:

<< Perhaps worth commenting on before we begin the discussions, too? >>


In a message dated 6/17/03 2:06:19 PM, malignd at yahoo.com writes:

< No personal criticism intended toward your posting
what the above was snipped from, but...................
.......Duh.  How does stuff like this get published?  >


Did I hear someone say something about R-E-S-P-E-C-T ?

Thanks for the references, Waxwing : ) They both go to the 
heart of what concerns me: a comparison of creative freedom 
in Pynchon and Nabokov. Not just for the authors, but for their 
readers, as well. Do the texts, and their discernible designs, 
encourage freedom or attempt to seduce one into giving it up? 
Do they inspire one to share subjective responses to the given 
text, or, is the net effect to suppress the subjective in favor of
a more objective appreciation? Deciding which text ultimately 
results in more freedom can de deceptive. Fascism seems to 
feed on emotion and romanticism. The Vineland hipsters were 
the "natural prey" of the more fascistic characters. It can become
a tangled ecology. Remember those owls in M&D. Is it the bird
or its song that ultimately gets passed down the generations.

Your "felt need" to suppress what might be construed as less than
respectful play with Mr. Nabokov's name is interesting in that
regard, even though you were being a little facetious. Malign's
blunt dismissal of your effort to share critical commentary he 
deemed less than adequate for publication, is also suggestive.

Neither is conclusive, however. It may well turn out that Pynchon's
"loose and baggy" style is even more constraining of creative
freedom, in its own way, than the more "tightly wrapped" text of
Pale Fire. 

There is always the "shipwrecked on a desert isle" test- just
one volume to keep company with for about five years- a
simplified ecology with which to study the effects. Creative 
brilliance might become a stifling labyrinth under such 
circumstances. Watch that summer sun, bro..
 
r-e-s-p-e-c-t-f-u-l-l-y