unreliable? in Vineland, nights in white satin ...

[Tim Strzechowski]

>  I wrote:
>
> >
> > The diction does change.  In GR, of course, it's more pronounced.  In
> > _Vineland_ it's not.  I think given the themes, social commentary, and
> > overall mood of _Vineland_ there's a reason for that seamlessness
between
> > the formal and informal.  But it's definitely there.
>
> To which Michael Joseph added:
>
> Obviously, and I haven't seen a serious argument to the contrary, have
> you? (Although, what is meant by "seamlessness"? If it is the putative
> elegant dovetailing of points of view, think we need to consider the
> "seam" again, rather than pretend we are giving Pynchon the benefit of the
> doubt.)

My Real-Time response:

I was merely responding to jbor's contention that "I think you'll find that
the diction [in Vineland] doesn't change all that much" in the previous
post, is all.  And my use of the word "seamlessness" seems to have set-off
not a few posters; I was striving for a word to convey the ease with which
Pynchon shifts from the formal to the informal to the formal in his writing,
sometimes within the same sentence.  Again, that's all.  If a better word
exists to describe that "seamlessness," I'm all ears (or, in this
cyber-context, eyes).

I said:
>
> > I'm convinced we might do justice to this thread at this point to move
away
> > from this minor sticking point (for, in essence, we are in agreement
here)
> > and consider what Terrance has to offer regarding "privilege."

to which MJ responded:

> >
> My preference for analysis is the microstructure of Pynchon's sentences,
> and I hopse this approach will be privileged in the group read.
>

The Real Me:

Personally, I think one of the merits of a group reading of any literary
work is the various and sundry perspectives that come from it based on the
readership.  The Marxists, the Freudians, the New Critics, the Feminists,
the Zen-buddhist-existentia-transcendental neo-punk Hippies -- hell, we
*all* have something to add to the discussion (even slothenvypride one day,
I'd imagine), so far be it for me to exclude anyone's substantive
contribution to this discussion.

One of the reasons why I think this thread is going quite thus far.

Tim (Doctor Timmy)