VLVL Zoyd: good dad or bad dad?

[jbor]

>> I'm surprised that you don't find his reunion with Prairie at the picnic
>> pretty low-key considering what was going on when he sent her away. He
>> doesn't appear to have tried to contact her via Sasha as he promised he
>> would, and when Hector tells him that she'll be up at Shade Creek (361) he
>> seems ... what? annoyed? distracted? Whatever it is, Prairie seems to be
>> the last thing on his mind at this point, when she should have been top of
>> the list. We know what she's been through; where's the evidence of paternal
>> concern for her well-being?
>> 
>> Maybe it's just an oversight on Pynchon's part -- this last section does
>> seem to have been thrown together without a great deal of effective editing
>> and many of the resolutions he's devised ring somewhat hollow

on 13/4/04 6:04 AM, Ghetta Life wrote:

> I think your last point above is the problem:  VL just doesn't stand up to
> such scrutiny.  It's just not that well written, and it's not worth the
> trouble you all have been putting into it...

I agree with you that it's pretty ordinary by comparison to the other novels
he's written, but on the other hand it's often waved around to say that
Pynchon believes this or that on the false assumption that's it's simply a
screed against the Nixon and Reagan Administrations and nothing more. It's
worthwhile taking a moment or two to draw attention to the bulk of what is
actually there in the text.

best