DFW in Atlantic April 2005 Issue

[richard romeo]

I see yr point, too (who says one can'be civil on this list, eh?). I
don't feel that maxxed out feeling about Pynchon (in some ways he
represents to me one of the last hopes in modern lit., someone who can
still instill wonder and reflection about alot of things. I know
that;s fan speak, but it is what it is). I think there are just oddles
of great passages in Pynchon, on a sub-atomic, quantum level and on
the level of stars and galaxies--he seems to be able to come up with
his own unified theory in every one of his books.

so yes, I think we project our own self-image but at least in my case,
Pynchon is still along for the ride

rich


On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 15:10:34 -0500, Will Layman <WillLayman at comcast.net> wrote:
> Rich --
> 
> I see where you are coming from, but I can't help but wonder too whether our
> (I'm assuming here than many of us discovered Thomas Pynchon in college or
> shortly before/after) fascination with TRP is also a remnant of that early
> time -- a time when "getting" Byron the Bulb was a badge of honor bigger
> than our critical judgment about whether GR was truly a great piece of
> writing.  The last thing I want to do is to give up on the few things from
> those days that I still savor and adore, but the piece shined enough light
> on the phenomenon that it really got me thinking.
> 
> As for the DFW profile, I took it as a remarkably complete portrait of that
> one "host."  I couldn't stop reading it.  Take away the slang and the asides
> and, sure, there's not much left, but that's Wallace for you.  The ACTION is
> in the conversation between the main story and the asides, between the
> apparent journalistic distance and his increasing intrusion into it.  I
> realize that's kind of an old po-mo saw for him now, but I'm afraid I'm
> still eating it up.  Makes me think about the Lethem piece again -- is it
> ALWAYS just a matter of time before we come to see ALL our attachments to
> art as vaguely false projections of our own self-image?
> 
> -- Will
>