DFW in Atlantic April 2005 Issue

[Will Layman]

Rich --

I agree with you.  Pynchon has hung in there.  But I know some people for
whom he hasn't, and I always have this nagging sense that they view me the
way I view heavy-duty Vonnegut fans.

In the end, who cares?

w

On 3/9/05 3:33 PM, "richard romeo" <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>>