Action, Jackson!

[jd]

I definitely think you should give it another go...  I think I can see
what you mean re: Gaddis skimmed however, though I am due for a
re-read of V as well.

The nose job sequence is probably one of my favorite in all of
literature, not to mention the gator hunting and that mad dash to the
beer-dispensing nipples.  Certainly sticks in the ol' noggin.

And I think Steven is right about that sonorous tone...  I think it
was still retained somewhat - GR with that Miraculous Medal / Dumbo
bit and from what I've read of it so far that bit in M&D where the sea
looks like it could be walked across...  but I definitely see what you
mean, and I hope that AD has a decent amount too...  off-the-wall
humor is great but with none of that "sonorous" bit it's going to be
pretty empty I'd say.  Though I will say...  while I've only read
150-200 pages of M&D (so take this with a grain of salt) it does seem
to have much less of a presence.

Though that comment is pretty invalid, because I'd wager Pynchon is
aware of that fact considering that he does seem to have some kind of
skill with writing.

On 8/14/06, Spencer T. Campbell <spencer.t.campbell2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I should add that  I *am* amazed someone so young could've pulled off
> V.  In that respect, it's incredible all the way through.  Excepting
> that little miracle of extradiegetic context, though, I think it
> suffers when compared to Pynchon's other work.
>
> On 8/15/06, Spencer T. Campbell <spencer.t.campbell2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Mondagen's Story is breathtaking.  I dig the nose job.  Long stretches
> > of that book are pure genius.  But I also feel that long stretches are
> > fairly sloppy and a weird mix of under-/overwritten when compared to
> > his later work.  A lot of it reads like skimmed Gaddis, ca. The
> > Recognitions.
> >
> > I've only read it once, though, and maybe I'll be differently moved on
> > a second go.  As of now it's my least favorite of all Pynchon's output
> > ('cept Slow Learner).  I'd still rank V above a lot of post-WWII
> > American literature, but I'll re-read Vineland before V.
> >
> >
> > On 8/15/06, Ya Sam <takoitov at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > Mondaugen's Story  is a masterpiece in its own right. I still can't believe
> > > that a guy in his 20s pulled it off.
> > >
> > >
> > > >From: Steven <mcquaryq at comcast.net>
> > > >To: jd <wescac at gmail.com>
> > > >CC: "Dave Monroe" <monropolitan at yahoo.com>,        "Steve Maas"
> > > ><tyronemullet at hotmail.com>, pynchon-l at waste.org
> > > >Subject: Re: Action, Jackson!
> > > >Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 19:15:31 -0400
> > > >
> > > >       Me three.  V is the most clearly bi-furcated of his works, the two
> > > >strands, seemingly separate, braiding together gradually into the one
> > > >thing.  I miss the more sonorous tone he struck in that first book's
> > > >Stencillian chps.  It's still present in GR, but the clownish,  satirical
> > > >side of him has dominated his work since.
> > > >
> > > >       Steve
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >On Aug 14, 2006, at 5:02 PM, jd wrote:
> > > >
> > > >>I, too, am of the opinion that V is second only to GR in the Pynchon
> > > >>books, for what it's worth...
> > > >>
> > > >
> > >
> > > _________________________________________________________________
> > > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
> > > http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
> > >
> > >
> >
>