Against the P. documentary

[Ya Sam]

cited from

http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2006/08/danish-documentary-thomas-pynchon.html

The Danish documentary Thomas Pynchon: Journey into the Mind of P. 
inadvertently demonstrates the problematics involved with anonymity in 
literature. Part of the problem is simply that the two filmmakers, Donatello 
& Fosco Dubini, have about 45 minutes of actual information, but have 
determined to pad it out to a full-length feature 90. But the real problem 
is that they have no there here. The film, the closest I suspect Pynchon 
will ever get to his own E! True Hollywood Story¹, is an attempt to identify 
the living person behind the books. Rather than the “magic tricks” that I 
suggested yesterday with regards to reading anonymous works of literature, 
this is an attempt to learn something concrete about a real human being who 
is very determined to remain very private indeed. And, in E! True Hollywood 
fashion, it has not occurred to our intrepid filmmakers to actually read the 
freakin’ books!?!

What we get instead is a tour of some elements of the Thomas Pynchon 
industry – not the academic one, composed as it is of people who’ve read his 
works – the closest they get is a short talking-head spot with the late 
George Plimpton reminiscing about a review he wrote of V. – but the 
over-the-top fans who have their own fansites on the web & speculate – at 
length – that since Pynchon & Lee Harvey Oswald were in Mexico at roughly 
the same time in the 1950s, therefore Pynchon must be in hiding because of 
what he knows about the assassination of JFK. This is accompanied with much 
stock footage of Lee Harvey Oswald passing out “Hands Off Cuba” leaflets in 
New Orleans & Jack Ruby gunning Oswald down on Nov. 23, 1963.

[...]

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