atd dissapointment

[John Pendergast]

"with this one, as has been my experience with any Pynchon opus, ya gotta take the good with the bad...."



It seems to me that this feeling of initial frustration and anxiety is a fundamental part of the "Pynchon aesthetic", if I may. At least it is for me; and then, after a few pages (or a hundred), almost magically, I see why it is the way it is. I think this is why I love Pynchon; as a reader he makes me feel "young again", and as a teacher of literature, he helps me to understand how less experienced readers approach literature -- first, "what the fuck", then, if they persist, "oh, I get it -- how cool." 

And, in the spirit of "feeling young again," tonight I'm off to see the New York Dolls at a our local music barn.

Best,

John
  ...
  On 11/30/06, bob mccart <lebishar at gmail.com> wrote:
    I don't mean to start a flame war, but is anyone else incredibly disapointed with Against the Day. I've read only to 120 because the interest just isn't there. I've read everything else except Mason&Dixon, which from the little I have read of it I expect to be very much like ATD. ATD moves to quickly. Pynchon establishes no 'immediacy' of plot. Instead of setting, we have a chronology. Events move to fast and are undeveloped. Pynchon seems to try to ground the book in the 'now' with dialogue, which is often nothing more than a one liner maybe followed up by a response. Whether the slang is accurate or not, it's almost like Pynchon over the years has grown worse and worse at writing dialogue. Some of short stories attempt different voices for different people. I should say I love V, and Gravity's Rainbow is probably my favorite book. In Vineland I was willing to accept what I saw as this new style of his--mainly because it was so short and cohesive. But what the fuck was he thinking with against the Day? What I really want is validation for hating the book. 


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