Concepts as characters (was: Why don't women read Pynchon?)

[terrance terrance]

>I see this as a separate issue from whether the characters are round, flat,
>or inflated with hydrogen. Pynchon's characters, however real or engaging,
>are neither the subject nor the motive force in his novels. Their lives are
>smoke injected into the wind tunnel so you can see the shape of the flow.
>
>The bulk of my fiction reading over the years has been science fiction. I
>think I took to Pynchon because his novels, like much of sf, is driven by
>concepts. Other fiction may be driven by character, plot, or literary
>structure. How "real" the characters is orthogonal to all that.


What concepts drove M&D?

Also, do concepts differ from themes and ideas?

Also, are concepts in the text or are they something readers bring to the 
party?

Is it the case that males bring more concepts to their readings of texts 
than females?

Can a novel have fully developed  characters and themes and ideas and 
concepts?

Is Ender a concept or a character?

Is Ray Bradbury's story "There will come soft rains" (no human characters) a 
concept driven tale?

Also, is carl Barrington of P's TSI a concept character?

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