ATD Review

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

There's two "Bilocations" for Against the Day that I'm thinking 
about right now. One is Proust. In addition to all the other 
features  of the time period for AtD, one is the overlap of 
Proust's adult years. Pynchon always had a "thing" for long, 
complex sentences, with extraordinarily poetic description. 
My "warm-up" (is to laugh) to AtD is "In Search of Lost Time", 
having gone as far as 100 pages into "Sodom & Gommorah",
and there are passages, long passages, in AtD that are quite 
reminiscent of Proust. Of course, there's tons of "Lost Time" 
themes throught the book. 

The other "Bilocation" for the book would be Richard Feynmen.
 I really don't know that much about Feynman, other than the
 fact that he is a major physicist and was very interested in 
Tuva/Shambhala. What got him interested in Tuva was 
a collection of stamps from Tuva:

http://archive.salon.com/travel/feature/2000/03/22/tuva/index1.html

"This obscure documentary recounts the story of the late Nobel 
Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman and his attempts 
to travel to Tuva. As with the handful of other Westerners 
who knew about Tuva, Feynman had discovered the area 
through the unique postage stamps it had issued in the
 early 20th century. Enchanted by the stamps and by the 
resonant name of its capital, Kyzyl, Feynman became 
intent on visiting the remote, mountainous land. The Soviets, 
however, could not believe that this great mind was interested 
only in the scenery, and for 13 years, they repeatedly foiled 
his plans. The Belics, however, determined that they would 
somehow make it to Tuva."

Sound familiar?
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Otto <ottosell at googlemail.com>
> Heapin' helpin': Thomas Pynchon's 1,000-page novel serves up multiple
> narratives, wacky humor and highbrow ideas
> BY ARIEL GONZALEZ
> 
> In Monty Python's ''Summarize Proust'' competition, contestants were
> given a laughable 15 seconds to recite the plot of In Search of Lost
> Time. At 1,085 pages, Thomas Pynchon's new novel is roughly
> one-quarter the length of Proust's seven-volume masterpiece, and yet
> word-limited critics will also find themselves hopelessly struggling
> to summarize its multiple narratives.
> 
> The attempt is worthwhile, however, for Against the Day, as
> insufferable as it can be, vibrates with the wacky humor, highbrow
> ideas and imaginative aliveness we have come to expect from an
> encyclopedically minded author whose maintenance of personal anonymity
> has not tempered his desire to engage with a fallen world.
> http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/books/16147270.htm
> 
> Monty Python's ''Summarize Proust'':
> http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/episode31.htm