Mick and Keith and Thomas

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: richard baillie [mailto:richbaillie at fastmail.fm]
> 
> I hope i'm wrong but TRP is becoming increasingly like mick, keith and
> the boys...
> 
> ...still writing new material that unfortunately doesn't quite measure
> up to the old rock an'roll
> 
 
interesting comparison; hope it isn't too annoying to elaborate on the idea a bit... 1) the "top of the Pops" and bestseller lists thrive on novelty, which is a good thing, for the artistic life is difficult and thank goodness there  are rich rewards for some -- even the ones who don't get them can be inspired by the sight (if they don't succumb to envy)

2) novelty wears off by its nature; fads move on (the beat goes on)

3) some people for a variety of reasons are genuinely moved by an artist and are interested in deeper appreciation, though not every work by that artist makes the Top of the Pops...(and thank goodness there's frequent rotation there, since it allows more people a chance) 
using the Stones as an example is hard for me, because they've never been my favorite, but some of their less popular work - "Gotta Walk Before They Make Me Run" for instance, or "Under-Assistant West Coast Promo Man" - seems to me much better work, groovier, more heartfelt, more prone to lingering in the mind, more delectable than their actual "hits" (In Pynchon's case, of course, I'm thinking specifically of Vineland, though many have expressed other ideas)

4) Art of course is intertwined with taste, but within that subjectivity there is still room for a knowledgeable appreciation, a connoisseurship of the communication, and a building up of a body of knowledge and associations within one's mind, like a friendship growing fractally over time and shared (whether mindful or mindless, or both by turns) pleasures.  Pynchon's elaborate and mysterious enough to allow lots of work for readers so minded.

5) He seems to be kind enough to be a good Virgil - the references I've shaken off enough lassitude to follow have been interesting and helpful.  Evocation of the natural world (ie, crosscheckable stuff like the splintered lumber in bombed London) is tasty enough in his books so that I've grabbed the nettle and tried to ascend into the ether of the emotions and (crossing myself for protection) philosophies that he is attempting to portray.

6) None of this matters if nobody else feels the same way, of course - however many copies I buy it won't be enough in sum to keep him writing.  But that Wired article about "the long tail" indicates that there's a living to be made even when one hasn't captured the "black is the new pink, Stephenson is the new Pynchon, Phish is the new Dead" market.  Thank goodness.  One is mildly worried that that Slate reader thinks academics have abandoned the coolness that is Pynchon's writing - but I have my copies of P-Notes to somewhat allay my fears on that score.