Can Pynchon write (yet)?

[Daniel Julius]

I like what you're saying, Paul.  As for your question of "how far does the
novel's world include an extra-textual dimension (ie the plausibility that
invokes the real world)?" and your own answer of "It's a question of
approach," means, if you'll allow me to paraphrase, that it's entirely up to
each individual reader to decide how much of the "real world" is allowed to
permeate into his or her critical lens, how much of their "real" experience
is brought to the table, so to speak.  Is that a fair summary?  I totally
agree with it.

And my question to that would then be: how does the isolated reader persuade
other readers to adopt their critical lens?  Or at least accept the validity
of their lens?  Because we certainly don't want to say that everyone's lens
is appropriate, do we?  If you and I have inexorable differences in
understanding -- like, basic-level -- like gravity to you is air pressure
pushing us continually to the ground, and someone else says it's the
inherent pull of mass, how do you reconcile those two radically different
"approaches" to reading?  They'll certainly produce different readings,
right?  And isn't one necessarily better than the other?
     It just dawned on me how appropriate this discussion is to, erm, recent
list activity, with its, ahem, tensions over, let's say, interpretive
procedure and privileging.

And to D, I want to ask: do you think readers started looking for
well-rounded characters and "sustained narrative progress" because they were
used to seeing it from almost all authors, or did almost all authors include
these in their novels because they were supplying the audience with what
they would want to read themselves?  Why were plots ever introduced in the
first place?  Probably 'cause people's lives are chaotic, and they wanted
structure, however fictional, wherever they could get it.  Does this sound
plausible to you?

--
Dan
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