Newsday review of AtD

[David Morris]

The point is that Pynchon's worlds are constructed around very
abstract concepts, and thus by nature his characters tend to be parts
of an abstract mechanism being explored, and as a result their
"humanness" is subject to compromise.  It's an observation, good or
bad is your judgement call.  But I think the very foundation of
fiction is the creation of worlds and characters, and a reader wants
to "relate" to these creations, have an emotional connection.  Thus at
least some aspect of the character has to feel "real" to the reader.
Otherwise reading about some theoretical construct embodied in a
fictional world becomes a pretty dry experience.

David Morris

On 11/17/06, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
> funny, but do "realistic fiction" writers get nailed for not including things outside their own characters heads?
>
> you wouldn't really know what kind of life people live today by reading mainstream or realistic fiction, namely the effect technology is having in our lives
>
> it's just stupid--richard ford's frank bascomb--is he not a symbol as well?
>
> my point is literature is legion--it's not this or that. just don't see considering the canvas Pynchon is working on/within that these kind've criticisms are a problem for me.
>
> but I'm not a huge fiction reader anymore rich