Pynchon vs. Pynchon

[Jim Gilbert]

Here's what I wanna know, and these recent reviews bring it to the forefront
-- why is it impossible for these reviewers and neo-critics to appreciate
Against the Day for the novel it is, without comparing it (positively or
negatively) to Pynchon's other work? Is TP doomed to ever compete with
himself and lose? Is that the price of setting so high a bar? I don't recall
reading reviews of Umberto Eco's Queen Loana that felt the need to compare
it to, say, Foucault's Pendulum. Why do so many people seem to be looking
for "Gravity's Rainbow II"?
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