Language of AtD (possible spoilers thru p. 80)

[Tim Strzechowski]

At this point I've read thru p. 80 and the language is, to me, pretty 
accessible.  In fact the whole Merle Rideout chapter (pp. 57 - 80) has the 
colloquial style of _Vineland_ (not to mention a father-daughter 
relationship that parallels Zoyd and Prairie, and a husband-wife 
relationship that parallels Zoyd and Frenesi, and a wife-lover relationship 
that parallels Frenesi and Brock Vond ... which someone may have already 
alluded to here).

Especially in this chapter, there's an abundance of references to "light," 
"illumination," "enlightenment," "lightning" vs. language of darkness and 
shadows.  Characters likewise reflect the light/dark dynamic, and P is 
obviously having a lot of fun with puns on light and dark images.

"Light" is being played with continuously in terms of its relation to 
weight, brightness, and its use as a verb throughout the novel thus far.

So to answer your question:  the language isn't difficult in from an OED 
angle, but the wordplay, imagery, and diction make reading it a delight thus 
far.




> I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive, but I would like to know from 
> those already reading it about the difficulty of the language, is it 
> something that would keep you consulting OED every now and then (like GR 
> and M&D) or is it less difficult (Lot 49)?
>