Pynchon and Melville not quite human

[Ya Sam]

"Getting off the topic of travel for a little bit, if you could take 
authorship of a book, which book would you want to take authorship of?

Ah, you’re asking all these questions no one’s ever asked before. Three 
things come instantly to mind, so we’ll pretend this is a word association 
test or instantaneous answers are what you need. The first I thought of was 
“The Quiet American,” which is my private Bible. And I think many a traveler 
would claim it as one of the better books about exile, about foreign romance 
and about American involvement, which keeps both an emotional and political 
story going simultaneously. And then instantly I thought of “Moby Dick” 
because that’s the most impressive novel I know. And then right after that I 
thought of “Mason & Dixon” by Thomas Pynchon because that’s the most 
impressive contemporary novel I’ve encountered in the last few years. But I 
think the reason I like “Moby Dick” and “Mason & Dixon” is that there is 
something unfathomable about them, and there is something not quite human 
about Melville and Pynchon, to the point where I, as a reader, can’t even 
comprehend that somebody could write those books. So, really, there is no 
way I could ever write something like that. “The Quiet American,” because 
it’s small and human, seems more accessible as a possibility. "


http://www.worldhum.com/qanda/item/pico_iyer_travel_writing_20061104/

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