Why don't women read Pynchon?

[John BAILEY]

Leaving aside gender assumptions, am I the only one who actually finds
AtD a *more* emotive, affective book overall than most of P's earlier
work? There have been many, many instances in only the first couple of
hundred pages that seemed the work of someone who'd crossed some kind of
boundary in writing those terrific final scenes of M&D. Lots of parents
having to let go of children, husbands of wives and wives of husbands,
friends falling out, there's vengeful rage, fear, self-destructive love
and regret - really, I've never entirely bought the 'two-dimensional
characters' charge. It's more as if his characters shift from two to
three dimensions (or four or five?) and we require a corresponding
perspectival shift to handle that. 

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
Behalf Of Ya Sam
Sent: Friday, 1 December 2006 4:21 AM
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Why don't women read Pynchon?

Sorry if posted before

"Why don't women read Pynchon? The question's been posed and bandied
about on the blogosphere recently in response to Thomas Pynchon's latest
novel and the spate of reviews for Against the Day written largely by
men. It came as a surprise, this question: as a devoted Pynchonite - and
a woman - I'd never thought of Pynchon's work as gender-specific. But
according to one blogger, Pynchon's writing presents obstacles women
don't care to surmount. And the few searing female reviews of the book
that have come out support the theory. So I started evaluating the ways
Pynchon could turn women off.  ..."

http://www.thephoenix.com/article_ektid28706.aspx

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