What are you reading

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Making a hierarchical listing of Pynchon's novels might be kinda beside the point. If I'm gonna drop a ballot on these books, I can't make rational arguments based on deep knowledge of Pynchon's writing (certainly not after reading some of those "reader's guides" to TRP that get all postmodern on his ass), but I can make a list based on what drew me into his books. GR usually ends up on the top of everybody's list—it's practically a fetish (and GR makes for a pretty good catalog of fetishes, come to think of it), but it's still not the best organized book of all time, seems to take forever to get off the ground (so to speak), and (in its way), falls apart completely at the end. Probably the sickest "great read" I've read. "Good though", as Utah Phillips would say. Vineland has wonderful characters, a fast moving collection of plots and organization of materials that ends up gathering together all the loose ends and tying them together into a pretty bow at the end. But, compared to 
GR it seems a bagatelle. Not that there's anything wrong with that . . .
COL 49 clearly bothers the author [which is very interesting all by its lonesome], has a single protagonist that you really can root for and a clear line connecting all plot elements. Of course, it bails at the end. Mason & Dixon has a major flaw in placing 20th century anachronisms throughout the text (as commentary or comic material). While those sorts of verbal games are are TRP's forte, Mason and Dixon's immersion in the strange and brave new world they're charting  is often blown off-course by all those shifting reference points.  On the other hand, its poetic qualities are on a different (higher) order than any of TRP's other books, and it is beautifully organized. V's pretty badly organized, and TRP spends 21 pages of introduction in "Slow Learner" apologizing for the short stories that follow. And I don't blame him for apologizing for those stories one little bit.
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Michael J. Hußmann" <michael at michael-hussmann.de>
> Joseph T (brook7 at sover.net) wrote:
> 
> > So far the only Pynchon I haven't read because I  
> > couldn't seem to enjoy something about the linguistic pace and style.  
> > Too dry or something is Mason &Dixon. I wonder where other p- listers  
> > would rate that in the "PYNCHON PANTHEON"
> 
> 1. GR
> 2. Vineland
> 3. COL49
> 4. V
> 5. M&D (to be honest, I never finished it, and I doubt I ever will)
> 6. SL (I happen to like "The Small Rain", though)
> 
> 
> Michael J. Hußmann
> 
> E-mail: michael at michael-hussmann.de
> WWW (personal): http://michael-hussmann.de
> WWW (professional): http://digicam-experts.de
> 
>