Greatest GR

[Tore Rye Andersen]

>Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:29:37 +0300
>From: "Ya Sam" <takoitov at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: Contemporary Fiction
>
> >In terms of his whole oeuvre, I'd say you're correct.  But I'd say GR
> >reached their level.  For me, the jury's had its say there.
> >
> >--
> >David Morris
>
>I agree. GR is the greatest novel of the 2nd half of the 20th century and
>one of the greatest novels of the whole century. Full stop. What other 
>novel
>of the 2nd half could be equalled with it? The century is over, and we can
>make judgements. AtD belongs to the 21st.

Yep - GR towers above the rest of the literary landscape from 1950 onwards. 
I would add 'The Crying of Lot 49' to Pynchon's canonical works, though. If 
GR is to the second half of the 20th century what 'Ulysses' was to the 
first, I'd argue that Lot 49 is the equal of such works as 'Heart of 
Darkness' and 'The Great Gatsby'. It continues yielding new treasures upon 
each re-reading, and in glimpses it approaches the intensity of GR (which 
Pynchon's other novels don't).
GR stands alone, however. It seems downright uncanny - an almost unnatural 
aberration in the literary history of the past 50 years. It sometimes seems 
as though it's been beamed down to us from another, more advanced, planet by 
mistake.