a look at the James Wood AtD review - part 2 (couple spoilers)

[John BAILEY]

Daniel Harper wrote:
 
"just finished "In the Zone" some thirty minutes ago, which gives me
something like 150 pages left..."
 
<snip>
 
"GR is a much more narratively concise novel than ATD"
 
Heh heh heh. Put your seatbelt on, Daniel.
 
Interesting post, too. I mostly agree.

________________________________

From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
Behalf Of Daniel Harper
Sent: Tuesday, 10 July 2007 5:31 AM
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: a look at the James Wood AtD review - part 2 (couple
spoilers)


I have not quite finished GR (just finished "In the Zone" some thirty
minutes ago, which gives me something like 150 pages left) and I
finished ATD nearly six months ago, so take the following with a grain
of salt. 

GR is a much more narratively concise novel than ATD, given that despite
its long digressions and Pynchonian complexity, the storyline basically
just follows Slothrop and "those who interact with Slothrop" around. No
matter how abstruse the information or storyline in GR, one is pretty
much always assured that Slothrop will be reappearing within the next
section or two, and the general thematic threads of the novel are much
closer to the surface than in ATD. 

ATD simply has no central character, and its themes are considerably
deeper than those in GR. While it can be argued that Pynchon has simply
structured his book badly, or that the book simply wasn't really worth
writing, I think the deeper issue is that this book is simply very
different from any other that Pynchon has written, and in a very real
sense very different from anything else that's ever been written. If
anything, Pynchon is calling back to those huge intergenerational sagas
of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but with his own
special twist. Since these novels are now so distant from us in time and
in theme, it may seem that this novel lacks the propulsive force of
Pynchon's earlier works, but I think deeper understanding is reached by
simply assuming that Pynchon has written exactly the novel he intended
to write, and going from there. I think the overall quality and depth of
Pynchon's other works allow us to be slightly generous for now, and
perhaps over time and with greater literary understanding of the novel,
a clearer picture will emerge of exactly what Pynchon is doing here. 

There's much more I could say, of course, but for now I'm going to go
tackle at least some of "The Counterforce" before I get off for the day.


--Daniel


On 7/9/07, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote: 

	ATD seems just plain tired compared to GR.  GR is  much more
	experimental (and thus that much less accessible).  And much
more
	intensely felt, because, I think TRP was passionately exploring
the
	limits of the new form of fiction he was then pioneering. When
Woods 
	complains about the sameness of descriptions I understand what
he
	means.  I'm sorry to say that ATD feels almost Pynchon-formulaic
at
	times.
	
	I don't agree with Wood's criticism of GR in his
Richardson/Fielding 
	framework because I seriously do feel for the feelings of many
of GR's
	characters, and I never felt they were immune from consequences.
The
	tragic at least equals the comic in GR.  And when Pynchon
employs his 
	rich prose it doesn't seem calculated merely to propel the
reader past
	the next few pages, as it does seem to me in ATD.
	
	I think ATD is good, on the whole, but I think GR is a
masterpiece.
	
	David Morris 
	
	On 7/9/07, mikebailey at speakeasy.net <mikebailey at speakeasy.net>
wrote:
	>
	> laura kelber wrote
	>
	> > Thanks for your thoughtful dissection of the Woods review
(which I haven't actually read yet). I think what you say in point "n"
is the real gist of his review: nothing in the book particularly grabbed
him. I think we all have our favorite sections in TRP's books. For me,
they came fast and furious in GR (and V, COL49 and M&D) but were much
sparser in VL and ATD. So I can sympathize with reviewers who are less
than enthralled with ATD. 
	>
	> Is it because of the opposite reason - not enough dangerous
radicalism?
	



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