ATDDTA(10) A Screaming Comes Across The Creek [294-295]

[mikebailey]

On Sat, 9 Jun 2007, Ya Sam wrote:

>
> >
> >Comedy can be cruel and life unfair.
> >
> >Pynchon is not for the squeamish.
>

hmmm, has anyone else the feeling that the outrageousness that peaked
in GR is purposefully abated in the later books?  (certainly not absent...)

Like Pig Bodine's laugh, during a mellow time, changing from "hyeugh-
hyeugh-hyeugh" to "tschak-tschak-tschak" - it's still there, but
couched more mildly -- playing with the stereotypes, like the Goth
milkmaid in M&D: the Japanese tourists with cameras; the Russian
dancing and even the Finnish ski shtick in AtD,
don't seem to be pointed caricatures,
but more like geography book illustrations,
utilized as highlights to point hyperbolically to cultural diversity...

like the lasagnonis who show up in tourist pictures, they aren't really
the subject - aren't delved into...not because Pynchon doesn't know how
to delve or develop a conceit or an extended commentary, but because
they aren't foreground figures.  just there to lighten things up a bit...

This lighter touch is why I like the later Pynchon better.

I can't think of a place where he shows the imago of an
unflattering Irish-American stereotype (it certainly would be easy),
so can't say what my personal reaction would be.