Idle Zoyd, Crappy Vineland?

[David Morris]

On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 3:00 AM, Carvill John
>
> I note, with a shudder, that a certain old-time p-lister is back, and >dissing Zoyd, Vineland and Pynchon yet again. >Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Come on, John.  Everyone's entitled to an opinion or two, even (maybe
especially) if they're not popular ones.  A group of groupies and
sycophants is a sure recipe for boredom.

> I don't see Zoyd as 'idle', and my instincts (and experience) tell me many other Pynchon fans share this view. In fact I'd go so far as to say that I'd bet most of us feel immediate affection for, and in more than a few cases, identification with Zoyd.  I think someone seeing Zoyd as idle marks that person out as being on the opposite side of the 'Culture Wars' from Zoyd and from Pynchon. I see that kind of person as being on the side of the Brock Vonds and Ronald Reagans of this world.

Well, Zoyd has been idle, but under an enforced contract to be so.
Even so, he has done a fine job of raising his daughter and being a
beloved part of this alternative community.  If he's been "sleeping,"
it's because Brock gave him that poison pill.  Now he's to be awakened
by a similar agent.  Like so many of Pynchon's Schlemeils, he gets
pushed around alot, but we still love him like we love Benny Profane
and Tyrone Slothrop.

That said, Vineland is my least favorite of Pynchon's novels.  But
I've said that here before.

David Morris