Interlude: If James Wood Supposes...

[Michael Bailey]

On 2/5/08, Paul Mackin wrote:
> Last evening I watched a dvd of "Children of Men."
>

I totally missed the buzz on that one...thanks for the tip,
it sounds like something I might like...

> We might consider these kinds of things as analogous to Pynchon's
> sublime way with words, regardless of whether he's being zany or lyrical
> (which positives Woods by the way never fails to give him credit for).
>

yeah, just that that isn't what Woodie considers most important.
De gustibus... (I'll spare you the inner howling I'm making
of "but damn, man, that's what it's all about! Books!  They're made
of words!")

> I guess I read Pynchon for the "pyrotechnics" but at the same time long
> for characters I could care about and a decent plot once in a while.
>

I was considering this afternoon how the characters in AtD
have a bit more depth than those in, say,  V. --
ie, more physical detail such as eye color, hairscapes, neckscapes --
ie, are not obvious symbols or pointers to some tendency or
        force of nature (as, say, Pig Bodine tends to verge on being,
        or Benny Profane is declared to be (schlemihl)
        -  well, ok, Vibe has a touch of that and maybe Webb...)
ie, have inner lives that stand revealed by a variety of methods
                     (although maybe not as lavishly as some might want)

but that thought isn't fully formed --

could go 2 ways:  drag in more examples from other writers,
and eventually end up agreeing that "characters who leap up off the page"
isn't maybe Pynchon's main thrust (although his characters tend to have
experiences that *some* people strongly identify with)

or, build a thesis that his characterization is developing in a
certain direction, during his entire "writing project",
as he's also explicated and firmed up his ontology
and located/created a storytelling space more congenial
to empathy-inspiring characters...(Vineland being a
major milestone on that path, imho)

As to plot...ok, I myself have longed for more happy endings,
something that needs a whole affirmative action program of its own,
not just in Pynchon but all writing. As noted in the chapter we just
looked at, a novel like Dracula inspired people of the time to act out
its dark story (and Anne Rice's books inspired Goth lifestyles
more recently) - ergo, a happy ending praxis that didn't
offend intelligence too much could actually change some people's lives...
brighten some real-life days, yadata yadata...