Interlude: If James Wood Supposes...

[Mark Kohut]

Paul Mackin writes:
"Try this approach. Is there such a thing as "pure funniness"? Does 
Pynchon ever resort to such a thing? Terry Gilliam said that the singing 
telegram girl is "Brazil" was pure silliness. It doesn't advance the 
story any in an already overly long movie. He just thought the sequence 
was so very funny. The Pynchon and Gilliam approaches seem much alike in 
certain respects."
_____________________________________________________

And, I might want to add (and argue if necessary).......such artful silly sequences
can carry the value of play, of such silliness as a good, of spontaneity amidst plot linearity,
of "anarchic" unpredictablility as part of the artist's vision of life.....................


----- Original Message ----
From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2008 11:06:28 AM
Subject: Re: Interlude: If James Wood Supposes...

Michael Bailey wrote:
> 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!")
>  
>  
We can't say however that words are ALL (everyhing) novels and fiction 
are about.

Wonder if there is such a thing as "pure writing"?  No, or course not. 
Don't know why I asked.

Try this approach. Is there such a thing as "pure funniness"? Does 
Pynchon ever resort to such a thing? Terry Gilliam said that the singing 
telegram girl is "Brazil" was pure silliness. It doesn't advance the 
story any in an already overly long movie. He just thought the sequence 
was so very funny. The Pynchon and Gilliam approaches seem much alike in 
certain respects.

Of course whatever either of them is doing no matter how lighthearted 
has a political content.

Nothing wrong with that unless maybe the point being made is banal 
and/or already firmly ingrained in the reader/viewer's standard way of 
thinking. Then it can seem like gilding the lily or worse.

Guess the thing to remember is that Woods' views are just personal 
opinion. Isn't protesting too much over it is a bit defensive sounding? 
People who like Pynchon just as he is cam still be happy with that fact.


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Looking for last minute shopping deals?  
Find them fast with Yahoo! Search.  http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20080207/3a5db89f/attachment-0001.html>