VL-are we ready for some sort of wrap-up?

[Bekah]

My second reading also and like you,  Laura,  the discussion really  
helped my appreciation.   Reading this book on my own,  the first  
time,  was pretty baffling in some places - although I enjoyed it  
quite a lot.  Actually,  Vineland was my intro to Pynchon.

What's it about?   Various personalities during the turmoil of the  
'60s including political radicals,  neo-fascists,  tube-addicts.   
Mostly it's about looking for mom and what all mom has got into -  
it's not apple pie.

Bekah


On Apr 22, 2009, at 9:35 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:

> This was my second reading of VL and I can honestly say that the  
> group read helped me appreciate the book a lot more than my first  
> solo attempt.  So thanks, everyone.
>
> Although every Pynchon book is "about" many things and subject to  
> many interpretations and deconstructions (Heikki's latest e-mail  
> about V was very thought-provoking), it's hard to resist the  
> temptation to come up with some pat answer for someone who might  
> ask:  "Vineland?  What's it about?"  I might attempt to answer by  
> saying that it's an exploration of how family and ideals and pop  
> culture inform and distort each other.  The Traverse clan is caught  
> in a tug of war between their political heritage and the lure of  
> the Tube, somehow managing to adapt both to their family culture.   
> At the same time, pop culture takes on the Traverse family and  
> their politics and adapts them to an acceptable form for popular  
> consumption.
>
> Personally, the DL/Takeshi sections were my least favorite,  
> possibly because they didn't fit in with my narrowed view of what  
> the book was "about."  I'd guess that each of us has a very  
> different view of what this book is about (Robin?).  Would love to  
> hear them.
>
> Laura