IVIV (1) Intro

[János Székely]

John Carvill:

"But your claim that IV is "more satisfying craft-wise than more than
one of his heavier pieces", is - as  John Travolta always sez - a bold
statement."

Well, _for me_ at least more satisfying. I must say that much as I
read AtD with enjoyment and awe, I never ceased to have the impression
that he goes through all the mandatory moves (linguistic,
encyclopedic, political, moral), the stunts and mannerisms which I
came to love and even expect, but that demonic unifying centripetal
force and passion and extraterrestrial buzz which keeps it all
together in GR is missing (at least to a perceptible degree). In IV I
see a balance between the One and the Many.

Heikki:

You may be right and I may be right too. It is really subjective but I
see a drop of intensity between parts 1 and 2, as if he grew tired
after driving at space speed, and I think In the Zone is rather uneven
(the Nordhausen episode e.g. is too much on the improvisation side,
and it seems he just can't imagine the horror of Stalin's Russia as he
can imagine war-time London or Germany not just realistically but
"perfectly"), but of course the book as a whole surpasses everything
else written in the age. On the other hand, I shall revise my equation
of perfection with boredom, as Nathanael West or Evelyn Waugh (to name
two authors with a Pynchon connection) and even F. Scott Fitzgerald
can be perfect _and_ fun.