IV reviewed in Publishers Weekly

[Mark Kohut]

I like Tore's words on L49 especially (and true about GR). I have always liked those 
'throwaway" good works of many: Waiting for Godot, written in less than 3 weeks. A
favorite Mailer, neglected I say: Why are We in Vietnam?...written in six weeks. 
On the Road. Others by others....

And, AtD, a capacious "loose baggy monster" [James] overall.....imho
CONTAINS EVERYTHING......(he has learned, thought, felt...including 
the fullest expression of his life-affirmning values (with M & D) imho. 

Hey, nobody really takes PW "reviews" seriously word-by-word---
too Manichean; too often just 'shallow' for sales reasons
...................but, this one shows affection and understanding. 
I wonder if Steve Moore wrote it? .................

 


----- Original Message ----
From: Tore Rye Andersen <torerye at hotmail.com>
To: fqmorris at gmail.com
Cc: john.carvill at sap.com; pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 9:16:05 AM
Subject: RE: IV reviewed in Publishers Weekly


David Morris:

> In other words, everything Pynchon writes HAS to be a masterwork (even when it isn't). 

That's not what the reviewer (or even we) are saying here. But the reviewer IS calling
IV a masterwork, is merely what we're pointing out, and the "throwaway" part is not 
meant as a critique.

> I don't even think all of his LARGER tomes are masterworks or "genius." There are no 
> flat-out dogs, but only a minority qualify as "genius.

And I would tend to agree with you. GR is undoubtedly possessed of "genius" (whatever 
that means), and I would argue that Lot 49 is too. The latter could even be characterized
as a "throwaway masterwork" IMO: something casually tossed off by Pynchon as he was working 
on his magnum opus, but tossed off by an author who was writing at the height of his powers. 





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