IV = IV

[Robin Landseadel]

On Jul 22, 2009, at 7:03 AM, Carvill, John wrote:

> Christ you know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be.... Funny
> enough, I found V. to be the hardest to get through, by far, of any of
> Pynchon's books, first time round. Also, at first reading, I preferred
> the American/sailors/carousing segments to than the Euorpean/African
> bits. Second read, it was the opposite.

Third or fourth reading in and I'm still irritated by:

	. . . an unacceptable level of racist, sexist and proto-Fascist talk
	throughout this story. I wish I could say that this is only Pig
	Bodine's voice, but, sad to say, it was also my own at the time.
	The best I can say for it now is that, for its time, it is probably
	authentic enough.

In particular, "V. in Love" annoys the hell out of me—sexist and tone- 
deaf at the same time. Lot of clunky gear-shifts in style throughout  
the book as well.

That said, I found Mondaugen's story harrowing.