reading Pynchon

[Michael Bailey]

 Doug Millison  wrote:
> Having read the various posts in this thread, I'll stick with my attitude of
> gratitude, that at age 57  I'm not reading Inherent Vice in a high school or
> college class with a professor telling me how I should or should not read it
> or discuss it or think about it, I'm quite happy to read and think about it
> and discuss it as I wish, absolutely.  Your mileage may vary, of course.  If
> you want somebody telling you how to think about this or any other Pynchon
> novel, what's acceptable or unacceptable when it comes to reading and
> discussing a book,  go for it. I think we have at least one, maybe more
> people like that in our very midst here on Pynchon-l, and they seem to
> dispense their advice quite freely, thanks. Some of it is actually
> interesting to read and ponder, even if I should choose not to take their
> approach in my own reading.
>

All that is quite true, yet, I have at least one counterexample:
Dr Umphrey down at UCF, I wouldn't mind perusing any text in a class with him.
a) no grade pressure, I'm pretty sure we all got A's
b) interesting digressions (from his full life, Army service, et al)
c) useful perspectives, pointers to relevant criticism
d) willingness to drill down and address particular passages with
maniacal attention
e) really likeable guy

other profs have had good points too:
musical voice, very pleasing on the ear - Dr x
always wore a suit to class ("sharp dressed man") - Dr y
classic rejoinder to one of my exam answers, gotta love this one: "you
seem to have a good knowledge of the subject matter but are unwilling
to apply it to the question" - Dr z
a teaching fellow (surely a Dr by now) who held up a picture of
Madonna and Child with a wonderful tenderness - Dr a
and many more.  Academia, what a country!

-- 
"Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the
revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world
declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism." -
Martin Luther King