IVIV (8): An Occasional Certified Zombie

[Ray Easton]

Robin Landseadel wrote:
>
> Claiming that there is a "right" or a "wrong" reading of Pynchon 
> misses that "misdirection" has always been a core tactic of Pynchon. 
> If it feels dense and confusing and misleading at times, it's because 
> it is, it's supposed to feel dense and confusing. If one is led on a 
> literary snipe hunt it is because that's an essential part of the 
> novel's design.
 
Clearly, there is no "right" reading of Pynchon.  But there are readings 
which are just plain wrong.  The use of rigid Jamesean lenses, for 
instance, results in such a reading.   Your own railing against critics 
who dismiss his post-GR works appear to argue that these readings are 
not just different than yours, but are in fact wrong.

Not every literary snipe hunt undertaken by every reader grows out of 
the design of the work.  Readers are far too clever for that to be true.

Someone posted a review or a blog entry or what not in which the author 
claimed that the amount of activity on the IV Wiki was evidence of the 
depth of the text.  I've no opinion on IV's depth, but the quantity of 
digital ink spilled over it is not evidence of such.  It testifies 
rather to the energy, inventiveness, and imagination of IV's readers.

Ray



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