V-2: Re: BDSL, 1- Genetic Therapy for Inherent Vice

Mark Kohut markekohut at yahoo.com
Wed Aug 18 10:28:20 CDT 2010


Laura writes:
Speaking, though, of the downside of Pynchon, I'd say he hits about his lowest 
point (save ATD's "Reader, she bit him.")in Chapter V, Part II, with the 
depiction of Mafia.  It's a sickening, patronizing, deeply misogynist, frat-boy 
caricature of a woman writer who's edged too successfully into Big-Boy Writer 
territory.  Young Pynchon wonders if he should emulate the snide attitudes of 
Mailer and Roth.  Fortunately, the answer is NO!  He moves to California, leaves 
the NY literary crowd behind, and crafts Oedipa from Owlglass.

Very nice writing, i say, but i ask: Does it matter if Mafia is supposed to be 
Ayn Rand?, who, to me, deserves all the scorn she can be given....(But, i did
not know that it might be based on her before the Companion yet I thought of her 
since I had early come to hate her crowd....)

That said, is it maybe as much a scornful satire of ANY writer embracing their 
mafiosi fans?....We would soon come to know how much Pynchon does not
want FOLLOWERS.....Personal Fame................

-----Original Message-----
>From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
>Sent: Aug 18, 2010 10:14 AM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: V-2: Re: BDSL, 1- Genetic Therapy for Inherent Vice
>
>On Aug 18, 2010, at 7:05 AM, Carvill, John wrote:
>
>> << I don't like reading V., the dialog is embryonic, the set-ups are
>> tedious, the characters cardboard. The more I read V., the less I like
>> it. >>
>>
>> Well, there's a *lot* of great stuff in there. But 'V.' is a  
>> terrifically hard book to get into, at least it was for me,  
>> initially. I really had to force myself through it, first time  
>> round. I would never, under any circumstances, recommend it to  
>> anyone as their first Pynchon.
>
>As far as I can tell, I've read everything else by TRP. Most  
>everything else by Pynchon is so much easier  for me to read,  
>including CoL49.  I relished Inherent Vice, am still finding new  
>resonances and shades of meaning in that piece of crap.
>
>So obviously I don't know what I'm talking about.


      



More information about the Pynchon-l mailing list