Hitchens on Pynchon

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Suppose, for a moment, that Pynchon's much-vaunted paranoia (a term I hate for its misuse and overuse; the overuse of its misuse) is a part of his pysche. He could consistently call Hitchens and hang up. One can have an hour off once in a while: even (some) (so-called) paranoids can have moment or two of wild optimism.

Yet the paranoia could keep him out of the public eye. The idea of giving a short talk on topics literary might be enough to give him the cold sweats and a deep need to hide in the basement.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: A.J. 
  To: rich 
  Cc: Henry Musikar ; Pynchon Liste 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 7:54 AM
  Subject: Re: Hitchens on Pynchon


  I'm not sure what Hitchens means-is it not the media that creates the storm around his desire for privacy? But anyway, a lot of this recluse business surrounding Pynchon seems manufactured. Sure, he doesn't grant interviews or give lectures, but neither did, say, Cormac McCarthy until very recently. He does seems adamant about avoiding the public sphere, but, I mean, he's not Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling, he's highly respected in literary circles and whatnot. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard for a (relatively) obscure author to maintain privacy though, with (gasp) photographs of him published. Guys like McEwan, grant interviews and make appearances, and I don't exactly see him on the cover of Us Weekly. I've always had an internal debate about this, how much is image making on the part of Pynchon, how much is media creation?


  I understand if Pynchon wants his work to stand on its own, but that seems like a lame thing to hide behind. I've seen plenty of authors speak, and interviews of Cormac McCarthy, and oftentimes, they're reticent on the creative process and refuse to answer subjective questions of interpretation. I feel like he could definitely grant interviews and not inject his interpretation of his novels and have them cloud other people's judgment. His work has spoken to a lot of people, so it's a shame he's never been interviewed. I understand if he just wants privacy or doesn't feel like it, but I've read it's because he wants his work to stand on its own-that seems like a lame explanation. But who knows, every source on his life is questionable at best.


    >





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