Pynchon feature for new online mag?

[Carvill John]

Hello Mr. Morris. You are, needless to say, one of the people I'd most like to see contributing.


I think your email is based on a coupke of misunderstandings. The big one is, I'm not proposing a regular feature, requiring repeated contributions from p-isters. I'm suggesting a one-off feature, so there' no need to worry about sustaining momentum or anything like that.


What you say about Pynchon notes, or trawling the p-list archives, *seems* to be based on a misunderstanding or some sort, but I'm not sure what. I am probably missing your point, but I don't really get why you have mentioned those things?


If my biggest hurdle is the 'regular aspect' then consider that hurdle surmounted!


To clarify: what I am suggesting is that each p-ister contribute a short mini-essay on why Pynchon is so special, the overal aim of the feature being, broadly, to persuade a general reader to give Pynchon a go. That's all. This method allows for a wide variety of approaches; each p-lister may take a very different angle. I might write about Pynchons humour, someopne else about his erudition, someone else focus just on Mason & Dixon, someone else just on one fantastic paragraph, or maybe even just a sentence, etc. The focus of what yu choose to write can be as wide or as narrow as you choose. Write anything you want.


If enough p-listers wrote such a mini-essay, and we cobble them all together, would it not be interesting - even for us - to see what people choose to say? And I think it's beyond doubt that the combined effect of these individual contributions would be to spark the interest of a reader who otherwise wouldn't have given Pynchon a chance.



----------------------------------------
> Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 15:22:14 -0600
> Subject: Re: Pynchon feature for new online mag?
> From: fqmorris at gmail.com
> To: johncarvill at hotmail.com
> CC: pynchon-l at waste.org
>
> A few days ago Carvill John wrote:
>
>> But this guy, well read, etc. but never read a word of Pynchon, well, he made a suggestion that I immdiately rejected, but then reconsidered: why don't we run a feature on Pynchon, written by Pynchon List people?
>
> And just now:
>
>> FOlks!  Last nagging email on this one. Lots of good people signed up, but still plenty of quality p-listers yet to step forward.
>> Come on!
>> Don't make me name names!
>
> And I say:
>
> Tall order, Carvill. Even with a new novel it's hard to get any
> consistent participation with Group Reads on the P-list. Almost all
> start out with lots of volunteers, but end with less than a handful as
> days grind by. And participation quality is a far cry from anything
> resembling a "feature," especially if you mean it to be a "regular"
> one. Insights here can be very bight, but usually also very brief:
> bursts, not usually fully-fledged, nor sustained. That's why the
> group participation works so well, filling out threads that bear
> following.
>
> Flame wars are our specialty (you've been part of a few), and even
> those have faded to a flicker from high-spirited days of old. Even
> Millison couldn't be counted on any sustained commentary without his
> "kick-me" flame-baiting (such a masochist!).
>
> Also occasional NP insights from all comers continue to spark new
> mental-pursuits that keep many here for years.
>
> If it weren't so cumbersome, excerpting and compiling a few posts from
> the P-list archives could provide rich material for someone willing to
> commit to "regular" contributions of any merit. But that's a tough
> slog, and would require a lot of time, especially from someone who
> wasn't "there."
>
> Pynchon-notes could be a source also. But it's pretty dry even for
> Pynchon fans.
>
> I think your biggest hurdle is that "regular" aspect re. Pynchon.
> Free-wheeling literary blogger/s would probably be more fruitful, like
> this "Conversational Reading" one:
>
> http://conversationalreading.com/
>
> Sincerely,
> David Morris
 		 	   		  
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