Pynchon's work influences Jonathan Franzen---V. esp. maybe here

[Thomas Beshear]

Franzen changed methods after The Seventy-Seventh City. He writes satirical 
novels of how people (or some people) live today -- he skewers the 
pretensions of the liberal middle class (it's so well done I assume he's 
liberal himself -- a conservative couldn't hit the target so consistently). 
I think The Corrections is a fine novel, and Freedom is possibly even 
better. HOWEVER, people for whom Pynchon is their favorite author because of 
all the levels of arcane info that can be teased from his prose will likely 
not enjoy Franzen, because almost everything is on the surface.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kelber at mindspring.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 1:07 PM
Subject: RE: Pynchon's work influences Jonathan Franzen---V. esp. maybe here


>I started, and quickly discarded Franzen's first novel, The Twenty-seventh 
>City.  There's a gratuitous mention of Pynchon somewhere early on, and I 
>couldn't help thinking he was an untalented Pynchon wannabe.  Haven't read 
>anything of his since.  Is (are?) The Corrections really worth reading?
>
> Laura
>
> -----Original Message-----
>>From: Tore Rye Andersen <torerye at hotmail.com>
>>Sent: Sep 7, 2010 3:10 AM
>>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>Subject: RE: Pynchon's work influences Jonathan Franzen---V. esp. maybe 
>>here
>>
>>
>>From page 67 of Franzen's Freedom:
>>
>>"Richard [the cool guy] was wearing a black T-shirt and reading a 
>>paperback novel with a big V on the cover."
>