Bad Sneakers & a Fina Salada

[Carvill, John]

<< I admire Polanski the artist, but I loathe the man, and think he should be locked up.  >>

But what about 'Chinatown'?!

<< Then there's this painful underage girl thing: 14-year-old Lucille, 12-year-old Bianca.  I'm not saying Pynchon's a Polanski, but I don't think his constant references to sexualized teens [the almost sentimental portrait of the child-molester earlier in this book, Zoyd fighting an attraction to his daughter as he watches her sleeping, Merle encouraging Dally's teen sexual initiation] are nothing more than a friendly nod towards his one-semester teacher Nabokov.  Write what you know?  Write what you feel? >>

Yes, the question has to be asked, and no, I've never been fully convinced by the claims that scenes such as Slothrop's encounter with Bianca can be explained away as satires on capitalism etc. I don't think that means Pynchon's some sort of nonce, though. Also, to be fair, there's the character, what do you call her, Prarie's shoplifting rollerskater friend, who describes her step-father as "turning into the asshole of the universe" at the slightest glimpse of young flesh.