The Recognitions

[rich]

TR is one of the most influential books I ever read; it changed my
perception of the world that few books have)--beyond all the religious
arcana it confirmed much of what I felt about the ridiculous nature
and callousness of modern life--it's pretentious artists, crazed
religious buffoons, its schemers, con men, etc. I knew I was in rare
company coming across character names like Agnes Dei and Recktall
Brown but unlike so much of the self-satisfied nature of much later
post-modernism, Gaddis still retains some semblance of outrage and
heart.
There is no 'them' in Gaddis; it's only 'us', usually ugly, craven,
stupid, and worthy of Gaddis' ridicule.

and let's not forget the most important thing about Gaddis--he's
really funny. forget about Pynchon's whole sick crew; they just dont
compare to the dinner party chats in TR (which Wallace tried to
duplicate in IJ and mostly succeeded).

I hope to drop in a few comments from time to time during the reading.

If I did ever meet Pynchon, I think one of the first things I would
ask him is if he ever read the Recognitions. I would be shocked if he
said no


rich