Pynchons Problem

[Keith Davis]

How about recommending something for my 9th grader, who's failing English
after being forced to read Romeo and Juliet?
On Mar 14, 2012 10:00 AM, "Keith Davis" <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm in.
> On Mar 14, 2012 9:57 AM, "Mark Kohut" <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Could we get an enthusiastic plurality--or enough plisters---to want to
>> do a group read of THIS
>>  great novel?
>>
>>   *From:* "kelber at mindspring.com" <kelber at mindspring.com>
>> *To:* pynchon-l at waste.org
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 14, 2012 9:54 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: Pynchons Problem
>>
>>  The Golden Notebook.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Keith Davis
>> Sent: Mar 14, 2012 9:48 AM
>> To: kelber at mindspring.com
>> Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
>> Subject: Re: Pynchons Problem
>>
>> Recommend one for me.
>> On Mar 14, 2012 9:38 AM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>
>> Excellent post about the missing heroines. Bekah!  Women do seem better
>> represented in the less-literary, more plot-driven genre of crime fiction
>> (which I don't read, because I find it contrived - though I loved Nancy
>> Drew as a kid).  And, of course, all those unspeakable romances,
>> Harlequins, etc., which are written specifically for women.
>>
>> What I like about Lessing's heroines is that they're intellectual and
>> sexual.  Tempestuous they're not, nor even overly emotional, which may
>> explain why they don't fit into the Bovary/O'Hara/Karenina mold. Honestly,
>> though, they seem very real to me.  My mother was very much like them - she
>> read avidly, and slept around in her younger days - and it was mother who
>> insisted I read Lessing.
>>
>> Laura
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Keith Davis **
>> Sent: Mar 14, 2012 8:04 AM
>> To: Bekah **
>> Cc: James Kyllo **, pynchon -l **, rich **
>> Subject: Re: Pynchons Problem
>>
>> Great. Soon to read Possession. Good discussion.
>> On Mar 14, 2012 1:46 AM, "Bekah" <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>> First,  I had no inclination to "dis"   male writers about anything.
>> The post which said  Oedipa Maas could be Daisy Bucchanan's daughter
>> started me thinking.  My head went,  "Yeah?  Well... which contemporary
>> women characters are well-written then?"   I couldn't really think of any.
>>  I can think of plenty of classics with strong and wonderfully well-written
>>  women characters in them,  but contemporary?   Is a strong woman (as
>> opposed to a sex object and/or a political statement)  out of fashion in
>> books as much as in film?  Where are the Dorothea Brookes, the Isabel
>> Archers,  the Emma Bovaries, the Scarlett O'Haras, the Anna Kareninas -
>> etc?  Maybe I was missing them so I asked.  (Otoh,  maybe classic women
>> characters aren't that different from what we have in contemporary
>> literature - ? .)
>>
>> Then, albeit a bit late,   I started wondering what I meant by the phrase
>> "well-written" meant.  (gads)     "Liberated" ?  Not necessarily - lots of
>> stereotyped "liberated" women around in detective fiction.   Did it mean
>> "rounded" ala Forster?   Did it mean "poetically" written?  Did it mean
>> contextually meaningful or issue-driven characters - ?   I don't know.  So
>> by default,  any of the above (and more) can count.  (heh)  Mine?
>>
>> Strong women / beautifully written:
>>
>> Wallace Stegner's Susan Ward in Angle of Repose
>> Toni Morrison's women are generally great -
>> A.S. Byatt writes excellent female characters
>> As I Lay Dying by Faulkner - all the women in that one
>> Yashmine Harcourt in Against the Day by TRP
>>
>> bekah
>>
>>
>> On Mar 13, 2012, at 11:39 AM, Keith Davis wrote:
>>
>> > Bekah, The paranoia set in because I thought you might be leading up to
>> suggesting that male authors weren't writing good female characters.
>> > I'd like to know what female characters you like, besides the ones you
>> mentioned.
>> >
>> > On Mar 13, 2012 2:07 PM, "rich" <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Pat Barker's WW1 trilogy works on just about every level--war
>> reporting, history, female emancipation, and of course as wonderful fiction
>> >
>> > rich
>> >
>> > On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 1:37 PM, James Kyllo <jkyllo at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Erica Tate (Alison Lurie - War Between the Tates) ?
>> >
>> > J
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 4:07 AM, Bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> > Who,  in y'all's  opinion,  is a well-written female character of the
>> post-WWII era  - use any author, any book.
>> >
>> > Bekah
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > http://www.last.fm/user/Auto_Da_Fe
>> > http://www.pop.nu/en/show_collection.asp?user=2412
>> > http://www.librarything.com/profile/Auto_Da_Fe
>> > http://www.thedetails.co.uk/
>> > http://www.songkick.com/users/Auto_Da_Fe
>> > http://big-game.tumblr.com/
>> >
>>
>> **********
>>
>>
>>
>>
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