Bleeding Edge - A Rolling Assessment

[Antonin Scriabin]

For what it's worth, I should add that I have read all of Pynchon's novels
once each, over the last 5 years since graduating college.  So in that
sense, they were all "new" to me.  I never went through the process of,
say, waiting 17 years for Vineland and seeing it slowly get accepted by
Pynchonites, etc. So my perspective is one not as experienced as a lot of
the members of the list, who have gone through this before.


On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com
> wrote:

> I think that *Inherent Vice *was significantly funnier, and more
> entertaining.  *Bleeding Edge *has a lot of weak points, and is the only
> Pynchon novel I really have mixed feelings about.  IV, COL49, and Vineland
> all do much more with fewer pages.
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 11:58 AM, Bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
>> Paraphrasing what the Independent said, quoting the Irish times:  BE is
>> not going to make any greatest novels lists but it's a heck of a lot of fun
>> to read.
>>
>>
>> http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books-arts/pynchon-the-invisible-man-of-literature-emerges-again-29594931.html
>>
>> Imo,  regarding P's oeuvre,  it's somewhat above IV and below the others
>> -  AtD,  M&D, GR, being top.
>>
>> I remember an enormous amount of disappointment when AtD,  and even M&D,
>>  came out (as well as TCoL49 and Vineland).  Those books took awhile before
>> they were really accepted as being "worthy" of Pynchon.    I don't think IV
>> is really accepted yet - not on its own merits  (and I'm not all that happy
>> with it, fwiw).   Imo,  folks keep looking to see a replay of GR - or
>> nowadays,  AtD.  We get ourselves all hyped up (at least I do) and then the
>> reality can't live up to it.   BE is what it is - a fun novel with some of
>> P's old themes and allusions to his prior novels scattered throughout.
>>  It's more along the lines of William Gibson only funnier, less angst.
>>
>> Bekah
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sep 23, 2013, at 7:53 AM, Carvill John <johncarvill at hotmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Ok well based on the below - my own comments plus Joe's - I'm
>> suggesting this thread as a way of tracking our assessment of Bleeding
>> Edge. I'm currently rating the book fairly low on the scale, but that will
>> probably change (I hope so) and in all likelihood others' opinions will
>> also oscillate over time, before finding their level.
>> >
>> > So I'm suggesting an ongoing discussion (spoiler free, at least for
>> now) around how we feel about the new Pynchon novel overall.
>> >
>> > I feel sadness and anger when I see how Pynchon is treated in the
>> mainstream press. As a lifelong Guardian reader, I was shocked (but not
>> surprised) that a recent 'Arts Preview' feature failed to even mention
>> Bleeding Edge in the literature section, and their review of the book (by
>> Theo Tait) was a travesty. That said, around 100 pages into the book
>> myself, I am beginning to have serious doubts about this one, doubts I
>> never had about IV. Maybe I'll come out of this thinking that it's uneven,
>> that it starts badly, but that overall it's as good as Inherent Vice (some
>> would say that's no big claim but not me). Maybe others here are loving it
>> from the off, or maybe began with great enthusiasm which then waned?
>> >
>> > I also expect these feelings to change as we move through the Group
>> Read.
>> >
>> > So, opening bids please....
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > > From: brook7 at sover.net
>> >
>> > > That said after a slow reading of 10 chapters I am bouncing between
>> extremes of amusement, intrigue and strong annoyance.
>> >
>> > > On Sep 23, 2013, at 4:33 AM, Carvill John wrote:
>> >
>> > > > I'll eventually be writing some sort of online review myself, and
>> so far I'm worried about that. I'm 100 page in and thinking so far this is
>> Pynchon's worst book by a mile. I have heard that it picks up and there
>> have been a couple of decent passages thus far, but on the whole I am
>> finding it quite annoying. If this wasn't Pynchon, I'd be rating this book,
>> based on my progress so far, as 'poor'.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
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