Bleeding Edge - A Rolling Assessment

[Tom Beshear]

Nine years between M&D and AtD. I recall AtD having less hype than M&D or 
his last two. Critics got little time to review AtD before publication; the 
mixed reception shows the inherent problem in reading, assessing and 
reviewing an 1,000-plus-page novel on a deadline tied to publication date.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bekah" <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Antonin Scriabin" <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
Cc: "Carvill John" <johncarvill at hotmail.com>; "Joseph Tracy" 
<brook7 at sover.net>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: Bleeding Edge - A Rolling Assessment


Okay,  fwiw,  I started on Pynchon in 1996 or 97 with Vineland - his newest 
at the time.   Then I read M&D because it was published pretty quickly after 
that.   And I joined P-list about the same time as I got M&D (paperback).

At that time there was a lot of talk about CoL49 and Vineland being 
"stop-gap" novels,  books which kept him going between the really good ones, 
V. and GR, and then M&D.  At that point Vineland and CoL49 were considered 
to be good "starter books" for Pynchon.

When AtD came out it had been 10-12 years since his last book,  M&D,  and 
the hype was high - the initial disappointment deep -  "Chums of Chance?" 
(LOL!)   I personally loved it from the gate - compelling is very much an 
understatement for the way I first read that book (although I got lost a few 
times).   Meanwhile,  Kakutani called it pointlessly self-indulgent and 
stillborn and she was not alone in that sentiment.  Folks left the p-list 
over that one.

With IV things got worse - well, yes,  that was a low point, imo.    For me, 
BE was a step up again - not to the surprise of GR,  or the beauty of M&D, 
or the enormity of AtD,  but to it's own early 21st century New York time. 
I'm still not sure of how to compare it to V. or  CoL49 or Vineland - it's 
too different from them and not different enough to be above - but probably 
a hairline below (just my own immediate subjective response).   There are 
those for whom the first book they read by P,  usually V. or GR,   will 
always be the best.  Coming in when I did that's just not true in my case.

Bek


On Sep 23, 2013, at 9:08 AM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com> 
wrote:

> 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'.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>