Bleeding Edge - A Rolling Assessment

[Lemuel Underwing]

I'm with Laura in preferring BE thus far to IV, and really I haven't quite
worked out my feelings just yet.  I have to admit I'm laughing *a lot, *out
loud in public places. Bery funny. However, the writing is weak, to say the
least... the "coincidences" that, in other works by Pynchon, used to be
full of Paranoid Meaning are flaccid, and those "chance meetings" that, two
sentences later, lead to some obscure Plot Development, are the most
disappointing things about the book for me so far.

I didn't expect him to be on the top of his game when it came to writing
style, but I am a little disappointed to see how little Thought he seems to
have injected into the narrative? It's like a Web-Page on which all the
links are broken, the information is mildly interesting in an late-nite Art
Bell two-joints-deep sort of way, maybe it *does *insinuate some Deep Web
underneath the surface, I'm just having a hard time seeing it.

For all my criticism I* *really am (mostly) enjoying the novel...


On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 1:14 PM, Laura Kelber <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:

> I'm halfway through, and hate to make any blanket statements, particularly
> until I've read his depiction of 9/11. I'm a lifelong New Yorker (Brooklyn
> ), like the protagonist, I'm Jewish and , though  I was somewhat older, and
> definitely less hot than our protagonist appears to be, my kids were on the
> same age range as Maxine's ( and Pynchon's) in 2001. But Maxine doesn't
> come across as a typical NY Jew to me. And the specific references to
> streets and neighborhoods read like gratuitous name dropping, rather than
> providing atmosphere.
>
> All this being said, I prefer BE so far to IV.
>
> Laura
>
> On Sep 23, 2013, at 9:53 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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