Bleeding Edge - A Rolling Assessment

[Antonin Scriabin]

"But Maxine doesn't come across as a typical NY Jew to me."

Do typical NY Jews celebrate Christmas?


On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 2:58 PM, Lemuel Underwing <luunderwing at gmail.com>wrote:

> 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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