Anyone else

[David Ewers]

Hey Mark,

You can color me in for the Beyond the Zero reading!  I would love to do the whole book, but I'll take what I can get.  Seeing the way the (very enjoyable, to me) M- & D- reading ended in heat-death after a couple hundred pages, I think having more limited ambitions here (if that phrase can even be applied to Gravity's Rainbow) is prudent.  I do think that new voices being mixed in from the beginning would be helpful.  While the M- & D- reading was exhilarating while it lasted, in my opinion the fact that it was front-loaded with p-list luminaries (for want of a better term) contributed to its later fizzling.  Also (since you asked...) I think we were a bit too quick to put down people who were new to hosting, for not being up to (perceived) snuff.  No one is an old pro right out of the gate.  Considering how intimidating hosting must be, I believe maintaining an atmosphere of respect for and encouragement of new and different views (however we think they measure up to our own) will allow more new people to feel comfortable enough to take the leap (not that the M- & D- reading was anywhere near disrespectful by nature, but there were some dismissive attitudes bubbling up toward the end.  For what it's worth I'm not suggesting self-censorship either, just that we keep things in mind... for the greater cause).

Cheers,
David

  
On Jan 14, 2016, at 3:36 AM have a nice day, violet wrote this message:), Mark Kohut wrote:

> reading, rereading or thinking about and reading
> about Pynchon on the Plist?
> 
> Maybe a good run-up-to question is to ask what
> most--you!--might want from a Group Read? How
> you expect (and want) it to go? (No political promises here,
> I'm gonna mostly do it MY WAY but solipsism is its
> own hell.)
> 
> Should we reach out for lotsa new Plisters for the event?
> (I must say it does rankle me when DF Wallace and some other
> online Group Reads get real attention and seem to get scads of
> participants. I mean, They are not Pynchon and especially not
> Gravity's Rainbow)
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-prepare-for-reading-Gravitys-Rainbow
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l

-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l