Everything okay out there in Pynchon-land?

[Becky Lindroos]

I liked the juxtaposition of a lot of DeLillo's old themes with new material.   There's a kind tone of existential threat (horror?) here what with trying to distinguish between living and not living.   That ambiance or tone or atmosphere was also present in The Body Artist as well as Point Omega.  

And there’s a rather interesting,  albeit fictional,  exploration of the idea of cryogenics and immortality.  I thought it was an honest exploration although the ending seemed to suggest D was not convinced of its being a good idea.  (heh) 

The old DeLillo is present with films being important in the book -  again - what is life and what is media -  freezing the action?  Death on screen?      

I think this book got more personal this time.  The characters seemed to be more developed internally - they were thinking and feeling more than in most of D's prior novels,  especially Jeffrey.  

I like the way D writes.  

Underworld is still without question D’s tour de force,  his masterpiece, Cosmopolis his semi-clunker,  and this falls in the middle - along with The Names and Point Omega.   

Fwiw,  there’s a real cryonics lab in Arizona
http://www.alcor.org
and another one  in China - 
http://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/1859328/cheating-death-elderly-writer-first-known-chinese-test-subject
probably more by now. 

Becky
https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com

> On Dec 4, 2017, at 11:04 AM, Atticus Pinecone <atticuspinecone at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I like DeLillo, but found Zero K rolling my eyes every few pages. What was it that you all liked about it?
> 
> On Dec 4, 2017, at 1:24 PM, Laura Kelber <laurakelber at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I thought the original question referred to the P-list -- the passing of the December 1st start of the M&D group read, and the deafening silence on that score -- rather than to Pynchon himself.
>> 
>> LK
>> 
>> On Mon, Dec 4, 2017 at 1:01 PM, Becky Lindroos <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> I enjoyed Zero K -   I think it’s probably DeLillo at his usual finest - only Underworld and possibly The Names stand higher.  I also   was strongly reminded of Point Omega or,  maybe in some ways,  The Names.
>> 
>> 
>> Becky
>> https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com
>> 
>> > On Dec 3, 2017, at 10:24 PM, Mark Thibodeau <jerkyleboeuf at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Is it understood that the object of our obsession is currently working on a new long-form work? Or is this just conjecture?
>> >
>> > I'm half-way through Zero K, Delillo's latest. At this point, it could end up being just slightly better than, or just slightly less amazing than, Point Omega.
>> >
>> > Anyone else out there have any opinions re: Zero K?
>> >
>> > Jerky
>> >
>> > On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 8:56 PM, Arthur Fuller <fuller.artful at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Tough question, Tom's next location/dateline, especially after Vineland. But always willing to respond to difficult questions, I'm going to suggest that he return to the past, as Neal Stephenson did with the fabulous trilogy; alternatively, maybe he could pen a story about being best man to Richard Farina, who married Mimi, sister of Joan Baez and author of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.
>> >
>> > A.
>> > ​
>> >
>> 
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>> 

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