From: "Eric" <ericandmary-AT-earthlink.net> Subject: Who is thomas pynchon and what is he doing with my life? Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 05:57:04 -0500 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. Hugh, Yes, Pynchon has a range. I=92ll grant you that. A cartoon of the Road Runner meeting Rilke=92s terrible Engel in a dream of Kekule=92s about the serpent consuming itself. I remember how excited I was when M&D was announced, thinking it was going to be the great American novel at the tail-end of the century and was disappointed to discover it was merely good - not another GR. It seemed to me as if Beethoven had written his ninth symphony before his first. GR was the great anarchist miracle of literature. Pynchon, alas, will probably never write another work equal to it in scope. (I still wonder if the rumors are true that Salinger is writing all this great stuff, which will only be released once he dies. There are also rumors that Salinger and Pynchon are the same person, perhaps like anon and Paul.) I simply don=92t have the time to read all the books I would like to, but I would like to read GR again. In an age of =91endless war=92 it seems strangely contemporary. As far as Beckett is concerned, man is dreaming of a god who fails to show up on time, but meanwhile, man must keep his appointments. The tragicomedy of life is that it is always penultimate and yet we must go on, without a story, to write our story; no end of the world of stories, where we always live in-between. eric --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.524 / Virus Database: 321 - Release Date: 10/6/2003 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.524 / Virus Database: 321 - Release Date: 10/6/2003
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Hugh,
Yes, Pynchon has a range. I=92ll grant
you that.
A cartoon of the Road Runner meeting Rilke=92s
terrible Engel in a dream of Kekule=92s about the serpent consuming itself.
I remember how excited I was when M&D was
announced, thinking it was going to be the great American novel at the tail-end
of the century and was disappointed to discover it was merely good - not
another GR. It seemed to me as if
Beethoven had written his ninth symphony before his first.
GR was the great anarchist miracle of literature.
Pynchon, alas, will probably never write
another work equal to it in scope.
(I still wonder if the rumors are true that Salinger is writing all this
great stuff, which will only be released once he dies. There are also rumors that Salinger and
Pynchon are the same person, perhaps like anon and
Paul.)
I simply don=92t have the time to read
all the books I would like to, but I would like to read GR again. In an age of =91endless
war=92 it seems strangely contemporary.
As far as Beckett is concerned, man is
dreaming of a god who fails to show up on time, but meanwhile, man must keep
his appointments. The tragicomedy
of life is that it is always penultimate and yet we must go on, without a
story, to write our story; no end of the world of stories, where we always live
in-between.
eric