Pynchon And Other Overrated Writers

Larry, since you so enjoy rating writers, perhaps you could share your degree of difficulty scale with us. Your reading Proust in French is clearly a 10. How about pop-up books? Maybe a little lower. TV Guide a bit higher. Not sure about Stephen King. Please enlighten us...

If you will read back to the start of this thread, you will see that FOUR other people have posted their dislike of and boredom with Thomas Pynchon. Clearly I am not alone in my views. That is why I started this thread--to give a forum for those of us unimpressed by Pynchon (and other writers we feel are overrated) a chance to air our views. I don't know why this is so threatening to those of you who like Pynchon. Is it possible that you secretly suspect he isn't that good after all and must defend him at all costs?

Three threads trying to find people who'll agree with you and you found four people. Larry! Congratulations!! Wow!!!

Here is the critic Harold Bloom on Pynchon:
"VINELAND was a total disaster. In fact, I cannot think of a comparable disaster in modern American fiction...this piece of sheer ineptitude, this hopelessly hollow book which I read through in amazement and disbelief and which has not got in it a redeeming sentence, hardly a redeeming phrase, and is immensely disheartening."

Source: The Paris Review Writers At Work Interviews, 9th series, p, 205

Wrong, Tartarin. All the people I cited as agreeing with me were on ONE thread--this one. I'd lay off the coffee if I were you, you seem a trifle wired today.

Degree of difficulty scale? What relevance does that have? Reading is not a competitive sport.

And how many disagreed?

Gee, Larry, that sounds like your kind of understatement.

Has anyone ever seen Bloom and Richette in the same place at the same time?

larry larry larry
i only patronize those who can be patronized.

proust is not difficult.
he is long.

long is not difficult.

and veritable sh!tloads of people speak french, so you get no bonus points.
am i supposed to now tell you that i read Nietsche in german? do i get bonus points?

i think you know that the opinion of critics is just that, and for every pynchon hating critic (whose point is valid, i will alllow), i submit that i could dig up for you 3 or four people who find him brilliant.

i think you have an opinion.
i do too.
the difference between us, my friend, is that although i am convinced my opinion is solid, i am not so stupid as to believe it is correct. it is, simply, mine.

your opinion is yours.

you have good scratch-n-sniff, i'm gonna go crack some DFW (yes, i think he's over-rated, too, but he is still a great read).

Proust is not difficult? Then go try reading him in either French or English. He is certainly not an easy read the way, say, Hemingway or Steinbeck is an easy read. Proust writes serpentine sentences and constructs complex metaphors. To pretend otherwise is to betray your ignorance of literature even further.

By the way, the philosopher whose name you can't spell is Nietzsche. You obviously don't read him in any language either.

Larry:
I read fiction for FUN, not to achieve a spiritual state.

New Haven:

I didn't say that you had to ACHIEVE a spritual state by reading fiction. Evidently you have some problem with reading comprehension. What I said was that fiction COMMUNICATES spiritual states--the state of mind of the characters. I would hope that reading the result is fun, otherwise why bother? But if fun is all it is, you might be better off with comic books. i am sure you will have no problem comprehending them.

larry, Remember? No personal attacks, please. c.i.

Larry:

I do like comic books. Does that make me an unspiritual person?

NH, I like comics too! I read peanuts every morning. Maybe not every, but most mornings. I still like to read Archie. c.i.

New Haven,

How you read, what you read and for what purpose is no one's business but your own.

LoLa:

I agree.

THAT explains EVERYTHING, Cicerone!!

I know......... c.i.