Pynchon And Other Overrated Writers

Um...uh...I was going to post an opinion here, but, having read through this thread painstakingly, I'm not at all sure that's safe. I don't do sarcasm very well.

...where angels fear to tread etc. So --

Haven't read Mason Dixon or Gravity's Rainbow. Can't comment. Thought Vinland was the kind of trash which would have been rejected by any competent editor if it had been written by anyone with less stature than Pynchon. It was embarrassing to read something that bad by an author who can be pretty good when he puts some effort behind it. Along with Beedlesquoink, I thought The Crying of Lot 49 was a very fine book indeed. So was V. I've re-read V a couple of times and find something new and delicious each time.

Is Pynchon overrated over all? Probably so. The literati among us latch on to a few writers early on and they become the critics' darlings. No fault of their own. Just bad luck to be discovered by the parasites who make a living by writing about other writers since they have no skills in writing anything original of their own. Nelson Algren said it best in a book which was sub-titled "Hemingway all the Way." I no longer have the book and don't remember what its main title was. Something like A Sea Change or A Sea Voyage. As Casey Stengel said, "And you can look it up."

i am doing pretty good at reading block print and by this time next year i think i can tackle cursive, i almost read a book once but the cover was so pretty i never opened it. i heard about this kraut fella krafka who rites about bugs an i likes bugs so i hopes i can red that on firs.

dys, You can buy a deep frame for that book with that pretty cover. c.i.

So, one more person thinks Pynchon is overrated. At this point I have a quorum of opinion with me by my rough count!

Good show ci!

My first Pynchon was Lot 49. I enjoyed it enoughto read a little more, including some essays and criticisms, but the spark never got fanned into a flame. Whether or not Pynchon is over rated, Pynchon isn't one of my faves. Nothing to do with, and no disparagement of his skills and talents, or of his ardent supporters; Pynchon is just not "My Style".



timber

Now I definitely have a quorum of Pynchon non-lovers on this thread!

Perhaps all the more widely read people have been discouraged and left?

Your subtley is noted, Tartarin. I take it you're a Pynchon fan

I think I'm widely, and most eclectically, read. I may draw different conclusions, and read different things than do you or others, but being widely read does not entail universal agreement, IMHO. I hesitate to assume someone with whom I might disagree is less well informed, or less well intentioned. There's room in my universe for divergence of opinion. I can still like and respect somebody who's just plain bone-headed wrong



timber

Actually, I like Pynchon but I'm here defending Pynchon and his readers against persistent rudeness expressed in this and other threads!!

Good idea!

I don't know anything about Pynchon, but I like what he has done to promote dialogue. c.i.

Me too!

Anyone who really cares about literature has better things to do than spend his or her time ragging other people about their tastes in authors. There are certainly writers I dislike, but it seems much more worthwhile to talk about those I admire.

To sneer at authors and their readers has nothing to do with appreciating literature. Neither does declaring the superiority of one's taste at every opportunity. There's something else at work here, though I won't try to guess what it is...

D'art, You're taking things too seriously. As we all know, any form of art or literature is very subjective. We all have our own preferences and taste. Isn't that what makes the world go round? c.i.

I suppose I may be seem to be taking this discussion too seriously, but it was begun, I know, in response to praise of Pynchon in another forum. This, ahem, discussion is thus some kind of grudge match, sort of like the ones on tv wrestling. Perhaps you can view my response in that light. Just a bit of chest thumping for the audience...

I expect some bellowing in response any time now. Bring it on!

By all means, bring it on!



Mind the furniture, now, would ya?



timber

I absolutely agree, but I'm one of those people who think that an 8oz glass filled with 4oz of liquid is half full, not half empty!

D'art, Nothing wrong with your observation. I think most of us reacted the same way. Didn't mean to put salt in the wound. c.i.

Lord, I hope not, CI. D'artagnan has had quite enough grief already from narrow literary snobbism! D'art has responded consistently with good humor and wit. If A2K prizes were given out for even temper and good will....