Subject: RE: Franny and Dixon
From: Malcolm Lawrence (Malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Date: Tue Apr 15 1997 - 19:47:39 GMT
>At the risk of being shot down (or just plain shot) I will offer my
>Pynchon/Salinger opinion. I <pause> like Pynchon better. Up until this
>year Salinger was my undisputed favorite, but then I read Gravity's
Rainbow
>and Lot 49 and was converted. I think you are right about him being a
>riddler, but he also is an amazing storyteller as well. I also think he
is
>significantly more sophisticated in all respects.
>Awating my imminent death, while actually writing a paper on Oedipa as an
>early feminist hero,
I'll echo Tiffany's sentiments...nearly. I can't really say that I "prefer"
Pynchon to Salinger, but I personally can't compare Pynchon and Salinger,
they're apples and oranges, stylistically, metaphorically...I mean the ONLY
reason the media would seat them at the same table (and I used to be a
journalist so I know all too well how shallow their motivations can be) is
because of their reclusiveness, THAT'S IT. And as we all know, the lower a
profile you have in this day and age the more your "celebrity" grows,
ironically enough. (I've often thought that this is how Jesus Christ really
became the first celebrity when he said "Yo, I'll be back." And look how
many followers HE has now!)
Pynchon is no more of a "riddler" than James Joyce or Ken Kesey. I think a
more apropos term would be "trickster" I.E. one who employs paradox to
reveal the truth. Reading Pynchon, like Joyce, is not something to approach
lightly ostensibly because of all the a priori knowledge one should have in
order to glean more from the text (you can say the same about Salinger,
though, really) but if you're familiar with World War II, late 20th century
cultural history, the Beats, engineering (he used to work at Boeing here in
Seattle when he was writing V in the early 60s) and just your garden
variety post-modern fiction, he's a giant.
Malcolm
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