From Thomas Pynchon, a novel of the dot-com era and the end of history

Post by saraid216 » Fri, Sep 06, 2013, 11:39 PM UTC

lovemenot wrote: post #19

saraid216 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "unfathomable" can be interpreted literally in the analogy but also holds its normal meaning Near as I can tell without reading the article, this sentence uses "unfathomable" with all of its meanings. Which I find nifty.

For this to work beautifully, we would fathom pearls when finding or collecting them. afaik only depths of water can be the literal object of the verb to fathom. It doesn't quite succeed, here. Which is likely why Pynchon is celebrated and the reviewer is reviewing him, rather than the reverse.

Post by robterrell » Sat, Sep 07, 2013, 12:22 AM UTC

Post by nealabq » Sat, Sep 07, 2013, 1:53 AM UTC

percentcer wrote: post #9

mindrag wrote: post #2

Is that article actually in English? I couldn't understand a damn thing the author was trying to say. "...like a black pearl from an oyster unfathomable by any other diver into our eternal souls." What?

You left out "glinting rich and strange", which helps to make sense of "into our eternal souls". Black pearls are rare with a somewhat subjective beauty, "unfathomable" can be interpreted literally in the analogy but also holds its normal meaning, and "any other diver" refers to any author but Pynchon.

  Full fathom five thy father lies;
  Of his bones are coral made;
  Those are pearls that were his eyes;
  Nothing of him that doth fade,
  But doth suffer a sea-change
  Into something rich and strange.

Post by pingswept » Sat, Sep 07, 2013, 2:57 AM UTC

abruzzi wrote: post #15

cgh wrote: post #8

A new Pynchon is huge news. And contrary to what some posters here seem to believe, he's not hard to understand, other than certain passages in "Gravity's Rainbow" in which even he apparently doesn't remember what he was talking about. I think a lot of people are simply thrown by his constantly shifting perspectives from one character to another and his weird humour. Plus he has a technical background so he throws a…

Pynchon writes two distinct types of novels. V., Gravity's Rainbow, Mason & Dixon, and Against the Day are is big (literally) complexly plotted novels that frequently involve hundreds of characters and huge forces of history. They are my favorites, but they require serious commitment and even then can be difficult to read (I've never actually gotten through Mason & Dixon.) He also writes smaller stories that generall…

Post by scotch_drinker » Sat, Sep 07, 2013, 3:29 AM UTC

wahnfrieden wrote: post #26

Gnolfo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's Pynchon. You're describing Pynchon. At least some of the time, and FWIW the reviewer definitely seems to get him & his style. The 8th paragraph in there is an excerpt from the new book, you'll notice it is 3 sentences, and the 3rd sentence begins about 10-15% of the way in and the 2nd sentence is a mere 8 words. This is typical and there are times where you will stop and take 5+ minutes to review and unpack an…

If you're into the long sentences thing, try Laszlo Krasznahorkai: http://www.amazon.com/The-Melancholy-Resistance-Laszlo-Krasz... , http://www.amazon.com/Satantango-L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3-Krasznahor... Sometimes sentences span pages. Each chapter is a single paragraph. The movie adaptations are fantastic too.