AGAINST THE DAY by Thomas Pynchon lands on my doorstep...
...and it makes quite a thud. I hated V, which is the only Pynchon I've read, but it's been a while since he's published and my hatred has simmered down to a general feeling of discomfort so I figured what the hell, I'll give it a try. I'm an English Lit major, I'm supposed to like this sort of thing. I can be like the cool kids, dis genre fiction and wax euphoric over novels with no plot. Oy.
I had a few days between reading assignments and I thought I'd plow through it and see what happens. But people, this isn't a book, it is a doorstopper. Over 1100 pages. Many, many characters and the setting spans numerous countries, some of which are made up. I can't do that in a weekend. And I've been sick and I'm too weak to even pick the freakin' thing up. It will take me a year to get through this and I don't know if I have the stamina for it.
Stay tuned...my trials and tribulations of dealing with Pynchon to follow...
Monday, October 30, 2006
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2 comments:
As an English lit major, you should know that you can't judge an author by one work. His body of work is what must be judged.
You're right, to a point, which is why I am going to attempt this new book. I plan on sharing my thoughts as I go along.
On the other hand, life is too short to spend it with any book that is not fulfilling or enjoyable in some way. If I read something I don't like, depending on why I didn't like it, I may or may not read that author again. If I didn't particularly like the characters or setting, I may try another book. If I didn't like the writing style, use of language, or perspective, I probably will pass on any other works by that author.
There are so many books published each year, not to mention all the books that came before that I haven't read, that my choices seem almost limitless.
The only reason I'm giving Pynchon another go is because of his reputation. I hope you'll stay tuned.
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