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I love all kinds of weird humor but I could never get into POSTMODERN ZANINESS! a la Pynchon or David Foster Wallace. It's too all-over-the-place for me, and it

I love all kinds of weird humor but I could never get into POSTMODERN ZANINESS! a la Pynchon or David Foster Wallace. It's too all-over-the-place for me, and it honestly strikes me as mean-spirited. I also like writing that is clean, pure, poetic and emotionally authentic. I feel like some of those authors (I'm looking at you, Wallace) are outsiders sniping at mainstream culture with hipster snobbishness. I used to sorta be that way, but I can't relate to that anymore.

blueboo 7y ago
Pynchon and DFW were convinced that that zaniness was the right direction for new fiction, led by John Barth (Giles Goat-Boy) and Donald Barthelme (Sixty Stories.) The stuff is ... not a lot of fun. I think folks like Martin Amis did it a lot more entertainingly, though the self-aware sophistication is (sigh) a lot to bear. Where DFW embodies the virtues you admire is his non-fiction -- Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I think are fascinating expositions into just how far down you have to dig to get at the emotionally authentic. As for his fiction, I don't think he lived long enough to get all his sophomoric ideas out and get to material that actually mattered to him.
- randomcarbloke 7y ago
  Couldn't agree more, Consider the Lobster is beautifully written and completely captivating.
sings 7y ago
Gravity’s Rainbow was one of the toughest reads I’ve slogged through, but the depth and scale of it are nicely counterpoised with some downright hilarious scenes. I didn’t find Infinite Jest nearly as difficult.
syndacks 7y ago
I found Inherrent Vice to be more manageable than other Pynchon works. You should consider that one as a warm-up to Gravity.
- officemonkey 7y ago
  Inherent Vice was Pynchon's attempt to write a Chandler novel. It was a pretty good attempt, IMO.
randycupertino 7y ago
> I feel like some of those authors (I'm looking at you, Wallace) are outsiders sniping at mainstream culture with hipster snobbishness. I used to sorta be that way, but I can't relate to that anymore. This is how I felt about his cruise ship manifesto. I get it, I get it, cruises are lowbrow, tacky and suck. But spare us all your hipster cooler than thou angst.
- mrosett 7y ago
  Ha - I read the cruise ship essay on the flight home a very miserable week at Disney World and it was exactly what I wanted. But that was a while ago; skimming it now it doesn't seem to have aged well.
rurp 7y ago
Wow, you summed up my thoughts on DFW better than I could have. I really tried to like Infinite Jest but it felt so... indulgent on the part of the author. Many parts felt like a real slog, with the only payoff being some weird joke the author found funny.

blueboo 7y ago

Pynchon and DFW were convinced that that zaniness was the right direction for new fiction, led by John Barth (Giles Goat-Boy) and Donald Barthelme (Sixty Stories.) The stuff is ... not a lot of fun. I think folks like Martin Amis did it a lot more entertainingly, though the self-aware sophistication is (sigh) a lot to bear. Where DFW embodies the virtues you admire is his non-fiction -- Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I think are fascinating expositions into just how far down you have to dig to get at the emotionally authentic. As for his fiction, I don't think he lived long enough to get all his sophomoric ideas out and get to material that actually mattered to him.

randomcarbloke 7y ago
Couldn't agree more, Consider the Lobster is beautifully written and completely captivating.

sings 7y ago

Gravity’s Rainbow was one of the toughest reads I’ve slogged through, but the depth and scale of it are nicely counterpoised with some downright hilarious scenes. I didn’t find Infinite Jest nearly as difficult.

syndacks 7y ago

I found Inherrent Vice to be more manageable than other Pynchon works. You should consider that one as a warm-up to Gravity.

officemonkey 7y ago
Inherent Vice was Pynchon's attempt to write a Chandler novel. It was a pretty good attempt, IMO.

randycupertino 7y ago

> I feel like some of those authors (I'm looking at you, Wallace) are outsiders sniping at mainstream culture with hipster snobbishness. I used to sorta be that way, but I can't relate to that anymore. This is how I felt about his cruise ship manifesto. I get it, I get it, cruises are lowbrow, tacky and suck. But spare us all your hipster cooler than thou angst.

mrosett 7y ago
Ha - I read the cruise ship essay on the flight home a very miserable week at Disney World and it was exactly what I wanted. But that was a while ago; skimming it now it doesn't seem to have aged well.

rurp 7y ago

Wow, you summed up my thoughts on DFW better than I could have. I really tried to like Infinite Jest but it felt so... indulgent on the part of the author. Many parts felt like a real slog, with the only payoff being some weird joke the author found funny.