A fun exception to all this late style stuff, where you become more idiosyncratic or your work declines in quality or both, is Thomas Mann's unfinished The Confessions of Felix Krull: Impostor.
Mann decided to follow up Doktor Faustus by turning one of his most farcical early short stories into a novel, and the results are extremely silly, much more similar to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes than you'd expect from Mann.
Thanks, yes, I've heard that about Felix Krull but haven't read it. I think this sort of describes what late Pynchon is doing too (I read Inherent Vice but not Bleeding Edge), though even his most serious work always had a silliness quotient.
Pynchon’s an interesting case where, for a subsequent author to carry on his influence, the result would almost certainly look absurd, and so few have. Which, by default, leaves it up to the man himself to write those books his followers won’t! Which kind of describes what Inherent Vice is, tho I have found that late Pynchon books, which can underwhelm upon first encounter, grow in esteem later on. And Against the Day rises toward the level of masterpiece imo, even if it doesn’t reach the level of GR. What could, anyway?
Agreed! I know some people (including Harold Bloom) also think Mason & Dixon is his best novel, so I want to read Vineland and that next. I did read Inherent Vice and found it close to the kind of self-parody discussed, though complicated because also a parody of very pop culture things his earlier work did influence, like The Big Lebowski.
Between the PTA adaptation and the new book I’ve got to write it up this year, but I might assert that late Pynchon is better than early (there’s a little voice that wants to argue for Vineland as his best book but I can’t quite make it happen.) Pynchon suffers a little with every other major figure of his era for how embourgeoised his ideas have become, but I suspect that he’s major enough to stand the test of time. looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Morrison and rereading paradise together for the IC this year.
I'd read that argument! And will read Vineland this summer, I promise. I, on the other hand, probably prefer V. of the ones I read, because it is, while hating itself for it, in that zone of high modernist indecision he gives up for the New Left, forgivably if he really saw Something at Boeing or whatever.
Other than having about the same elevator pitch ("magical realist epic about American comic-book creators") they're not related, so not really. On the other hand, K&C is highly entertaining, so you won't be wasting your time if you read it. Thanks for your purchase!
I enjoy comic books and am kind of a big fan of Tarot art (though somewhat skeptical about divination), so it seemed like a natural buy. Looking forward to its arrival!
The plus within this putative genre is that John’s novel doesn’t engage in the sentimentality that Chabon luxuriates in (though I will defend the first two-thirds of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.)
Ishiguro really is that lol
A fun exception to all this late style stuff, where you become more idiosyncratic or your work declines in quality or both, is Thomas Mann's unfinished The Confessions of Felix Krull: Impostor.
Mann decided to follow up Doktor Faustus by turning one of his most farcical early short stories into a novel, and the results are extremely silly, much more similar to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes than you'd expect from Mann.
Thanks, yes, I've heard that about Felix Krull but haven't read it. I think this sort of describes what late Pynchon is doing too (I read Inherent Vice but not Bleeding Edge), though even his most serious work always had a silliness quotient.
Pynchon’s an interesting case where, for a subsequent author to carry on his influence, the result would almost certainly look absurd, and so few have. Which, by default, leaves it up to the man himself to write those books his followers won’t! Which kind of describes what Inherent Vice is, tho I have found that late Pynchon books, which can underwhelm upon first encounter, grow in esteem later on. And Against the Day rises toward the level of masterpiece imo, even if it doesn’t reach the level of GR. What could, anyway?
Agreed! I know some people (including Harold Bloom) also think Mason & Dixon is his best novel, so I want to read Vineland and that next. I did read Inherent Vice and found it close to the kind of self-parody discussed, though complicated because also a parody of very pop culture things his earlier work did influence, like The Big Lebowski.
Between the PTA adaptation and the new book I’ve got to write it up this year, but I might assert that late Pynchon is better than early (there’s a little voice that wants to argue for Vineland as his best book but I can’t quite make it happen.) Pynchon suffers a little with every other major figure of his era for how embourgeoised his ideas have become, but I suspect that he’s major enough to stand the test of time. looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Morrison and rereading paradise together for the IC this year.
I'd read that argument! And will read Vineland this summer, I promise. I, on the other hand, probably prefer V. of the ones I read, because it is, while hating itself for it, in that zone of high modernist indecision he gives up for the New Left, forgivably if he really saw Something at Boeing or whatever.
Amazon won't let me order your book in print or ebook, so I had to go to this place called Belt Publishing to order it. They legit?
Yes, that's the publisher. I even think they're offering a discount right now.
OK, bought it. Thanks!
Do you think it's worth binge-reading Kavalier & Clay (for the first time) before it arrives to understand it better?
Other than having about the same elevator pitch ("magical realist epic about American comic-book creators") they're not related, so not really. On the other hand, K&C is highly entertaining, so you won't be wasting your time if you read it. Thanks for your purchase!
I enjoy comic books and am kind of a big fan of Tarot art (though somewhat skeptical about divination), so it seemed like a natural buy. Looking forward to its arrival!
The plus within this putative genre is that John’s novel doesn’t engage in the sentimentality that Chabon luxuriates in (though I will defend the first two-thirds of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.)