THOMAS PYNCHON REVISITED

THOMAS PYNCHON REVISITED? Writing and culture always reflect back the world from which it emerges. Back in the derangement of 1973 a world filled with urnest -- the Watergate scandal, the American political system falling apart, the beginning of the end of Viet Nam, we had two odd cultural phenomenon. The Exorcist - a film where a pubescent girl played by the then-adorable Linda Blair screamed obscenities and defied the growing techno-secular world to enter her bedroom and chase the demons out screaming.

The picture on the upper right is the link incidentally to a fabulous Pynchon website with tons of interesting information about this enigmatic genius.

The other major phenomenon was the mind boggling convoluted story of rocket 00003 and a test replete with power equations mad matings of extraterrestrials and a strange phenomenon called the white visitations blowing the
second half of the century away and leaving the ramshackle butch realism of Hemingway in the dust forever.

But here we are in 2006, in an age where despite the fact that more than 800 million Americans are in reading groups, Thomas Pynchon has put out a new novel which is actually accessible. I'm not sure whether to applaud him for trying to really reach an audience outside of the ivory tower, or whether this is a moment of despair, of giving up that rare form of high art in the service of pandering to the masses....?