Pynchon is back, and his new novel, Against the Day, finally arrived in my hands today. It's been sitting in the UIC English Department offices since last Friday, which was frustrating, but allowed me to remain focused on the tasks at hand over the past Thanksgiving weekend. I've only had a chance to read twenty pages, and I've savored each one so far.
When Mason & Dixon came out (has it already been nine years?!?1?) I read the entire book in two days, but I was employed only part-time, and out of school, then.
Now, there's a stack of papers to grade, and much end-of-the-semester work to be done, so here's the deal. For each paper graded, I get to read three pages of Pynchon.
Ain't it funny how an teacher of American lit feels slightly guilty about taking time out to read from the latest work by America's greatest living novelist?
4 comments:
St. Marks Bookshop here in the Village stayed open past midnight the day of its release to accommodate the rabid throngs. I think we're about due for NYC's annual alleged Pynchon sighting, which usually seems to happen at a bar on the upper west side.
So have you read it yet? My copy is still sitting the shelf, awaiting my attention.
I'm still only read about 20-25% of the novel. Professional obligations required me to turn my attention to the latest books by Lynne Tillman (American Genius) and Raymond Federman (Return to Manure), both of which I enjoyed thoroughly. The last time I saw Joe, and the first time we'd met in months, he told me to put Against the Day aside, not b/c it wasn't brilliant, but b/c Pynchon wasn't doing anything "new" (which is no knock considering V., Lot 49, Gravity's Rainbow, Slow Learner, Vineand, and Mason & Dixon). I suspect that this assesment will require revision, but for the time being it's giving me some breathing room for other things. In the meantime, ATD sits there, near the bed, enticing me to relinquish my nights (and my sleep to it). Thus far, I've resisted. The $1,000,000, of course, is whether this is senseless resistance on my part...
ok, next summer we can each read half of it and fill each other in.
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