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Sunday, June 17th, 2007
Today I started reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH with Sylvia. I found it really gratifying to see how into the book she is; I remember having a similarly strong reaction to it as a kid.
posted evening of June 17th, 2007: Respond
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Friday, April 20th, 2007
I'm reading Jennifer Egan's first novel, The Invisible Circus, now, and liking it a lot. I really admired the scene in which Faith told her sister she had been at an invisible circus, and Phoebe was put out about not being invited along -- it sounded real when it could easily have been precious and forced. I recently read most of Zadie Smith's latest novel On Beauty and found it enjoyable, but didn't really think it stood up to The Autograph Man and White Teeth.
posted evening of April 20th, 2007: Respond
➳ More posts about The Invisible Circus
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Monday, February 26th, 2007
Watching Wild Strawberries tonight for the second-and-a-half time. At the opening scene I am hit by the realization that Dr. Borg is based (in part) on the same archetype which underlies Moominpappa's character. (I am rereading Comet in Moominland to Sylvia for bedtime stories this past week or so.) Also Sara reminds me of the Snork Maiden. Funny... I wonder how much Bergman and Jannsen are coming from the same place culturally.
posted evening of February 26th, 2007: Respond
➳ More posts about Wild Strawberries
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Tuesday, February 20th, 2007
So last night I finished Against the Day -- I was really loving and getting in to the end of Part IV, but the brief Part V left me pretty confused. I mean I liked that the Chums were diverging from our historical reality -- that seemed to tie in with a lot of the rest of the book -- but them coming back into our history wasn't really set up properly. I'm glad that Kit and Reef and their families wound up together. Also last night I met Nicholas, to whom I am indebted for his concise explanation of Novi Pazar's history. Thanks, Nicholas!
posted morning of February 20th, 2007: Respond
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Sunday, January 14th, 2007
This afternoon we are going to Princeton to watch David Catlin's Lookingglass Alice. Should be a lot of fun.
posted morning of January 14th, 2007: Respond
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Thursday, December 28th, 2006
Last night for bedtime stories, we finished Through the Looking Glass, which was totally enthralling for Sylvia. She's into pointing out the impossibilities of the story. What's funny: previously I had asked a couple of times if she would like to hear "Alice in Wonderland" but she always turned it down flat. I think the title just made it sound too much like a "princessy" story. But now she wants to hear it, and asked if we could read all of the stories in our Collected Work of Lewis Carroll. (I am skeptical how much of "Rhyme and Reason" she is actually going to want to listen to.)
posted afternoon of December 28th, 2006: Respond
➳ More posts about Sylvia
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Halfway through Against the Day -- the book just took a turn (p. 548) for the miraculous. I heard from Bill M. today, that he just finished it, and that I have many more marvels to expect in the coming pages.
posted afternoon of December 28th, 2006: Respond
➳ More posts about Thomas Pynchon
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Saturday, December 23rd, 2006
Two fine blogs having to do with Against the Day: the Against the Day Weblog of the mysterious Basileios -- I don't know if that URL is going to continue to be the correct one -- and Research Methods for Professional Writers by somebody named Stevens. [...Later:] You know that blog of Stevens' is really good. (Basileios' may be great too, I don't know -- haven't started looking in the archives much yet.) Update:Also Adam Kotsko has compiled an index of some of the best Against the Day reviews.
Update: some great writing, in Spanish, about Against the Day at El pez volador.
posted morning of December 23rd, 2006: Respond
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Friday, December 15th, 2006
I have been on-again, off-again with Against the Day; after the first bit, which I quite enjoyed, there was about a hundred pages where I was reading and thinking, well I really owe the guy big-time for Vineland and GR and Lot 49, I really should keep reading; and then there was about a hundred pages where I was liking the story a lot but not quite connecting with the characters; but suddenly yesterday afternoon, as I was reading of Kit's exploits at Yale and on Long Island, it hit me with a flash that this is Great Stuff, on a par with anything Pynchon has written before. And reading today about Dally working her way around NYC, that impression is still with me. I am feeling the need to reread though, since Dally and her father and their story were introduced during a bit where I wasn't paying very close attention.
posted evening of December 15th, 2006: Respond
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Saturday, November 25th, 2006
Funny -- the narrative voice in Against the Day that I was thinking (as of p. 41) was a parody, goes away right about p. 41 and is replaced by/transitions gently into a voice that sounds much more like Pynchon's to my ears. I like The Great Quail's suggestion that this opening is a way of poking fun at people who expect Pynchon's language to be pretentiously wordy. ("Pretentiously wordy" isn't exactly what I'm looking for here; it is the closest I can come on short notice.)
posted evening of November 25th, 2006: Respond
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