Book Description
In his first three novels, Thomas Pynchon focuses in part on the inability to achieve reliable knowledge of the self and the world. As a consequence of this and of the events around which Pynchon builds these early novels, V., The Crying of Lot 49, and Gravity's Rainbow tend to be read as nihilistic. This book focuses on Pynchon's use of ideas of western history, philosophy, and science to arrive at a reading that suggests that Pynchon's project in these early novels is to provoke his readers into taking precisely the sort of personal and political action his characters cannot.
Thomas Pynchon's Narratives: Subjectivity and Problems of Knowing, Vol. 24 FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
This book focuses on Pynchon's use of ideas of western history, philosophy, and science in and Brownlie (Ph.D., English, University of Massachusetts, Amherst) argues that Pynchon's project in these early novels is to provoke his readers into taking precisely the sort of personal and political action his characters cannot. Chapters focus on elements of the fiction, such as doubt, paranoia, control, and the novels' treatment of power, science, and philosophy. No index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Art & Photography
Book Info
