johncarvill

Yep. That and their Zionism. I can't buy the paper any more.

They were all in on smearing him, in cahoots with Mandelson, McSweeney etc. Denied it for ages, then eventually ran a big article crowing about it - how they conspired with the Right to rid Labour of all progressive policies and people.

@tompynchon.bsky.social

The Fuss About Thomas Pynchon » PopMatters Cast aside synthetic substitutes, junk food for the soul, and take a bite of the pungent, organic mushroom offered up by the man from Oyster Bay, Thomas Pynchon.

I love Pynchon btw it pains me to have to say anything negative. In fact, the very first piece I had published online was a celebration of the great man:

www.popmatters.com/thomas-pynch...

(Please ignore the crappy subeditor-imposed title, and the cringey construction "Think Henry Miller ...")

Shadow Ticket starts out ok. And I mean ok, not great. I enjoyed some early passages but couldn’t relax with it due to increasing sense it wasn’t getting better. Then we get to Europe and it reads like it’s a Pynchon parody written by AI.

Things are much, much worse than he realises.

And Corbyn

Too dialogue based (and that dialogue too stylised), not enough poetic prose. Mundane, stale treatment of theme. Too many wacky characters and plot lines. Just generally a big step down from IVice.

Enjoyed this. Only point of disagreement is I thing Bleeding Edge is terrible. And sadly Shadow Ticket is, in many respects, worse.

Word is the Nobel committee we’re going to give him the prize years ago but feared he’d turn it down. Which he should: the prize is a joke and it’s been given to a genocide denier. Not really Pynchon‘a scene.

Drive

Tories and Labour trying to out-Fash each other, seemingly unaware that Farage is a lock for PM at next GE.

True. But Bleeding Edge is… not fabulous.

I like it better than the US cover.

Israel, with the backing of about 99% of Western media and politicians, may continue to get away with all this for some time. But Israelis will find that they are persona non grata with actual people, everywhere, forever.

It didn’t mention the fact that the Guardian is a Zionist publication which has consistently downplayed Israel’s genocide.

The Studio review – Seth Rogen’s Hollywood satire is fast, furious and beautifully fun An unimpeachably brilliant cast, plus astonishing guest stars (Efron! Theron! Scorsese!) create wonderful chaos in this tale of a movie studio executive’s calamitous attempts to climb the greasy pole

This is shit. Just sayin'. Yet another bum steer from @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Ah don't worry, I have more blind spots than a cat has fleas. I always recommend Vineland as a way in, if you're inclined to try.

You a Pynchon fan? Agog for Shadow Ticket?

Yeah I think I gave up before p100

I never made it through Heartbreak.

Conspiracy Theory In Shadow Ticket, Thomas Pynchon comes full circle—and then some.

@davidulin.bsky.social Enjoyed this. One of the better (by which I mean clear eyed) reviews of Shadow Ticket.

www.altaonline.com/books/fictio...

They are paving the way for Farage: only question is why. Is it stupidity or a secret yearning for Fascism?

Junk

Review: Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Shadow Ticket’ is a 1930s detective tale with a sucker punch ending Thomas Pynchon hasn’t lost a step with his 1930s tale about the misadventures of a Milwaukee cheese heiress and the detective that travels to proto-fascist Budapest to find her.

@tompynchon.bsky.social www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

None needed. It’s a brisk read. Probably Pynchon’s most successful blend of deep meaning and light touch. Also, given the causal trajectory from Reagan’s 80s to Trump’s vulgarian fascism, it could not be more relevant right now.

Vineland is wonderful, ignore any advice to the contrary.

Interesting. I found it very dialogue based and lacking Pynchon’s poetic prose.

The American Anthropology of Charles Portis Arkansas is a state of mind and Portis was peerless at capturing it.

Here’s Kaleb Horton on Charles Portis.

slate.com/culture/2020...

Please, if you have the privilege of not being an obvious and immediate target for state violence...

Call them fascists, loudly, ESPECIALLY right now.

Call yourself an antifascist, loudly, ESPECIALLY right now.

We all need to be Spartacus on this one.