Archivo

“Thomas Pynchon: Down Among the Thanatoids”

Leonard’s review of Pynchon’s Vineland which he describes as “a multi-media semi-thriller, a Star Wars for the Counterculture.” Evidently a shorter book than Pynchon’s classic, Gravity’s Rainbow (which I have also yet to read), Leonard writes, “at least it can be summarized without my sounding like an idiot.” He then goes on to give us 7 or 8 pages of a Leonard style (rife with obscure references) Cliff Notes….or, more appropriately, an English Lit 101 paper…a very fun to read English 101 paper.

Here’s a character description from the beginning of Leonard’s two paragraph plot summary, “Zoyd Wheeler, who used to deal dope and play piano in a rock band, is a ‘gypsy roofer’ trying to take care of his teenage daughter, prairie.” We’re told “Prairie is in love with a Heavy Metal neo-fascist.” If the book is as funny as the plot summary, it will be a great read…and Leonard tells us it is indeed funny. Might be a good way to break into Pynchon.

New word: Thanatoids = Pynchon’s “unseen insomniac population” [Pynchon] in Vineland who are looking for “whatever was keeping them from advancing further into the condition of death.” [Leonard] From the word thanatoid, or deathlike.

New learning: Quetzalcoatl is an important Aztec God depicted as a feathered serpent. The God who serves as a boundary between earth and sky, also prominent in other mesoamerican cultures.