Slog - Comments on Book Rumor Excitement! http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement Rumors are circling the tubes that Thomas Pynchon's next book will be a psychedelic Raymond Chandler hard-boiled noir pastiche. And it will be just 400 pages. And it will be published in August of next year. When Tom Nissley reviewed Pynchon's previous book, Against the Day, for us when it was published a year and a half ago, he had an extreme proposal for Pynchon: ...what if, instead of releasing a white monolith that daunts even his fans, Pynchon put out ten 100-page books from the same material? (How I'd love to see the Chums of Chance storyline captured in... Copyright 2008 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0800 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:15:41 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by DENVEROPOLIS I still haven't finished Against The Day and it isn't for lack of trying. That book is incredibly dense.

]]> DENVEROPOLIS http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162181 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162181 Books Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:19:54 -0800 Comment by levide "Against the Day" is his complete and total masterpiece. I remember thinking when I finished it that he doesn't need to write another word as long as he lives, but I'm fuckin' thrilled to hear that he will.

]]> levide http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162196 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162196 Books Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:22:27 -0800 Comment by Roscoe Rumors come and go. I hope this one's true. I enjoyed a lot of AGAINST THE DAY, but haven't been able to give it the re-reading that it deserves.

]]> Roscoe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162198 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162198 Books Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:23:24 -0800 Comment by brandon i've never been able to finish one of his books.

]]> brandon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162284 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162284 Books Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:40:39 -0800 Comment by Former editor In film criticism, there is a saying which roughly goes, "there is no such thing as a bad film which is too short, or a good film which is too long." Which is to say that, if it holds you over its duration (whatever its duration) then its good. If it doesn't hold you then it's not good.

The editing corollary is that "time is audience capital." If you use invest this capital in the film, it had better pay off before people lose interest. The problem is determining how many of which people you can afford to lose. The hidden factor being whether the viewing audience can still feel their asses after a while.

So Paul, I take it that Pynchon, puts your ass to sleep?

]]> Former editor http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162592 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1162592 Books Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:41:22 -0800 Comment by Grant Cogswell If it's half as good as McCarthy's crack at the pulp crime novel, then hell yeah.

If you want a short Pynchon book you'll laugh all the way through, read The Crying of Lot 49. Definitely one of his two or three best.

]]> Grant Cogswell http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1163061 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/book_rumor_excitement#c1163061 Books Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:15:41 -0800