In his Faulks on Fiction Faulks picks Fagin as one of his representatives of the character type he designates “villain.” Rightly so. He also observes that it is Fagin who carries Oliver Twist, with which I whole-heartedly concur.
I find it harder to agree with his dogged defence of Dickens in the face of the charges of anti-Semitism which have been, inevitably, levelled against the Victorian writer as a result of his ‘Jewish’ villain. Why did he make Fagin Jewish? Faulks argues that Dickens gives Fagin no characteristics that we would associate with Jewish stereotypes, negative or otherwise. Fagin is not characterised with reference to religious or cultural observance. The label “Jew” is therefore just that, a useful identifier which adds a little colour.
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Adolphe is a little French curiosity from the early nineteenth century, a cautionary tale, painfully trying to get to grips with some kind of meaningful morality.
The title sets out Mullan’s intentions with admirable brevity, and there are some useful endorsements within the front cover which give a clue to his method.
So. Just what is the point of DH Lawrence? 
The reasons for eschewing challenges this year (and henceforth) are two-fold. 1) Being always too much in the (reading) moment to pursue objectives in any more than an incidental way and 2) I am far too lazy to finish the job (let alone catalogue en route.)
The title story of this short story collection is set in an American theme park, where the residential employees play the part of living exhibits. The protagonist is a Neanderthal, complete with a stick-on prosthetic brow, who spends his working hours grunting, scratching and hunting pretend bugs, before retiring for the night to the spartan Separate Quarters at the back of the Neanderthal cave mock-up, where he is required to file a Daily Partner Performance Evaluation on his female co-worker.
Gravity’s Rainbow Rides Out
Infinite Zombies proudly present: Gravity’s Rainbow.
So. Any one up for a behemoth?
This would not be my first attempt at a read-along of Gravity’s Rainbow, and to the Pynchon purist I can only apologise. My motives are compounded ten percent optimism and ninety percent bloody-mindedness, and Pynchon for Pynchon’s sake is lost somewhere in the mix. The optimism dervies from Zombies driven success with the three titles listed at the top of this post. The bloody-mindedness? Well, that’s just me.
Daryl proposes the first eighty pages and a first post for 27th Feb, so if that sounds like a good time for you and you fit one of the two pertinent categories; Pynchon enthusiast or reader with masochistic tendencies; then clear twelve weeks in your diary and head over to Infinite Zombies to sign up.
January 23, 2012
Categories: 1001 Books You Must Read..., Commentary, Ephemera . Tags: gravity's rainbow, Thomas Pynchon . Author: Sarah . Comments: 3 Comments