Five stories, dating from 1959 through 1964, four of them written
while Pynchon (Gravity's Rainbow) was still in college - plus an
introduction that's fetchingly modest about this gathering of
juvenilia. (". . . My best hope is that, pretentious, goofy and
ill-considered as they get now and then, these stories will still
be of use to somebody, someplace, with all their flaws intact, as
illustrative of typical problems in entry-level fiction, and
cautionary about some practices which younger writers might prefer
to avoid.") "The Small Rain" - about an Army detail cleaning up
after a deadly Louisiana hurricane - introduces a highly hip,
literary, and ironic main character who, in different guises, will
show up in all the other stories as well. "LowLands" introduces
Pynchon's yet-to-be-developed interest in the poetries of physics,
as does "Entropy." "Under the Rose" - Egypt, 1890s, colonial and
baroque - is abrim with rather pointless erudition (siphoned,
Pynchon confesses in the introduction, from an old Baedeker guide).
And "A Secret Integration" offers some whiz-kids involved in
cultural subversion in the cause of liberal values; while there's
one credible, three-dimensional character here (an alcoholic jazz
musician), this piece also bites off a bit more than it can chew.
Both stories, though, do point the way to the novelist Pynchon was
to become - with foreshadowings of his problematic encyclopedic
qualities. And, throughout, there's the nascent sense of
Pynchonesque display: alert intelligence, quite in-the-know and
savvy, easy for a reader to admire - but not quite participate in
or feel with. Intriguing material for Pynchon fans and critics.
(Kirkus Reviews)
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR Slow Learner is a compilation of
early stories written between 1959 and 1964, before Pynchon
achieved recognition as a prominent writer for his 1963 novel, V.
This edition also contains a revelatory essay on Pynchon's early
influences and writing. The collection consists of five short
stories: 'The Small Rain', 'Lowlands', 'Entropy', 'Under the Rose',
and 'The Secret Integration', as well as an introduction written by
Pynchon himself for the 1984 publication, offering a rare insight
into his own views on his work. 'Pynchon at his best' Guardian
'[This] volume not only collects five early works but offers an
easygoing, seemingly vulnerable 20-page introduction by the
vanishing author himself' New York Times 'Possibly the most
accomplished writer of prose in English since James Joyce' London
Review of Books
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
