Thomas Pynchon
Execrable. Appropriate word, given the actual s**t eating Pynchon has a character perform. Reading this, you get the sense that Pynchon's a wannabe Marquis de Sade. Its also 'faux psychadelic': affected, like the Toronto art crowd. A poor imitation of actual classics of experimental fiction, like Naked Lunch. Very “Seventies” (even though it is set in WW II) – if you’re into that. Ahhhh, remember the Seventies? Bell bottoms, platform shoes, turtlenecks, medallions, huge sideburns, wide collars, exposed chest hair, shag carpets, disaster movies, the Bee Gees, disco, oil crises, stagflation, Richard Nixon and Thomas Pynchon. As HP Lovecraft said: As for affectation - I'm not fond of any kind, but hate literary affectation the worst, because it is more permanent and subversive in its essence.
Naked Lunch
William S. Burroughs
Burroughs was an outsider's outsider: gay, a drug addict AND a writer, and his book is pure genius written by an actual hag-ridden soul. Burroughs was no poseur: He was the Vincent Van Gogh of American letters. His cut-up technique –where he randomized passages with scissors and tape -- predates and even shames the lofty pronouncements of postmodernism. Not an easy read as the book is occassionally offensive, but it is defensibly offensive, as it is a stark measure of the time and place it was written, and as it is a protest against the mainstream: fully as much as Ginsberg's Howl. Despite its difficulty, Burroughs’ dark humour bleeds through and lightens the tone.
Foucault's Pendulum
Umberto Eco
A sustained joke, made at the expense of occultists and conspiracy theorists, and the reading public everywhere, but its just not all that funny. The book is good, its just that Eco attempts to disguise his talent with occult minutiae and repetition. We get it: You're smart! And too clever by half. Lots of less intelligent writers are better writers. His book is just difficult for the sake of being difficult, padded to suit the adamantly sustained snobbery of its writer and established fans and hangers-on, such as po-mo profs and the type of grad student who enjoys being heard speaking nonsense at parties. You will need to be well-versed in occultism to avoid getting lost (hardcore Neil Gaiman fans will do fine though).
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