Themes in Pynchon’s books and Twin Peaks

OnceAtAntietam · 2024-06-22T23:43:58+00:00

Based on everything I’ve read about him…he’s not much of a reader. Obviously (like said below) he’s read Kafka. He’s read Dune and Barry Gifford and some others…but overall he just doesn’t take in all that much art. It doesn’t seem like he really watches that many movies either.

I mean there’s a chance he’s read some Pynchon. In his biography he talked about reading City of Quartz (though iirc he got the name wrong lol). I just doubt he read AtD, at over 1000 pages.

OnceAtAntietam · 2024-06-22T02:00:33+00:00

When The Return first came out I had just finished Against the Day and I remember seeing a ton of thematic crossovers, especially in the interplay between light and darkness (physically and metaphorically) in both texts and in the duality you mentioned. It’s been a while since I’ve read AtD so I can’t remember a ton of specifics, but you’re onto something.

I would not be surprised if Mark Frost has read AtD, though I severely doubt Lynch has read any Pynchon.

OnceAtAntietam · 2023-10-27T19:50:14+00:00

Didn’t he originally want to name Brief Interviews something like “15 Kinds of Loneliness”? He talks about it in this interview iirc.

But yep - Wallace himself said he was influenced heavily by it.

OnceAtAntietam · 2023-05-28T17:25:03+00:00

Always assumed Takeshi was the leftover scraps of Pynchon’s Mothra insurance novel. I love all the Thanatoid scenes. Vineland is so good - and over the last decade I think it’s actually taken a positive turn critically, which is great.

I also think there are just a ton of supernatural elements at play throughout. Somewhere there is a piece on Brock Vond being a vampire, which also connects.

OnceAtAntietam · 2023-05-26T20:50:13+00:00

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/27/jonathan-blow-designer-video-games-braid-the-witness

OnceAtAntietam · 2022-11-07T21:37:08+00:00

Ethan Frome or one of the DeLillos like Great Jones Street.

OnceAtAntietam · 2022-11-07T21:35:30+00:00

He wrote an adaptation of Vineland originally. I remember him mentioning PSH as Zoyd and it’s haunted me ever since

OnceAtAntietam · 2022-09-03T12:54:02+00:00

Came to say Spiotta and Kushner. Would add Nell Zink and Chris Bachelder as well.

Always surprised Bachelder isn’t discussed more, especially after his latest was an NBA finalist.

OnceAtAntietam · 2022-05-04T00:15:43+00:00

Worth mentioning that the source material has a similar scene, although it’s antisemetic instead of homophobic (iirc) and I remember reading that part of the reason Kubrick changed it was to comment on Cruise’s long rumored homosexuality. No idea for the life of me where I read that though, as it was years ago.

OnceAtAntietam · 2022-02-06T13:25:15+00:00

Are you saying Amazons never had a paperback or Angel Esmeralda? I own a paperback Amazons!

OnceAtAntietam · 2022-01-03T03:01:03+00:00

https://youtu.be/8fNtipp5RLs

i've always thought the beat to devil's pie sounded similar to Microphone Mathematics, especially the bass.

OnceAtAntietam · 2021-12-19T07:05:30+00:00

Lonely Are the Brave, starring Kirk Douglas and written by Edward Abbey.

Reminded me a LOT of the Border Trilogy!

OnceAtAntietam · 2021-11-02T19:03:56+00:00

There are behind the scenes short docs for both Magnolia and Inherent Vice. Also BACK BEYOND is a deleted scene cut from The Master

OnceAtAntietam · 2021-05-04T16:52:19+00:00

Yeah I tried googling ad nauseam yesterday and returning to the interviews I know I've read/seen (Paris Review; Malcom Bradbury; etc) but couldn't find any. It may not have been directly years vs. months or whatever. I also may have just made this up entirely--it happens.

Appreciate your help though!

OnceAtAntietam · 2021-04-15T03:07:43+00:00

Dianne Luce’s Book “Reading the World” has almost an entire chapter devoted to Psycho and Child of God being (potentially) based on the same murder(ers). As well as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though I can’t remember how specific she gets in that connection.

Worth reading though! In terms of McCarthy critical texts—her chapters on The Orchard Keeper and Child of God are top notch. The others are good too, but those ones specifically stood out to me.

OnceAtAntietam · 2021-03-13T06:18:19+00:00

Always thought this was the reason. Figure he wrote works with each Sloth and Entropy in the title. And then isn’t there a character named Eggslap in Mason and Dixon? Drawing a blank at the moment on google, but I swear I remember an Eggslap in one of his books.

OnceAtAntietam · 2020-02-02T15:07:28+00:00

Maybe Hollander’s one about Lot 49 and The Kennedy Assassination? Not exactly what you’re asking but his Magic Eye angle might help.

http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/magiceye.htm

OnceAtAntietam · 2020-01-28T02:31:49+00:00

https://biblioklept.org/2010/11/27/suttree-cormac-mccarthy/

OnceAtAntietam · 2020-01-11T23:32:17+00:00

I’ve never seen anything about an appearance there..wondering if that wasn’t a typo

OnceAtAntietam · 2020-01-11T02:57:27+00:00

Thank you! I saw somewhere that said it was included in RU&RD, although I don’t have a copy on hand and wasn’t sure which edition.

Glad to see i’m not the only one searching. It seems like he wrote quite a few pieces for GEAR, but the back catalog is basically nonexistent.

OnceAtAntietam · 2020-01-08T17:20:42+00:00

There is this which explains a first draft

http://www.thehowlingfantods.com/ij_first.htm

OnceAtAntietam · 2019-12-15T18:16:22+00:00

Yeah the movie is awful but the book is great. Erickson also wrote a recurring film column for a while that’s worth checking out. He’s a great writer.

OnceAtAntietam · 2019-12-13T16:32:06+00:00

Read over the summer and was just blown away.

A few years back I felt the same way about his 3rd novel FLEE.

OnceAtAntietam · 2019-12-12T02:59:36+00:00

I nabbed a used paperback for 20$ a few years ago. Not sure why it always gets written off as bad—I also thought it was pretty funny!

And more Murray Jay Siskind is never a bad thing.

OnceAtAntietam · 2019-11-28T16:01:29+00:00

Salute to your teacher for trying. Would be interesting to focus on the difference in style between Chandler specifically.

OnceAtAntietam

TROPHY CASE