Pynchon wiki

August 4th, 2009 by Steve Curati

I love Thomas Pynchon. I love the richness of his prose. Each sentence feels important, as if cast from heavy metals. And I love how he makes no concession at all to the reader. There is no compromise in the arcaneness of his references, or the number of characters he’ll introduce and fleetingly re-introduce over the duration of a novel. But because of these levels of complication, you can sometimes feel as slightly paranoid as one of TP’s beleaguered characters that you’re missing something important.

So while I was googling his new novel, ‘Inherent Vice‘, I was very happy to find the Pynchon wiki. It’s loaded up with as many references, character descriptions and nuggets of background info as you could possibly desire. Can’t remember which Traverse is which in Against The Day? Here’s the family tree.

Of course it descends into ridiculous geek/fan-dom in places. Do we really need to know that “It has been suggested that Pynchon relied on the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica as a major reference for his treatment of 1890s Chicago”? Actually, yes, we probably do. But in the main the wiki is a really useful thing. It’s not using anything brilliantly new technology-wise (although the wiki as a search-based iPhone app would be great, come to think of it). It’s just being useful, using an existing technology really well. And useful is good, right?

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Briliant!

Dave Brubeck with young Russian violinist

“During a visit to Moscow in the 80’s, Dave Brubeck met the faculty and students in Moscow Conservatory. While he was improvising on a “Ei, uhnem”, a Russian folk song, a young man downstage stood up to play Stéphane Grappelli-style violin jazz with him.”

(by afahsu)

via @openculture

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“I have only my talent for drawing, so I drew.”

austinkleon:

Ronald Searle, Les Très Riches Heures de Mrs Mole

47 jewel-like drawings by Ronald Searle made for his wife, Monica, each time she underwent chemotherapy. On New Year’s Eve 1969, Monica Searle was diagnosed with a rare and virulent form of breast cancer. Each time she underwent treatment, Ronald produced a Mrs Mole drawing ‘to cheer every dreaded chemotherapy session and evoke the blissful future ahead’. Filled with light and illuminated in glowing colours, the drawings speak of love, optimism and hope. Like the mediaeval illuminated manuscripts such as the 15th-century Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, to which the title of this book refers, the 47 drawings are on an intimate scale and were never intended for publication.

When asked about the drawings, Searle said, “I have only my talent for drawing, so I drew.” Here’s a little more about them:

Prior to the cancer shock the couple had bought a decrepit house in the south of France and, despite her illness, Monica continued to devote her time making this house a home.

Devastated with his wife’s diagnosis Ronald did the only thing he knew how to do to cheer her up. .. draw.

Before every chemotherapy session he gave his wife a painting. Monica was depicted as a mole, a very happy mole celebrating life in their new home. (The Mole idea came after their discovery of a large celler that they made into a cosy room)

‘Everything about them had to be romantic and perfect,’ says Ronald. ‘I drew them originally for no one’s eyes except Mo’s, so she would look at them propped up against her bedside lamp and think: “When I’m better, everything will be beautiful.”

Searle died last week at 91.

(Images via bluedoorbooks)