Submitted by Steven Augustine, Nov 26, 2006 16:27

"The silliness of 'Against the Day' about the very subjects where we are most urgently in quest of wisdom proves that, whatever he once was, Thomas Pynchon is no longer the novelist we need."

Show me please, the literate reader old enough to possess a driver's license who seeks 'wisdom' in a novel. I am baffled as to which to call into question first: Mr. Kirsch's understanding of the word 'wisdom' or his understanding of the word 'novel'. Further, the 'very subjects where we are most urgently in quest of wisdom' must either be surity of style, imagination and wit...or otherwise not to be expected (necessarily) to pop up in the pages of Mr. Pynchon's work. If I've noticed anything about the post-September 11th nature of book reviewing, it's that persons like Mr. Kirsch are far more likely to cite the work on a 'morals' charge these days (as in James Wood's suspiciously bit-chomping assault on Delillo). It wasn't long ago that a reviewer wielding that parochial paddle would have been sneered back into the pews. Can't wait until the deformation has righted itself and we're treated to reviews more mindful of the ding an sich and less about the religious instruction of the reviewer.

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