Pynchon: Creative Paranoia in Gravity's Rainbow by Mark Richard Siegel (review)

PYNCHON: CREATIVE PARANOIA IN GRAVITY'S RAINBOW BY MARK RICHARD SIEGEL (Port Washington, New York: National University Publications, 1978. 136 pages, $11.00.) In 1975 Edward Mendelson prevised that Pynchon's work would create the largest critical industry since the Joycean, simultaneously cautioning that Gravity's Rainbow — a sui generis novel — would test the traditional tools of literary criticism and the resources of the critic. There are encouraging signs that Mendelson's prediction may be fulfilled and evidence that the exegetical challenge is being met by Pynchon scholars. Siegel's book is a felicitous example; it explicates with admirable clarity Gravity's Rainbow's "progressive knotting into," the complex metaphorical constructs and multiple techniques that animate the novel. Taking off from Pynchon's definition of paranoia "as the leading edge of awareness that everything is connected,"Siegel advances creative paranoia, a mode ofconsciousness and a fiction-making technique, as the philosophical and aesthetic foundation of Pynchon's ambiguous and paradoxical fiction. Although Siegel occasionally traverses well-trodden ground and presents reiterative explanations of Pynchon's eclecticism — e.g., Jung, Weber, Whitehead, Henry Adams, his explications are cogent and can assist the novice reader of Gravity's Rainbow. Similarly, there are benefits — and provocative material — for the Pynchon scholar. The second and third chapters, which discuss narrative point of view and characterization, are original and compelling. The second chapter is especially noteworthy. It is a fresh and inventive treatment of Pynchon's narrative techniques, including a brief but illuminating discussion on Pynchon's use offilm and cinematic techniques . Siegel makes a convincing argument that an understanding of narrative point of view is necessary to grasp the spirit ofthe novel and comprehend its meaning. Moreover, he addresses a discrepancy in Pynchon scholarship; the preponderant criticism on Gravity's Rainbow has focused on thematic issues and much less attention has been paid to the novel's narrative structure. Siegel has accomplished a difficult, two-fold task; his study is a significant addition to Pynchon scholarship and valuable assistance for the general reader who seeks an intelligent and sensible guide through the encyclopedic— and often forbidding — expanse of Gravity's Rainbow. ANTONIO MARQUEZ* •ANTONIO MARQUEZ is a member ofthe Department ofEnglish Language and Literature at The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. 82VOL. 33, NO. 2 (SPRING 1979) ...