Overview
Is time an illusion? Do past, present, and future co-exist in a timeless whole, or are our experiences of change and duration the reality of time? Thomas Pynchon's writing has always been interested in the interplay of these two ways of thinking about time, but his recent fiction has also taken on the task of imaginatively responding to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which in the early years of the twentieth century renewed this ancient debate. In this book, Simon de Bourcier looks in detail at Pynchon's 2006 novel Against the Day, which is set during the period in which Einstein published his world-changing theory, and 1997's Mason & Dixon, set in the eighteenth century when Isaac Newton's picture of a world governed by absolute space and time was unchallenged. By comparing these two novels, Pynchon and Relativity shows that Pynchon's tales of loss, haunting, and time travel are informed by a sophisticated awareness of the philosophical implications of Relativity. The book goes on to examine the consequences of this for our reading of Pynchon's other work.
Full Product Details
Author: Dr Simon de Bourcier
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Edition: NIPPOD
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 1.20cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.345kg
ISBN: 9781472528308
ISBN 10: 1472528301
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 24 November 2013
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Inits consideration of time in all of Pynchon's novels from V. to Inherent Vice, thiswide-ranging study deservedly takes its place in the best tradition of Pynchoncriticism, moving with ease between literary criticism, philosophy, history andthe natural sciences. In particular, the book's elaborate reading of Against the Day is groundbreaking, andthis profound pioneering work makes Pynchonand Relativity a monograph no future analysis of that novel can afford to ignore. -- Sascha Poehlmann, Assistant Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich
Inits consideration of time in all of Pynchon's novels from V. to Inherent Vice, thiswide-ranging study deservedly takes its place in the best tradition of Pynchoncriticism, moving with ease between literary criticism, philosophy, history andthe natural sciences. In particular, the book's elaborate reading of Against the Day is groundbreaking, andthis profound pioneering work makes Pynchonand Relativity a monograph no future analysis of that novel can afford to ignore. -- Sascha Pohlmann, Assistant Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich
""Inits consideration of time in all of Pynchon's novels from V. to Inherent Vice, thiswide-ranging study deservedly takes its place in the best tradition of Pynchoncriticism, moving with ease between literary criticism, philosophy, history andthe natural sciences. In particular, the book's elaborate reading of Against the Day is groundbreaking, andthis profound pioneering work makes Pynchonand Relativity a monograph no future analysis of that novel can afford to ignore."" -- Sascha Pöhlmann, Assistant Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich
Author Information
Simon de Bourcier has a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambridge, an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, and a PhD from the University of East Anglia, where he has also taught as an Associate Tutor.
