There arepassagesof Melvillean-Faulknerianbaroquerichnessand intensity in The Crying of Lot49, and elsewhere in Pynchon, butwe can never be sure that they are not parodistic.
With a strikingly modern yet humanistic style, Costa elicits quietly declamatory performances from his remarkable cast (which joins nonactors and seasoned professionals) and creates moody, luminous tableaux to conjure an incantatory, Faulknerian earthiness.