No subject
Mike Newton
newton at gumby.gg.caltech.edu
Sun Aug 7 08:06:30 CDT 1994
chapter thirteen
In which the yo-yo string
is revealed as
a state of
mind
V
[V, p. 367]
Regarding names in the novels:
There is a local (Los Angeles) leader/band called "Snotty Scotty and
the Hankies"; they are reasonably well known and were popular for
around a 10 year period (possibly much longer). Considering the nature
of the Vomitones, the name seemed quite "natural". Many names do jar
me (eg: Slothrop), but that seems part of the perverse humor. It also
could be a nice touch considering Pynchon's less-than-fondness for
literary criticism.
More on humor:
I can remember reading the passage of GR that describes the hot air
ballon ... starting to chuckle, telling myself he couldnt, he wouldnt,
50 pages later thinking well, maybe he wouldn't, 100 pages ... comic
strain all but gone ... and then ...
Yes, i may not laugh out as much as reading some things, but Pynchon's
humor, maybe playfullness is a better term, seems appropriate, more
lasating, and more complete. Few authors have made me laugh so
_completely_ . The wierd thing is that i could also easily imagine
him hanging around the the Hilo surfers in the evenings, drinking
beers and smoking _, yet his humor would seem to be so
very different. Wierd.
Askew:
Things are just a 'tad bit askew' in his stories, but then again,
considering what we all (seem to) accept as the current reality, I
wonder ...
But, I also favor the novels differenly than others on the list: after
GR, Vineland comes second (though V is not far behind). Maybe
it is from my background & the (strange) friends i keep ...
A (scary to myself) summary would be that reality often seems to lie
somewhere between GR & Vineland.
An about-to-flame phd student,
- mike
(ps: Then, again, the way that I first encountered Pynchon, Vineland
in particular, involved a snow storm on the AZ/NM desert, a
not-quite-chance encounter due to the only time in years my car had
broken down, which also resulted in finding/reading of "The Long Dark
Tea Time of the Soul" (name approx.), a professors' (white) fridge
that had open tofu in it for almost a year--said tofu having developed
a personality of its own, a 2 day February trip to an 80+ degree
Illinois town (thank you, Steve Wolfram), and a few other even wierder
things that combined in ways that are hard to describe)... but I read
Vineland... .)
A tragic sigh. "Information. What's wrong with dope and
women? Is it any wonder the world's gone insane, with
information come to be the only real medium of exchange?"
[GR, p. 258]
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