Vineland plot summary? (etc: spoilers?)

[Jorn Barger]

Hmmm... I'm disappointed nobody replied to my complaint about
Vineland's "trance voice".  I haven't read any Vineland criticism
since the first reviews, so any feedback will be appreciated...

I've finished rereading the book, and that characterization of my 
difficulties held true to the end-- the narrative voice has the same
glazed-over tone, no matter what it's describing, and consequently
the descriptions leave little trace-- no smells, no sense of space,
unlike GR...

I'm thinking that a Pynchon FAQ ought to have a 'spoilers' section,
either at the end, or rot13'd, for each novel.  One type of spoiler
would be explaining puns like "Salitieri, Nash, deBrutus...", but
another, more challenging one is to try to give a concise plot
summary for each novel.  (Someone on r.a.b has just complained that
Lot 49 left him with the feeling he'd missed something-- I think
that's probably true of all TP's novels, for most readers!)

Here's a first stab at a Vineland plot summary, since it's now the freshest
in my mind of all the novels:

Feminist film collective 24fps covers a college revolution led by Weed
Frenesi falls for fascist Brock because of her genetic weakness for uniforms
Brock asks her to set up Weed's murder, she goes along for no good reason
Fleeing Brock, Frenesi marries Zoyd completely at random, Prairie born
Fleeing Zoyd, Frenesi marries Fletch (?) settles into life as gov't informant
Brock entraps Zoyd with pot-bale, releases him (why?) as a welfare-loony
DL enlisted by Ralph to kill Brock, attacks Takeshi by mistake -> partners
...uneventful years?...
Frenesi freed from gov't obligations due to budget cuts
Brock mounts final revenge campaign (why?), seizes Zoyd's home
Prairie meets DL, learns Frenesi's story
Prairie and Frenesi reunited in Vineland (w/Sasha and Zoyd, etc)
Brock's attempt to abduct Prairie interrupted by Reagan's serendipitous order
Prairie, too, is smitten by Brock's fascism, even as her family is reunited

What a downer!  Is there anybody in the 1984-era scenes who has any
sense of creating a better world?  Who hasn't surrendered to forces
beyond their understanding, beyond all hope of change???


jorn
(that's who! ;^/