Speculation: Pynchon/Kerouac

[BenProfane at aol.com]

Some thoughts re godot's (godolfin, good dolphin, good ol fin, good ol
pyn????) speculations.

1. As stated in Slow Learner, Pynchon's writing relates to the Beats as
"post-beat." "We were at a transition point, a strange post-Beat passage of
cultural time, with our loyalties divided. As bop and rock 'n' roll were to
swing music and postwar bop, so was this new writing to the more established
modernist tradition were were being exposed to then in college. Unfortunately
there were no more priminary choices for us to make. We were onlookers: the
parade had gone by and we were already getting everything secondhand,
consumers of what the media of th time were supplying us. This didn't prevent
us from adopting Beat postures and props, and eventually as post-Beats coming
to see deeper into what, after all, was a sane and decent affirmation of what
we all want to believe about American values. When the hippie resurgence came
along ten years later, there was, for a while anyway, a sense of nostalgia
and vindication. Beat prophets were resurrected, people started playing alto
sax riffs on electric guitars, the wisdom of the East came back in fashion.
It was the same, only differnt." (SL xviii).

2. The Beats might have said about Pynchon, though not necessarily written
for him, 

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by 
     madness, starving hysterical naked,  
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn
     looking for an angry fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly
     connection to the starry dynamo in the machin-
     ery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
     up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
     cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
     contemplating jazz. . ."
(Howl)

3. I think Kerouac would think of Pynchon as one of people who interest him:

the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, made
to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones
who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous
yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..... (OTR 8).

I know I did much quoting and provided little original thought, but this
seemed like the perfect opportunity to share some of my favorite Beat quotes
in a Pynchonian context. Hope you all enjoyed!!


                                                        BenProfane