The Silence of the Lambs

[Tim Ware]

Hi Nick:

You have questions?  I have responses:

> 1. Why do we spend so much time speculating about TP's private life 
when he has tried hard to get us to IGNORE him and concentrate on his books?

     Nature abhors a vacuum.

> 2. Why the TP worship?

     WHO is worshipping?  I'm sorry, but I really hadn't noticed.

> 3. HOW DOES GR RELATE TO US--NOW? And what does it tell us
> about American politics, values, etc.?

     If I answer that here, no more pynchon-l.

> 4. We've spoken about TP's use of music, but few have addressed the
. significance of his use of popular music. Why is it in his works?

     Hmmm.  Perhaps because everything else is.  He loves it, it says a 
lot about a culture, it's potent signification.  

> 5. After the plot has vanished from memory, what
> remains? Good question for all of TP's works.

     I guess to answer THAT question, we're first gonna have get those 
damned "plots" vanished from our memories.  

> 6. Can the individual stand up to today's paranoid world? If not, how
> can any novel centering on a charcater represent this world?

     Individuals are paranoid, right?  Worlds aren't paranoid. . .are 
they??  As for part 2, might I ask which world "this world" is?



Tim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ timware at crl.com
If you are dealt a lemon ... play lemonade - CD-ROM DOS


On Thu, 9 Mar 1995, Nicholas Lester wrote:

> Perhaps we all have the feeling that the discussions, although well
> intentioned, have moved away from the mark. Lately I had the feeling that I
> was reading the Joyce list: is it a period or a dot or a square or an ink
> blot, or what? As they say in my old neighborhood, "Who gives a rat's ass?"
> 
> And like Bonnie I am amazed at how "territorial" some of these men and women
> can be. The world's falling apart, TP told us that before we saw it for
> ourselves, and yet the literati worry about grammar while the scientists try
> to counterpunch, telling us that we don't really know enough to speculate
> about quantum mechanics, etc. Heh--let's go easy on each other! This is a
> friendly discussion amongst people who have a common interest.
> 
> I'll throw out a few questions for y'all:
> 
> 1. Why do we spend so much time speculating about TP's private life when he
> has tried hard to get us to IGNORE him and concentrate on his books? So
> where's the logic here? He asks us to judge his work as it stands, yet we
> insist on doing the opposite. I like TP's work because I don't know anything
> about him. Let's keep it that way. Otherwise TP will become another
> Mailer--full of himself, full of appearances on Jay Leno, and void of talent.
> 
> 2. Why the TP worship? I can't recall who said it (perhaps Gardiner, perhaps
> Kundera) but to paraphrase, "books, good books, are always greater than
> their author." We've all seen this in our writing--we say something in our
> work that is smarter than we are. I don't want to go into the whys of it,
> but since we know this to be true, why worship the author? Let's "worship"
> the books and their ideas. (And please, no idiotic comments about
> worship--you guys get my point.)
> 
> 3. As an American Studies kind of guy, I'd like to discuss GR and how it
> reflects today's America. Look, any work of art worth its salt is applicable
> to the reader TODAY. If not, the work is good for what I call "cocktail
> party English." You know--you can talk about Eliot's objective correlative
> over a drink and everyone thinks you're so "deep." But in the end, it's this
> kind of crap that has driven students away from the humanities, lit in
> particular. (It has driven me from the Joyce list, and perhaps many of you
> from this list.)  HOW DOES GR RELATE TO US--NOW? And what does it tell us
> about American politics, values, etc.?
> 
> 4. We've spoken about TP's use of music, but few have addressed the
> significance of his use of popular music. Why is it in his works? 
> 
> 5. I had the opportunity to talk with John Barth (occasionally we
> freelancers get a good assignment--that's one in 12 years for me). He said
> that what matters in a novel is what remains with the reader one year or two
> years after reading the thing. After the plot has vanished from memory, what
> remains? Good question for all of TP's works. 
> 
> 6. The devolution of Slothrop in GR represents the death of the American
> romantic novel: born circa 1800 died circa 1968. The individual as center of
> the universe stands at the core of the romantic novel (and American
> society). Can the individual stand up to today's paranoid world? If not, how
> can any novel centering on a charcater represent this world? Good question
> TP asks. Let's address it.
> 
> OK--these are my ideas. What are yours?
> 
> Nick
>  
> 
>