What Pynchon Knew

[Paul Mackin]

On Tue, 16 May 1995 grnmt at sover.net wrote:

> What Pynchon knew or didn't know when he wrote the text, and what he meant
> by it seem highly irrelevant to interpreting the novel.  To assign the
> authors guiding hand and full knowledge to the text seems to be the
> antithesis of Pynchon's ideas of reading. Yes, yes, this is
> self-contradictory.  TO quote Whitman, Do I contradict myself, very well
> then I contradict myself, 

The first sentence, and maybe the second, seem right on target--as far as 
interpretation of the novels go.  Not sure I understand the contradiction 
and how Whitman fits. Need more clarification.

There are really two discussions being carried out on the Pynchon 
List--one about the books and the other about the author. The latter 
seems to have been dominant lately. Maybe your offering will help address 
the balance.

				Pablo