Contradictions

[Mathew Jacobson, Green Mountain Forest Watch]

On Wed, 17 May 1995, Paul Mackin wrote:

>
>
> 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.

Clarification:  what I meant by contradicting myself here is that in the
first sentence I say that what Pynchon knew or didn't know when he wrote it
isirelevent, and, implyedly not discernable from the text.  Then in the
second sentence I go shooting my keyboard off about Pynchon's idea of
reading.  If I'm right about the first part, I certainly have no business
attributing an idea of reading to an author who aint there.

But of course this tension is the very beauty of Pynchon's work, the flip
flopping from the bianry poles, the accumulation of information into neatly
formed stencils that become so packed full that they rip apart, the piling
of ideas and facts and incidents upon rational structures which eventually
collapse under their own weight.

Pynchon's work, like all great literature is self contradictory, as must be
any worthwhile, or at least interesting, criticism of it.

If the rational cohesive consistent established forms of the written word
could contain what Pynchon needed to say (and what we aparently need to
read again, and again and again) then he would have just said it to a
friend at a bar.  He wouldn't have to write that drooling beast of a book.

Mathew Jacobson
Green Mountain Forest Watch
48 Elliot St *Brattleboro, VT 05301 * (802) 257-4878 * (FAX) 257-8529