the Big Pun

[Mr Craig Clark]

Christopher writes:

> No, no, no!  Pynchon's big pun is to be found on page 591 of the Penguin 
> edition (turn there now, please).  He spends - and we do not mind his 
> spending - eleven pages detailing the cessation of Lyle Bland (he of the 
> Slothrop vending), and at the very end of the chapter, in his parodic 
> speech to his family, Lyle alludes to his family's being taken care of 
> (post-dissolution).  The Bland fambly's finances are, of course, being 
> overseen by the law firm of (drumroll puhleeze) Saliteri, Poore, Nash, De 
> Brutus, and Short.  Which is not only Hobbes' description of 
> pre-cultural life, but also life in the Zone.

Less time is spent setting up my personal fave - the one about the 
foax who are restless because they have I Ching feet. And I can't 
believe it took me 6 readings before I realised that Pirate 
Prentice's batman is called Wayne...

Craig Clark

"Living inside the system is like driving across
the countryside in a bus driven by a maniac bent
on suicide."
   - Thomas Pynchon, "Gravity's Rainbow"