RE- 60's changing the World

[WillL at fieldschool.com]

RE: 60's changing the World
To pynchon-l at sfu.ca


David Pelowitz writes of VINELAND as: "a novel that
illustrates
how much the 60's desire to change the world actually did 
change the world."

I dunno.  Those who've taken VL (and Pynchon) to task for
being suddenly (and falsely) "optimistic" seem to have taken
David's view -- that VL somehow endorses or gets nostalgic
about the spirit of rebellion associated with "the sixties."

I disagree with the VL bashers largely because I disagree
with David's assessment.  Many of the quotes from VL that
have been posted recently are precisely on point.  VL paints
a portrait of a "revolution" that never really materializes,
a Counterforce bought out by Them from the start and, twenty
years later (today), destined to be its own tired Force
(Hello, Newt; hello, Bill -- Gates or Clinton, take yer
pick).  The fact that Pynchon nailed not only his near
contemporaries through his portraits of Zoyd, Frenesi and
Brock but also the Gen X'ers (Prairie would be, what, 26
today?) is no mean feat.  Pining for Brock as she sits apart
from her family's reunion in the woods, Prairie -- even
resourceful, media-savvy Prairie -- is genetically coded for
trouble, just another limited person grappling with forces
beyond her control.

Of course, I could be misreading David's comment.  Perhaps
the 60's desire to change the world was realized precisely
by failing. When a moment with that much promise and sense
of dawning winds up as a long Gingrichian filibuster, well,
maybe the lessons of GR (and VL too) really hit home.

-- Will Layman