Toons and Thomas

[ChrisO at fieldschool.com]

Toons and Thomas
To pynchon-l at sfu.ca


  Read today the observation that Roger and Jessica of GR
are two of the most "real" characters in the TRP pantheon.
(Please excuse paraphrasing - haven't figured out quoting
yet.) Being a GR virgin myself (come to the list through Lot
49, V, and the fabulous review of Love in the Time of
Cholera a few years back in the Times), I remark that the
primary Roger and Jessica of my experience share the surname
"Rabbit" and are, ironically, the only two cartoons in a
movie populated only by "real" people. 
  Is it really there? Are we inventing it? Does it become
real precisely because we keep looking for it and finding
it? So far this is the Pynchon (and Eco, and Nicholson
Baker) theme I find most intoxicating. Borges' "Pierre
Menard, Author of Quijote" comes to hand as well, where the
act of creating a perfect representation (simulacrum?)
transcends the original...
  Anyway, glad to be aboard. Love to hear more about the
Jest (on pp. 267 as of this AM) if hardcore Pynchoniacs can
stand the static!

Chris Osmond