Mindless

Sun Feb 25 13:09:04 CST 1996

Before the discussion goes too far afield, remember that the phrase 
actually occurs once in GR. I don't have the reference handy, but it's in 
a positive context. Despite the laborious undertaking that is GR, it's 
always struck me that TRP approves of what the Church of the Subgenius 
calls "slack" as a subversive antidote to thanatropic society. Of course 
as usual there is the inevitable Pynchonian ambiguity. Are folks on this 
list aware of his essay on "Sloth" in the slim volume, "The Seven Deadly 
Sins"? It's the lead piece. Pretty funny, and he writes in a relatively 
unironic mode. Anyway, "Mindless Pleasures" always seemed to me to be a 
cautionary alternative title for a book that begs to be taken too 
seriously by many.