Chapter 3 Arrangement

[Linda H. Segrest]

On Mon, 24 Jun 1996, Wolfe, Skip wrote:
> One of the things (among many) that blows me away about this chapter is how 
> Pynchon plays with the signal-to-noise ratio of the material (and with the 
> reader at the same time).  By embedding the barest outline of a spy thriller 
> in these 8 narratives he encourages us to extract the information from each 
> one that helps us construct a "plot" of that thriller, in the process 
> rejecting probably 75% of what's written.  
	
	The changes that this tale underwent going from "Under the Rose"
in _Slow Learner_ to this chapter in V. are interesting too, especially in
light of Pynchon's self-deprecating comments in the intro. to _Slow
Learner_, when he calls the story a manifestation of the "old Baedaker
trick."
	Dwight Eddins in _The Gnostic Pynchon_ remarks that this story
"embodies...Pynchon's transition from a focus on mid-twentieth century
America to a blatantly 'world-historical canvas'."  And indeed, this story
marks the point where Pynchon gets so allusive (and elusive) that I find
myself running for the history reference books...
	
								-T.J.