Paul Fussell & TRP

[Christopher James Tassava]

Dennis Jones posted about Paul Fussell's _The Great War and Modern 
Memory_ in respect to Brigadier Pudding's coprophagia.  Fussell only 
spends a few pages on Pynchon, overall, but inevitably characterizes TRP 
and _GR_ as "brilliant."  So we know he's a good guy.  Dennis perfectly 
summarized Fussell's discussion of TRP.

Fussell's _Great War_ and its companion work, _Wartime_ (which examines 
WWII, as the first book examined WWI) are excellent complements to _GR_.  
He dissects the wars' influence on culture and especially on literary art 
with great skill, IMHO.  And moreover, as an ex-infantryman, he can spell 
out the real horror of combat for those of us who've never experienced it 
(and never will, hopefully): friendly fire, atrocities, the incredible 
numbers of noncombat deaths, et cetera ad nauseam.  I highly recommend 
the both of them for anyone who wants to learn a little more about war 
literature, a category which, in Fussell's opinion, definitely includes 
_GR_.

After having been stopped cold by Pudding's pudding-eating in 
my first try at _GR_, it was Fussell's rather clinical dissection of the 
scene, and more importantly, his placing of it in the traditions of 
European pornography and Great War literature, which allowed me to read 
and understand (if not actually enjoy) the scene.

Finally, my ideas about Pudding's _E. Coli_-assisted suicide: by 
deliberately ceasing to take the antibiotics Pointsman prescribes,
Pudding really dies in battle, as he did not in the Great War and
could not in the sequel.  Katje helps him relive Passchendaele and the 
Brigadier takes advantage of this reliving to die like a soldier, not 
like a doddering old has-been vet.

Xferens