Pynchon & Fictional names...

[Greg Montalbano]

>So, is the hallmark of a great writer the ability to come up with names
>that are strangely appropriate for the character's characterization?  If
>this makes any sense to anyone, let me know...
>
>"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than have a frontal lobotomy..."
>		--Unknown
>
>"You have to forget about what other people say, when you're supposed to
>die, or when you're supposed to be loving.  You have to forget about all
>these things.  You have to go on and be crazy.  Craziness is heaven."
>		--Jimi Hendrix
>
See Ursula K. LeGuin's essays in LAUNGUAGE OF THE NIGHT and elsewhere on
the overwhelming importance of "listening for the character's real name."

Also, by the bye -- I'd always heard the "bottle in front of me" line
attributed to the one and only Tom Waits;  not sure if he originated it,
or just took it for his own.  (He propogated many fine lines, including
"harder than Chinese algebra" and the ever-popular "I'm so horny, the
crack of dawn better not show itself around me.")