First Sentence of M&D Thoug

[WillL at fieldschool.com]

Date	4/14/97
Subject	First Sentence of M&D Thoug
>From	WillL
To	Pynchon List

First Sentence of M&D Thought

I don't have my copy of "Been Down So Long . . ." (I lent it to a former
list-member . . . errrrggh!), but I wonder if the peculiar diction of the first
sentence (and presumably more) of M&D may be at all related to Pynchon's
affection for WARLOCK.  As I recall, he mentions that he and Farina loved this
relatively unknown book and enjoyed talking in some kind of WARLOCK-speak, which
I recall as an old-fashioned sounding frontier speak.

Could WARLOCK-speak be an influence on the diction of M&D?  Even if a its a
different diction, could Pynchon be giving in to his old affection for a book
that adopts a distinctive overriding narrative diction?

-- Will Layman (feeling very likely off-base)