The Tale of Tyrone's dick

[Jan Klimkowski]

ray wrote:

>i don't see the rocket hard on as surreal at all, which is part of the
>reason it works for me. the way you describe it here seems to >support   
my claim--this scenario is par for the war course. i'm a big
>fan of writing that can easily be dubbed postmodern but is in fact
>realistic, and among the coovers and barths (both of whom i admire
>and enjoy reading), this
>is an aspect of pynchon's brilliance, for me. borderline absurd,
>perhaps, but not surreal, is my take.

Just because something is surreal, doesn't mean it isn't political.   
 Historically, Surrealism & Dadaism are amongst the most politically   
committed of avantgarde art movements.  Also, if I remember correctly, in   
the Intro to Slow Learner, TRP does speak favourably of surrealism as an   
art form.

Actually, for me the Tale of Tyrone's Dick is closer to the Garcia   
Marquez of 100 Years of Solitude, than it is to Coover and Barth.   
 Indeed, I think Barth in particular is not writing about "the real   
world", and I think there are major differences in the projects of   
Pynchon and Barth.  To express it crudely, I think Barth is essentially   
writing self-referential pomo texts which have very little to do with   
"reality" as you express it above.  Whereas part of Pynchon's project,   
like Garcia Marquez', does involve taking real historical material and   
reflecting it thru the prism of art.
jan








BTW, I also really like the way you look at P. I get a little weary
of the beautiful edifi on cheesy foundations. Tons of great finish
carpenters here, few foundation pourers.


 ----------
From:  RAYGONNE[SMTP:RAYGONNE at pacbell.net]
Sent:  02 August 1997 02:30
To:  pynchon-l
Subject:  Re: The Tale of Tyrone's dick

Jan Klimkowski wrote:
>
> My primary reading of the rocket/hardon scenes is as the most   
brilliantly
> surreal parody of wartime behaviourist research.
>
> There were plenty of behaviourists like Pointsman who were given cash   
and
> experimental freedom by the war, and I can think of at least three
> British institutes which, in different ways, could serve as models for
> the White Visitation.  Equally, we now know that it wasn't just those
> nasty Nazis who "recruited" children into bizarre experimental
> programmes.  The historical context making it possible for young Tyrone
> to have been sold to one of his country's covert scientists certainly
> exists - both in Britain and the US.
>
> With this historical background as a given, enter Thomas Pynchon the
> artist.  A few turns of the spiral later, and we end up with a
> conditioned stimulus-response between Slothrop's erections and the
> Rocket, which is a stroke of surreal genius.  The parody then develops
> with bumbling surveillance of Slothrop's amorous liaisons, leading to
> manic attempts to discern The Pattern, and various levels of paranoia   
as
> to precisely what kind of relationship exists between Slothrop and
> Rocket/Death.
>
> One of the crucial things about covert science, ie science funded by
> intelligence agencies and classified, is that Peer Review as we know it
> simply doesn't exist.  Thus bad science can thrive.  And scientists,
> (often recruited precisely because their ethics are dubious), get   
endless
> grants, academic freedom, and supplies of experimental subjects, to
> pursue their own particular hobby horses.  These hobby horses are, on
> occasion, both insane and sadistic.  As a surreal parody of this, the
> Tale of Slothrop's Dick is in a class of its own.
> jan

what's the source for this review? nice research--has their been a
revival? (insert emoticon denoting good will)
ray