Pynch and drugs

[Gershom Bazerman]

There have been some attacks on TRP for being somehow fundamentally 
anti-drug. First off, how much sense does it make to judge powerful 
books on political messages which you may have issues with? And I know 
it makes some sense, but my point is that TRP's content is not merely 
political commentary. Second, why do all the 'good guyz' in GR, the 
counterforce all smoke dope? They do bumble around ineffectively against 
Big Bro, but if you look at the compassion TRP evinces for them, 
compared to his utter distaste for Blicero and the rest, then it's 
pretty evident who his sympathies lie with, even though he may not be 
willing to put down money on their success. And part of why I like pynch 
so much is that he doesn't come down clearly with simple answers and 12 
step programs to solve life's issues. There's always some ambiguity, and 
with me at least, that ambiguity has forced me to examine myself and my 
views more closely. It was a powerful and disturbing moment for me to 
find myself turned on by the rocket's final launch, and one which I 
cherish.

As for the vineland crits on the NC scene, Pynch necessarily 
exaggerates, but once again, how could anyone argue that Zoyd wasn't one 
of the good guyz? The passage where Brock speaks about how easy it was 
to convert the hippies was very revealing. VL isn't so much about the 
60s as it is about the 80s, and because the book is set in the 80s it 
should be that much easier for us to get it. Instead, we project 
backwards and read it as a testament of the 60s. What TRP is doing in 
VL, in my mind at least, is examining how the 60s turned into the 80s. 
And looking at the 80s, it's obvious that when TRP undertook this task, 
he realized that there would be much to criticize.

Finally, about that "do you know what it's like to smoke pot alone?" 
quote, I've found one theme in much of Pynch's work is that it's no fun 
to do almost anything alone, and much of GR is concerned with the 
destructiveness of being isolated.

Oh, and one final note, directed at Jules: Why the fuck are you so hell 
bent on placing pot and other drugs on some pedestal if you buy in to 
the whole AIDS Duesberg argument that sez drugs are what cause AIDS?

Gershom Bazerman (finally from the right address, 'least for now)

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