direct hit! GR style

[Brian D. McCary]

David Casseres raises an interesting point:

"...Pynchon is within the age-group that remembers the entire Cold War era, 
when the Bomb hung over us all 24 hours a day. (stuff deleted, mention of
Slothrop) It seems pretty weird to get hardon over one's impending obliteration..."

... connecting a whole bunch of ideas about Slothrop's hard-on's, the V2, and
the Atomic War atmosphere of the 50's, 60's, and even 70's.  I grew up long
past the duck and cover lessons, but I do remember thinking, when reading about
the pull-out in Saigon, that it was the first time since I was born that the
country I lived in - my country, I thought, even at that young age - was not
at war.

However, I dinna find the hardon thing weird.  Surely, one reaction to impending
and inescapable death is the decision to pursue personal gratification for 
the breif lifetime left?  Seems to me that one reasonable explanation for the
increase in hedonism and decadance which seemed to peak in the late 70's was 
in reaction to the perception that we could all die tomorrow.  It was only after
the threat of total anihilation became less believable that people might consider
postponing, perhaps indefinitely, all those guilty pleasures.  Or so I see it.
(I'm thinking of Joan Didion, too, who wrote in "Salvador" that everyone in 
El Salvador chain smoked, because the idea of dieing of lung cancer in El Salvador
in the early eighties seemed absurd)

Nonetheless, great post, David

Brian McCary