The Subjunctive in M&D (a spoiler, perhaps?)

[Jeremy Osner]

Ted Samsel wrote:
> 
> >       Pynchon has stretched the rule quite a bit, as can be seen on page 208 of
> > Mason&Dixon. After a passage describing the relationship between Mason and
> > his Father, he writes:
> >       "All subjunctive, of course, --- +had+ [itals] young Mason gone to his
> > father, this  +might have been+ [itals] the conversation likely to result."
> > He has, however, copied Thucydides' honesty in alerting his reader to the
> > limits of reportorial accuracy!

I've noticed a fair portion of the dialog in M&D is not actually said
(disregarding for the moment the whole Is-Cherrycoke-a-Reliable-Narrator
business). Often times, a quotation will be followed by notice that that
is what the character later wished they had said, or might have said, or
considered saying but did not, or what someone else expected him/her to
say...
I keep noticing this fairly frequently, at a guess about once every 7 to
10 pages.

Jeremy