M&D, the Internet&W.A.S.T.E

[Bovine Remailer]

catherinep at juno.com (Catherine P.) proposes:
>A proposition:  Let's move on from the sexist accusation and get back to
>the text, especially regarding W.A.S.T.E.   I'm curious why Andrew Dinn
>writes: 
>
>>...The previous novels follow a clear pattern in
>>their embracing the various technology of communication (communication
>>and the way media frame and shape the message being a perennial theme
>>in Pynchon's work). V and the early fiction is full of references to
>>mythology and (iconic) images.  Gravity's Rainbow is chock-a-block
>>with film. Vineland is saturated with TV. (I'll follow Pynchon in
>>discounting TCOL49). So, the obvious conclusion to draw wrt Mason &
>>Dixon is that it should centre on the Internet as the next logical
>>progression (and/or regression) in the chain of communication media.
>
>The posthorn could perhaps fit into your mention of 'mythology and
>(iconic) images' in V., with it's own brand of wingless Hermes symbolism.
>A-and though not 'mass media,' W.A.S.T.E. was a system of lo-tech
>communication as well, an underground network of interpersonal
>communication.  If M&D is indeed about the web/Internet, than
>COL49/W.A.S.T.E. seems like a direct precursor to it.  With encryption
>and list-cliques, e-mail can be anonymous and secretive (or as
>susceptible to eavesdropping as mailbags under interstate highways, if a
>hacker or bridge dweller).  On the other end of the spectrum, the
>Internet could be the backdrop for a marriage of all of TP's mass media
>themes--worldwide websites instead of WWII film noir or gonzo TV, with
>computer pixels replacing 24 fps and downloading instead of satellite
>feeds....  E-mail posts usurping graffiti posthorns....  Any thoughts? 

__________/|-,
   (_)    \|-'  Huh?  Are ya talkin' about

"a network by which X number of Americans[1] are truly communicating whilst
 reserving their lies, recitations of routine, arid betrayals of spiritual
 poverty, for the official government delivery system; maybe even...a real
 alternative to the exitlessness, to the absence of surprise to life, that
 harrows the head of everybody American you know, and you too..."

[1] when the context is the web/Internet, replace with 'humans' or whatever

-- W.A.S.T.E    Aptos, CA