Pynchhon as historian/Novel as history text (vaguely related to

[Peter Giordano]

Ted said:
>The Sage of Williams sez:
I say: I doubt that many people would agree [or they would in the perhap
intended
context])

Ted said:
[ ...]
>Oh pooh. I never expected "historical accuracy", but Virginia was
>(and still is) on the south side of the Potowmack.

I say:
I readily admit missing this detail in M&D - Or perhaps I've not
gotten there yet - I'd love to see the reference in context - Several
general ideas come up

1) Is the error not an error at all? - In other words is there some
appropriate reason for Cherrycoke (as narrator) or who ever
utters this remark to make this mistake

2) Novels are written by human beings and human beings
have been known to make mistakes - There are such
errors in Tolstoy's WAR AND PEACE for example - Does
that change the artistic merit of the work (if one presumes
that there is artistic merit)?


Peter Giordano
Williams College
Williamstown, MA