MDMD--Beginnings

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

>	     	This is a much more markedly
>     Historickal Novel than its Predecessors and adopts a suitably 
>     Historickal Tone. Is it also a Modern (or dare I invoke the Term
>     a Postmodern) Novel?

	If, Sir, by "Postmodern" you mean "eclectic, self-referential,
	self-negating" and so forth, then yes, by G_d, it is!
	(and I do promise to drop the rhetorical stance from now on!)


>      Background & Sources - Mason & Dixon seems as stuffed full of
>      The World - Mr Pynchon's previous Magnum Opus, Gravity's
>      Rainbow, is marked by the Tendency of its Story to spill out
>      over the Edge of it's Pages into the Real World, drawing in
>      Science, History, Philosophy etc. It may be too early to answer
>      such a request but does Mason & Dixon do the same?  Is a
>      Macrocosm embedded in Mason and Dixon's Microcosm.

	Of course!  The macrocosm of the (dare I say it?) postmodern world.
	Consider only the insider's anachronistic jokes and references in
	relation to particle physics--"Lepton Castle," the bos'n Higgs,
	etc.  But these are counteracted by such other Postmodern tropes
	as the excursion into fantasy--the idyll at Mt. Vernon, eg.


>      Other Works - I observe great continuity between Mason & Dixon
>      and Mr Pynchon's earlier Novels, particularly Gravity's
>      Rainbow. But do they really form a Constellation? Or are they a
>      mere Random Pattern into which we read more Significance than
>      they merit?

	Ever since "The Secret Integration" and "A Journey into the Mind
	of Watts, one of Pynchon's great themes has been Race in America.
	Another great theme has been the rules, constrictions and potentials
	of technology and science.  As in GR, these themes come together
	here, combing with the third theme of Justified Paranoia that
	results in a major study of the Inhuman Use of Human Beings,
	especially in the context of American history.  Remember that
	in GR, Shay's Rebellion and the apostasy of William Slothrop
	are both identified as turns that might have resulted in a different
	set of chances for America.  The demarcation of the Mason-Dixon
	line occurs at a pivotal point in Western history--the spreading
	of Enlightenment ideals and fantasies, the pending American (and
	French) revolutions, the dawning of the Industrial Revolution
	in Britain and later the US, etc.  What does it mean to draw
	a line on a map?  What is the vector of history?



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>By way of Gentle Exercise for those new to the Medium, Preliminary
>Discussion during the first Reading Period shall begin at the
>Beginning with the Cover and Cover Artwork. Also, do not omit to
>consider the Dedickation, Title Page, Details of the Printing etc.

	Others who know the book business are handling the technical
	side of these questions.  For me, the cover evokes ancient
	paper (that "medium for shit, money and The Word" in U.S.
	culture) and the typography of old newspapers and books
	(like those printed by Mr. Franklin), but the hugeness of
	the type--the fact that we are apparently to see the words
	of the title without all the clutter so carefully kept on
	the acrylic wrapper--looks as though we have applied a
	magnifying lens to it.  Micro to macro?  Indeed!

	The dedication to Melanie and Jackson brings TRP once more
	within the realm of Family.  (But if friendship provides
	extended families, then Richard Farina in GR counts just
	as strongly as the mother and father in VINELAND.)

	BTW, I can't help thinking--his wife's family name aside--
	that TRP thought "Jackson" a grand name for a kid.  Just
	hear him talk in 1940s hepcat slang--"the scent is carbon
	tet, Jackson!"--etc.  though I suspect any kid will weary
	of such tropes very quickly!

Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)