Obvious references

[Cchoskin at aol.com]

The beauty of TRP is the resonance of historical context entwined with
fiction.  Would like to see more discussion about the why of the reference
than the what.  Pynchon readers are probably going to be aware of what he is
referring to. But why is he referring to it?  VLVL is unlike previous TRP
books in that the references and history are ones that we are already familiar
with.  So the point is not to make lists of connections but to make the
connections.  The difficulty with this book is that it so closely references
to touchstones of popular culture, unlike previous works which might cause you
to go look up Max Weber or go find a Baedeker, neither of which I had ever
heard of before reading TRP.
To my mind the "mass culture" references vs the "high culture" references
we've come to expect from TRP are one of the significant statements of the
book.  And one that threw me the first time I read it.  Is this the mighty
mind that produced GR?  Has he been reduced to watching TV and movies?  Are
these the only things that connect us any more? Does anyone really read
anymore?  
In hindsight we should not have been worried about ol' Tom, but at the time
VLVL was published this was a common reaction.
In addition the fact that we are familiar with this recent history means that
we already have opinions about it, especially if you lived thru this time.
This is a painful book to read in some ways and purposefully so from TRP's
perspective.
I like the history about Dewey Weber and Greg Noll...used to own a Dewey Weber
longboard in '66.
Cheers,
David H.