GRGR(5) Katje and the Nazis

[Paul Mackin]

> Unlike the many
> other American novelists who wrote about WWII in the 50s and 60s, TRP made
> public specific facts about WWII, and the involvement of American companies
> and individuals in WWII, that were not widely known in '73 -- facts that a
> generation of historians who follow TRP have taken great pains to document
> and explain so that, in 1999, much of what was relatively obscure and
> arcane in 1973 finds much wider distribution and broader acceptance.

I'm sure Doug won't mind my attempting to clarify possible points of
misunderstanding. Certainly, WWII historians have brought things to light
that were not generally known in 1973 but it's equally certain that this
has little or nothing  to do with what GR says or does not say? Historians
do not "follow" highbrow literary  novelist in the sense they take
guidance from them. What happens is that important archives eventually
open up and historians are waiting in line to see what's there. That's
where their new ideas come from, not from anyone's  "political
statements." It would be interesting to survey WWII historians to see if a
higher proportion of them than of the general public has ever even heard
of Thomas Pynchon. I know Doug is not really saying anything to the
contrary, but including so much as he did in the same sentence is
confusing.

		P.