The context of Pynchon's MDMA saying

[David Morris]

>From: "Clare Kennedy"
>
>>From: "David Morris"
>>
>>>From: "Clare Kennedy"
>>>
>>>
>>>Don't take the brown acid dudes, Pynchon says not to.
>>>
>>>Barely there Clare
>>>
>>
>>But Momma, that's where the fun is!
>>
>>But Clare,
>>
>>Don't be so sure you see idolatry.  The subject here is two-fold:
>>1.  What does GR say?
>>1a.  Is GR's epistemology equal to TRP's?
>>1b.  Who cares?
>>2.  What does experience say?
>>
>>We are examining GR.  Whether it's equations are "TRUE" is another matter.
>>Pynchon's texts are riddles, puzzles.  He invites, almost challenges us to
>>crack his nut.  Should we say, "Tom, you tease!  I won't chase you.  You 
>>are
>>only provocative.  You can't deliver the Big Pay-off!"?  If we say this, 
>>we
>>cut short an experience.  His book may be wild ravings, random automatic
>>writings.  The themes may be only the result of the few neural paths
>>remaining in his acid-rattled mind.
>>
>>I DO think Pynchon's partial to window pane.
>>
>>David Morris
>>
>>
>
>
>>I'm not sure what I'm seeing here. I might be a mad women in the attic, 
>>but I'm not the one suggesting that Tom is partial to window pane. What 
>>experiences are you talking about?
>

This thread began with speculation on "What role does LSD play in GR" or 
something close to that.  When I said above that the subject is two-fold, I 
was following the course of this thread as it split into
1. How does the text of GR frame LSD ("death-affirming?")
1a&b.  What does TRP personally believe about LSD and do we care?
2.  What are our personal experiences with LSD (or MDMA) and do these 
correspond with 1 or 1a&b above.

When you posted earlier "Don't take the brown acid dudes, Pynchon says not 
to,"  you implied an idolatry of TRP being exhibited on this list.  There 
may be some of that, but it may only appear so because we are actually in 
pursuit of meaning in GR.

>>The wild ravings, random automatic writings?  The themes may be only the 
>>result of the few neural paths
>>remaining in his acid-rattled mind? Sounds like you think his nut is 
>>already cracked.
>

We are examining a beautifully enigmatic text, full of code-words, recurrent 
themes, occult references.  I'm not sure they add up, but I'm damn-sure 
investing alot of time and effort into the search, and loving every minute 
of it.  The text may be calculated genius, or it may be a chimera, even 
accidentally concocted.

>You seem to be contradicting yourself here. On the one hand, you would 
>allow that Pynchon is partial to window pane, his mind rattled by acid, but 
>on the other hand you suggest that we cut the experience short if we expect 
>the big pay-off from Tom-the author of Gravity's Rainbow. You seem to be 
>suggesting that when we concentrate on extrinsic evidence to determine the 
>author's intent or meaning, we neglect the experience of reading the novel 
>as primarily a work of art,

I only suggest we recognize the difference between the two.  Both are valid 
and necessary, but when they are fused we end up in a muddle.

>but you provide fortune cookie blurbs to support fantastic statements.

Whatever.

>I'm not arguing that either approach is more valid, but that your argument 
>is not valid.  When you speculate (you are only speculating, right?) about 
>the author's proclivities and partialities, you should preface your remarks 
>with a little more than "I DO think" and "may be only," or don't you 
>acknowledge, appreciate, admit that once liberated from the "objective 
>correlative" we are still obliged to proceed cautiously?

That window pane thing was a joke.

>Pynchon's  puzzles and riddles, solvable or not, sometimes ask that we 
>search high and low, deep and wide, and sometimes they call for silence. We 
>may knot in and we may knot out, we may wonder from maze to maze, but I 
>don't think the clownish blurbs that Tom gushes out like shits and grins 
>are the window pane views into Gravity's Rainbow.

Here I fully agree with you.

David Morris

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