GRGR Re: Drugs in Pynchon's fiction

[Tim Thomas]

Jeremy wrote:
>In the introduction to Slow Learner Pynchon says neither to whom nor
>how, marijuana can be useful. Any notion that it is useful To Artists
>and Storytellers, or it is useful In A Shamanic Context, is the
>reader's.

Maybe we can say this is true for refs to drugs in GR, Vineland etc also? -
as some have already done. S'funny innit? - how much some people want to
think their heroes share the same opinions as themselves. Which is probably
unfair since Terrance, Doug et al have all made pretty good arguments for
their respective readings...Bu-ut:

>Doug Millison wrote:
>GR, especially, drips with psychedelic insight, >

Nah, Carlos Castaneda drips with psychedelic insight, drip, drip, drip...
GR is simply full of insight. Aaaand, its more Exile on Main st, or Physical
Graffitti (70's), than Sgt Peppers or Surrealistic Pillow (60's) - in my
opinion, of course.

Paul Mackin wrote:
>Alcohol or marijuana would
> be better, both offering mild stimulation in small quantities. In large
> quantities they too put you in a state of Nirvana.

You must be using the word Nirvana metaphorically? Otherwise you should go
tell this to all those Buddhist monks wasting their time sitting around up
in the mountains....[and yeah that also goes for the so called pynchon quote
about MDMA]
Its interesting that most of those hippy dippy hopes of enlightenment seem
so naive now. Kids use LSD, Dope, Ecstasy, Cocaine and all the rest because
of their physical effects, - for entertainment - gone is the pseudo
spiritual pusher speak. I guess thats just the way people used to talk...

Tim