Life v. Art (was Re: Drugs in Pynchon's fiction

[bruce sublett]

Consider that WWII was global in scale, involving men and materiel on a
level previously unthinkable.  Obviously, wartime experiences would be
widely variable.  For instance, one of my uncles was a Marine who went to
the beach on several heavily defended Pacific islands, including Pelau.  He
came back an emotional and physical wreck and remained so the rest of his
life.  My father, on the other hand, was a regimental quartermaster who went
to Europe following the D-Day assault.  Except for a couple of harrowing
weeks when he was pressed into combat infantry duty during the Bulge, his
wartime experience was more like ol' Tyrone's.

I read GR as more a parable about the post-war generation's experience of
the war than as an attempt to show the reality of it.  We experienced it
through TV reruns and old soldier stories, Hollywood hype and the inevitable
contempt of WWII vets who sneered at our resistance to an unnecessary and
futile conflict.

BS