History lesson

[rj]

> Magic, you say?
>
> You mean to tell us that the *ultimate* in Pynchon is not politics or
> science or philosophy?

Or history? I concur with Mark's comments on how Pynchon's (and other
writers') novels work to change the reader's worldview. (Or, his, at
least.) Reading *M&D*, Updike's *Memories of the Ford Administration*,
and Gaddis's *Frolic* in that order also gives a pretty sound
(alternative?) history of the USA from the Treaty of Paris up to Lee's
surrender, I'd say. It seems to me that writers such as they three,
while being quite as scholarly and precise as the very best historians,
are not so constrained by ideological and historiographical
considerations (not to mention concerns about tenure and funding) as
your common or garden academic historian is. Being a lowly foreigner,
and growing up in a land where American history is not only not a
mandatory part of the academic curriculum at any stage, it's barely
visible as an option, I guess I'm not in such a good position to compare
and contrast. Invisible ducks and talking dogs aside, how iconoclastic
is Pynchon's historical panorama in *M&D*? Is it comparable to *GR* in
this respect, or has he indeed mellowed with age?

On this:
Torschlusspanik > sounds like an adaptation of _A
> Frolic of His Own_, unless _Agape Agape_ is written along the exact same
> plot lines. 

Actually, the plot of *Frolic* centres (in part) on Oscar Crease, a
part-time history teacher who once wrote a Civil War playscript called
*Once at Antietam* (based on the supposedly true story of his
great?-grandfather who, because of dual claims on his citizenship and
family loyalties, finds it necessary to hire, as was the accepted
practice of the day, two soldiers to fight in his place, one on either
side, the two soldiers reputedly fighting one another at Antietam and
both dying there.) But the script has been plagiarised and turned into a
blood and guts telemovie blockbuster called *The Blood in the Red White
and Blue* (shades of *Amistad*), and so Oscar is suing -- one of several
lawsuits he is involved in -- for his "fair" share of the profits.
(Ironically, Oscar seems to have plagiarised Eugene O'Neill’s *Mourning
Becomes Electra* himself.)

*Frolic* is enormously entertaining and erudite, as several people have
commented, however, it is not at all like the summary of the radio play
Kai translated, or, I think it is safe to say, the upcoming *Agapé
Agape*.

best