Somewhat NP Argentinians bound for Germany

[Dave Monroe]

... jbor points out that I neglected to "reply all" on this one as well,
so, in all fairness, esp. given that, not only did I respond to a
comment posted to the list, jbor further responds to it in a subsequent,
list-posted message ...

... well, maybe, maybe not, I think that that Pynchonian oeuvre weighs
in
pretty heavily against any and all of the varieties of human suffering,
esp.
those brought about by human ignorance, not to mention by concerted
human
effort.  But I think I've got the gist of your dispute with Doug, each
perhaps thinking the other according too much importance to one such
variety
at the expense of the other.  The question then is, well, why argue
about
it?  Pynchon's various works do perhaps address more overtly racism,
that is,
prejudice against, in particular, Africans, African-Americans, which no
doubt
would have been, and no doubt remains, more a part of the immediate
historical context of his texts, but Gravity's Rainbow, in particular,
by
virtue of its setting, does indeed more than touch upon antisemitism,
the
instututionalization, bureaucratization and industrialization thereof.
Not
sure why it would be such a point of contention to bring that up,
emphasize
it, foreground it, even.  There seems much in Pynchon that seems of
great
import even when perhaps only obliquely referred to, and the Holocaust
is
more than "obliquely" referenced in Gravity's Rainbow.  But it's not a
matter
of competing injustices, atrocities, at least not to my mind ...

jbor wrote:

> ----------
> >From: Dave Monroe <monroe at mpm.edu>
> >To: jbor <jbor at bigpond.com>
> >Subject: Re: Somewhat NP Argentinians bound for Germany
> >Date: Sat, Aug 5, 2000, 11:28 PM
> >
>
> snip
> > But i do think I'd accord, Pynchon accords, the
> > Holocaust greater weight, greater gravity, perhaps, than you do.
> snip
>
> And I do think I'd accord, Pynchon accords, racial discrimination
against
> African-Americans, greater weight, more gravity, perhaps, than you do.