WWII in GR

[Doug Millison]

I asked, "Is rj suggesting that Pynchon sets GR in a  WWII where Nazis are not
killing 6 million Jews and other undesireables? That would make
Pynchon the Holocaust denier, wouldn't it?"

Mackin wondered, "Is this an actual question being asked?

Yes, it is an actual question. Beyond that, it's a specific kind of 
question, often referred to as a "rhetorical question" because the 
answer would appear to be self-evident.

Mackin went on to say,  "And, yes, it's absurd."

I'll assume Mackin agrees with me, that the gist of my rhetorical 
question is absurd.  IN his post, Michel has just quoted the passages 
from rj's post yesterday -- including, "Where are the depictions of 
this slave labour in the text?"; answers on p. 296 (ghosts of 
slaves),  p. 428 (still-barely-alive slaves), and p. 432 (dead 
slaves) --  that made me wonder if he (rj) was actually suggesting 
this absurdity as the correct way to read GR.

You may not agree with me that the Holocaust is fundamental to the 
novel, although, if so, I'd ask, where would the V2 rockets come 
from?  But, if rj can read GR as a tract on U.S. race relations and 
advocacy for black power politics, making Pynchon a sort of Equal 
Opportunity enforcement officer, surely a reasonable emphasis on the 
place of the Nazi Holocaust in this novel can be permitted?

Yes, Paul,  that's another "actual question." Two more, actually.

And, I'm exaggerating a bit for effect here, granting that rj often 
offers a wide-ranging appreciation of GR that appears to be the 
result of deep study and love of this novel, even as he chooses to 
focus rather stridently on specific aspects of the book from time to 
time -- as many of us do.

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