WWII in GR

jbor jbor at bigpond.com
Tue Aug 15 17:01:13 CDT 2000


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monroe:

> Don't recall anyone here
snip


... & so, flame warrior dave continues his tale of sound and fury ...

I suppose I could demonstrate how reading the reference to Pluto in the
passage cited as an allusion to and "comment" upon the Pipe Line Under The
Sea (all those cartels, Shell Mex House etc) serves to defuses its actual
significance as a depiction of the rise of National Socialism in Germany in
the 1920s and 1930s; Leni's awareness of same, Franz's ignorance etc etc ...

Or I could draw the list's attention to Pynchon's ongoing interest in South
American politics and anarchist (pseudo-?)rebels (cf. that strident and
philosophising character, "The Gaucho", in *V.*, whom Signor Mantissa
enlists for his plan to steal Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' from the Uffizi)
and lament the fact that that rather long narrative thread in *GR* has been
reductio ad absurdumed to a "comment" on the eventual destination of Martin
Bormann's brain or something ...

Or I could rant about slander and persecution, flamebaits, selective
reading, offlist posts made public and the like ...

But shan't (... oops! I think I just did. Please pardon *my* rhetoric!)

... and shall focus my attention instead on that stunning and beautiful
scene with Blicero and Gottfried which is the climax of the novel, followed
in turn by its denouement on the Luneberg Heath.

best






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