Pynchon's names and what they might mean

[Doug Millison]

I find it interesting that,  in trying to put down the Thelonious Monk
essay (www.achilles.net/~howardm/pynchon.html),  rj seems to validate the
very procedure he earlier rejects.  To wit: he found something resonant in
the essay, went to an extra-textual reference to check it out (Jules
Siegel's essay), and found that Siegel reported TRP was a huge Monk fan.
In other words, rj  took a half-name (Sphere) from the text, checked it out
in an extra-textual resource (Siegel), and found enough evidence to say TRP
"may have used" Monk as the model for his jazzman. If rj  is willing to say
that Thelonious Sphere Monk may be the model for McClintic Sphere, why not
admit as valid other instances tracing Pynchon character half-names to see
where they lead and how they might fit in a close reading of a Pynchon
text? Why accept the validity of the process in the case of Monk and reject
it when it leads to Hitler (and to the villain that Pynchon may be
representing with Pudding)?

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