Mondaugen's Story

[Lycidas at worldnet.att.net]

Mondaugen's Story is chapter nine of V. 

It is Pynchon's best short story, imo. 

And, imo, it can be read as a short story, independent of V.
the novel. 

It is also required reading for these chapters in GR, again,
imo.

Word and deed, indeed. Some things of interest: 

"'Perhaps' because as the siege party progressed it became
more and more difficult to make the distinction." V..254

"Mondaugen's doubleganger: beware, beware." V..256

"Politics is a kind of engineering. Isn't it. With people as
your raw material."  V..256

Not a politician, not an anthropologist. V..279

"Till we've done it, we're taught that it's evil. Having
done it, then the struggle: to admit to yourself that it's
not evil at all. That like forbidden sex it's enjoyable."
V..268

Humanitarians and Brotherhood. V..272
The German question. V..274

Treaty of Versailles. V..275 Somewhere in GR-the mindless
one's can't figure out what is going on at Nuremberg. 

Wonderful description of Weissmann self -imprisonment. These
self imprisonment's in GR, particularly these chapters, and
Mondaugen's Story  remind me of Little Dorrit's major theme. 

Silence, enforced, the ceremony, the dances of death. V..278

Odd sort of peace. V..279

Destroyer and Destroyed. V..280

But it was not human. V..284
Easier not to Care & the strand wolf. V..285

His heart rose.  V..286
Sex, pre-adolescent, with like corpses, S&M, thorns and
steel.

Sarah' story and Our Redeemer-the consequences, even the
most terrible, he could ignore. V..287

A parable. V..289

GODMEANTNUURK & The world is all the case is. V..295