NP: 1960's Freeways

[Doug Millison]

I was stuck in Phoenix in the 60s, but made it to California very 
soon afterwards. Some observations:

Fewer cars on fewer freeways.

I imagine Pynchon enjoyed the car culture (muscle cars, sports cars, 
rock 'n' roll stars' limousines and luxury cars, etc.) as much as the 
rest of us, but who knows for sure? Given the way he writes about 
driving in Vineland, it seems clear to me he liked the feeling of 
putting the pedal to the metal, screaming down the open road, as much 
as anybody I've known.  Or maybe he's just got an extremely vivid 
imagination.

It also seems clear, to me at least, that even before the '60s, 
Pynchon was concerned about the seductiveness of machine culture and 
technology, and that he foresaw the merging of human and machine that 
by then was well underway, so I'd hazard a guess that he was (and 
remains) ambiguous about the technical aspects of Low Cal, and the 
rest of American culture, but, again, who knows for sure?

I don't think it's unreasonable to read the references to the A4 
rocket design, development, and manufacturing infrastructure in 
Germany in GR and think of the aerospace industry that characterized 
Low Cal when Pynchon was there in the '60s. Is it too much of a 
stretch to equate Zwolfkinder and Disneyland? I think not, but that's 
just one reader's opinion.

I imagine he enjoyed watching the beautiful bodies on the beaches as 
much as the next guy, too.

Forgive me for thinking we can see the author through the screen of 
his prose, if that sort of thing bothers you.


-- 

d  o  u  g    m  i  l  l  i  s  o  n  <http://www.online-journalist.com>