english candy and snot soup

[jporter]

> From: Terrance <Lycidas at worldnet.att.net>

re: Shit'n'Shinola:

> So
> the black/white binaries are not only useless in life, they
> are useless when reading GR.  In my opinion, Jody's  reading
> is confirmed by the novel.
 
Thank you. It seems like I've been reading this book forever, and still
learning from you (all), but if you want me to wear the albatross for a page
or so, well, that's okay, too.

Which brings me around to the topic. It seems as if the dinner scene at
Urtgarthaloki's is a reprise, of sorts, of the Disgusting English Candy
Drill (DECD). Such a reading might lend support to Dudious Max's
interpretation of that earlier example of gustatory gonzo-ism.

The pynch seems to favor the G.I. tract as the best locale for instancing
his own historical counter-bromides. The truth, it seems, it's an acquired
taste, often hard to swallow.

I'm not sure what the critical literature says about this scene, since I'm
basically unfamiliar with the critics, except for what comes filtering
through your posts. But here, P. is both more blatant and less comedic in
comparison with the DECD. Still, the similarity of form would seem to call
for a Dudious-type reading. I don't have the chops, but someone with a good
knowledge of the historical details might. In lieu of that, a few surface
musings:

The scene appears to be making a point regarding the suppression, not just
of Hadyn Op 76, but of history, especially as it failed to be reported by
the press at the time- which is singled out for particularly harsh
treatment. So *gustatory gonzo-ism* might be a fitting appellation for P.'s
technique, here, as well as in the DECD. To wit: Constance Flamp, the press
herself, tips off Bodine as to the dangerous truth of the "surprise roast,"
but it may be an unitentional Pointsmanesque "kindness reflex." So much for
freedom of the press, let alone will. Sly Bodine, however, knows how to read
her, and takes his cue. Is P. telling us to do the same?

Constance, as the lay press, is easily manipulated by the "sensationally"
gross offerings of Roger and Bodine, becoming fixated and parroting them
mindlessly, concerned only with the sound and (alomost) none of the meaning,
while the more important connections between ICI, GE and Krupp go
unexamined. She, like the counterforce, "in the massive presence of money,"
has become The System's pet, doomed to sit at Their table, or beg for
sensational crumbs from the sidelines. The Fourth member of this new Estates
does not aquit herself well. Is that the significance of the suppressed
fourth quartet?  Maybe P. is reflecting on the course he chose with respect
to the limelight- a new option- a shadowy Fifth Estate?

But it's not just the lay press that gets pynched, the expert press fares
badly, as well. The Albatross Nosologists flock to Spain in '36 and are
unable to conclude anything definite, while under their well oiled noses the
falange and the republicans murder eachother in proxy dress rehearsal for
the big show. The indeterminate zonal fate of Slothrop is discussed in the
issue covering the Spain conference, but it's a good nine years before
Slothrop ever sets foot in the zone. So much for inappropriate paranoia and
the value of the objectivity of the expert press. And it's not just the
scientific expert press that is targeted, but all the classifying media of
sub-specialized expert systems, which, sad to say, must include not just the
scientific literature, but law reviews, economics journals, literary
theorists, etc., etc. All need sustenance to perpetuate themselves.
Professor Rorty, where were YOU back then, or even in 1973?

The passage about The Man, with his branch office in all our brains, which
we all know about, seems especially and blatantly pessimistic regarding
anyone's chances of defeating, let alone escaping, The System. [The implants
are already in place, not just the ego, but syntax itself. Gibson should be
sending royalty checks to Pynchon] So where's the hope? With this part I
really need help. I'm pretty much clueless about the significance of the
details of the suppressed Kazoo Quartet and how they relate, if they do.

What is with the "in and out of other Voices," the ppp-to-fff blasts and
"the notorious One, going the other way..."? I can't figure any of it. Only
perhaps the clue offered by "the last black butler" as he opens the last
door to the outside: "Pimple pie with filth frosting, gentleman." Pp-to-ff.
A new kind of thinking without need for a third rail?

Is he a conductor on an underground railroad beyond the reach of the
switchmen?

jody