The Gnostic Pynchon

[Terrance]

I can't really make out what's going on here, but I'll make
a couple of comments any way. First, any attempt to explain
or explicate a work of fiction, especially one like GR or
Confidence Man, by examining the APPARENT source of the
author is a critical fallacy. I say "apparent" because an
examination of Pynchon's  sources, for example, Jonas,
Scholem, Matthew, Graves, is only the begining. This work,
hard and arduous will not tell you too much. If you want to
take it from McHale or his sources, OK, I don't care for the
pomo politics of (mis)readings and  of all that, although it
is so absurd and funny sometimes, but as I've stated over
and over, but I like to  repeat myself, Pynchon combines,
often ironically, parodically, fantasticlly,  mixes,
distorts, bends, changes, everything he brings to GR. So,
the critic is screwed, when he realizes that not only is a
study of GR that seeks to understand or explicate or even
comment on  the text by direct referencing of sources a
problem, fun as it may be, it is also almost useless, though
necessary, for any "critical" commentary.  The answers and
solutions must be discoverd by a good old fashon close
reading of the text itself. Going from GR, to Pynchon's
Gnostic sources, to Eddins, to Voegelin, to political
comments on Voegelin, is cool, but it is getting away from
the text. It's cool, I'm never interseted in limiting
discussion in any way.  But I think it's also so cool and
fortunate that we are going to finish a GRGR and we are in
the middle of a grgr. Jeremey is doing it again. I think he
should get a free kisses and hugs at the picnic. My vote is
for some ski resort in South America, Chile? This Byron the
Bulb chapter can be read as a short story all by itself and
can serve as the anchor for a deep and meaningful discussion
of Gnosticism in GR. The most valuable thing to any reader
of GR is an understanding of  how the tri-level and inverted
world of the zone work. This resolves most issues, even that
nasty good vs evil one. It would help the group I think, if
we talked about the Karmic hammer and wheel, the evil
gnostic cosmos, Pynchon's complex layering of Religious
allusions and most importantly, his idiosyncratic use of
archetypal (duel doubled) i.e. circle/wheel imagery.  

Brief digression on that thorny topic of good and evil and
the various "Gnostics" of GR. 

If you get into gosticim in GR, you can't help but discuss
good and evil: 

First, Pynchon is a "Christian Gnostic" in this sense, he
takes from all different texts and combines and mixes to
make his own. 

Second, Pynchon is Gnostic in the sense that I think Kai is
speaking of  "literary gnostic." He exhibits an affinity
with (though not a complete agreement with) those that
reject standards, like rationalization, conventional
ontology and ethics, science and technology, divine and
secular authority. 

Third, the "gnostic world", the evil anti-earth world, is
THEIR world in GR. 

Fourth, the "other side" is a "gnostic Limbo", where good
and evil don't exist. That's why Geli, as good a character
as we find in GR, fears the other side. 

Fifth, GR presents the Modern world as  "existentially
gnostic."

sixth, Pynchon's mixes these and deviates in several
important ways from the historical models, i.e. pleromatic
realm, human responsibility for evil in the world.