V.V.3--McClintic McClintoc

[Don Corathers]

s~Z sez:

Sphere really generates a lot of discussion, eh? Pretty powerful image in a
relatively small portion of text.

This V.V. is going pretty well so far. Agree?



Well, yeah, I think kinda so. Nice work by Terrance, Thomas, and jbor on Mr. Sphere.

There are still some important things in Chapter Two we haven't talked about yet. For one thing, I am very disappointed that nobody has taken on the challenge to finiish the last verse of Rachel's song. 

And then there's Stencil, who is after all a Major Goddamn Character making his debut here.

We meet Stencil at Fergus's party and a page and a half after making his acquaintance we have received a substantial portion of the total amount of straightforward exposition that we're going to get on his hunt for V.

We are told that after decades of lassitude, he is energized by the pursuit of V. to the point that "what love there was to Stencil" was directed toward "this acquired sense of animateness." And we are explicitly shown the contrast between Stencil's V-inspired activity and the Whole Sick Crew's lethargy. How do we read this in the context of the human/inanimate duality that is so important in these early chapters?

One of the ways that I read it is that V. is being assigned a role in the play between life and unlife. Precisely what that role is is not yet clear (and maybe it never will be), but for Stencil she (it?) is a force that draws him toward life.

What do you think?

Don
 




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From: 	s~Z[SMTP:keith at pfmentum.com]
Sent: 	Friday, November 03, 2000 9:09 PM
To: 	pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: 	Re: V.V.3--McClintic McClintoc

Sphere really generates a lot of discussion, eh? Pretty powerful image in a
relatively small portion of text.

This V.V. is going pretty well so far. Agree?