Pynchon-Tinasky

[Otto]

>
> ----------
> >From: rosenlake at mac.com
> >
>
> > For me, Tinasky sounds like Pynchon, not a parody or echo. It's the same
> > balance of irreverence, wide-ranging knwoledge and obscure tidbits, pop
> > culture, melancholic hope . . .
>
> Although, your previous contention that Pynchon (as Tinasky) "went
slightly
> bonkers" out there seems to suggest that it would be somewhat odd if he
were
> proved to be the letter-writer. The fact that he sent that disclaimer
about
> the letters to CNN is surely proof enough, isn't it? Other wise you would
> seem to be arguing that Pynchon is *both* a nutcase and a liar.
>
> I find "Wanda's" style and tone churlish and self-indulgent, and
thoroughly
> unlike Pynchon's. Regardless of Foster's sloppiness, the circumstantial
> evidence linking Hawkins to Tinasky is much more persuasive than the
> circumstantial evidence which had been contrived to link Pynchon to "her".
>
> best

Your nutcase/liar-argument is very much on the point and the same thought
had "settled" all doubts if there had been still some in me.

Pynchon has seldom spoken about his own work and I thought it remarkable
that he spoke about the Wanda-case in 1997, publicly denying that he had
written the letters. After this I had no doubts that he was *not* Wanda, but
even before I did not believe that he had written them after I had read the
letters that were available online. Compared to his others essays or the
"Slow Learner"-intro made clear to me that he was not Wanda but the one who
had written them was pretty much trying to raise the impression that he
was - for obvious reasons (to get attention) and this (successful) strategy
is indeed questionable.

"churlish" and "self-indulgent" I think is a little strong and a hard
criticism imo - being churlish in a way fits to a bag lady - or not?
Anyway, being a native speaker of "the language of psychiatrists" I had my
laughs reading the three letters and this is my favorite:

"RE: Mary Lowry's column in the March 13 AVA: the word she was wishing for,
to describe the sudden strangeness of a normally familiar object or
occurrence, would be VERFREMDUNG, pronounced fair-FREMT-oongk; there is a
Greek & French word for it too, but she wanted it in the language of
psychiatrists.

In his plays, Brecht (a dirty communist, we don't do him here in Mendocino)
used what he called the verfremdungseffekt, to break the spell as it were, &
remind the audience that what they are watching was not real. (Come to think
of it, here in Mendocino we don't NEED Brecht.)"
(March 20, 1985)

Alan's essay about the "case" is very good
http://www.dim.com/~awestrop/gaddis/whoswho.htm
and I think that the thread "Pynchon-Gaddis" here would be really more
interesting than the "Pynchon-Tinasky" discussion ever can be ...

"A Frolic Of His Own" has been translated into German by Nikolaus Stingl who
has done "Mason & Dixon" too.

Otto
(still enjoying the first reading of The Recognitions)