pynchon-l-digest V2 #1755
Doug Millison
millison at online-journalist.com
Sun Apr 8 21:27:26 CDT 2001
It's entirely possible (and hardly controversial to suggest or
entertain the notion) that Pynchon, a textual game-player if there
ever was one, wrote some or all of the "Wanda" letters in order to
say things that he wouldn't publish under his own name, and then deny
it-- the way, you might say, that "rj" uses his "David Morris"
mouthpiece to drop the occasional obscenity into the discussion, and,
perhaps, further muddies the waters with "slothrop666" and various
other pseudonyms that pop up now and again spewing counterpoint from
which "rj" or "jbor" (or whatever pseudonyms he's using) can distance
him/herself, and deny.... At any rate, it's pretty funny to read
"rj/jbor/DavidMorris/fill-in-the-blank" lecturing others about being
frank, polite, and other positive qualities that lie at the opposite
end of the spectrum from the qualities that he/she demonstrates.
All the more reason to thank Dave Monroe for continuing to make the
effort to discuss V. and other Pynchon texts in a friendly, collegial
way that serves to advance a conversation, and remind the rest of us
of the way it often used to be here on Pynchon-L, once upon a time.
Those pointers and excerpts from the critical literature also
represent a valuable contribution.
--
d o u g m i l l i s o n <http://www.online-journalist.com>
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