MDDM pizza (and pieces of eight)

[jbor]

I had a thought or two about Octopus Grigori in relation to the Octuple
Gloucester: both of them are giants, both eight-fold. ("OG": same initials
too!) Each one plays the role of a sort of *deus ex machina* in Pynchon's
narratives: the outlandish lynch-pin of a seemingly bizarre coincidence
which gets the unlikely heroine and her even unlikelier hero together, for a
time at least ... but, in both instances there has been double-dealing and
double-double dealing behind the rendezvous. In _GR_, unbeknownst to
Slothrop, Grigori has been conditioned, and Katje is working (though not
wholly committed to the project) for Pointy and co. In _M&D_ it's not really
anything to do with the runaway "*Cheese malevolent*" per se, but Rebekah's
presence on the hillside certainly seems to be the result of some
perifidious scheme master-minded by old Sam Peach.

But back to the *deus ex machina* idea: Pynchon behind it all is *double*
double double-dealing (2 x 2 x 2 = 8) with his ("historical") narratives,
and with his readers, at these moments. More than this, the outrageous
improbability of the sudden presence and active intervention of both of
these giant eight-entities in order to progress his narrative seems to
flaunt the *literary* plot-maker's art/ifice, deliberately so, to such an
extreme degree that you don't even really notice that you're being duped, or
else you suddenly realise, perhaps, that you *always* are ...

The "Cudgel and Throck" pizza was quite delicious, by the way. I couldn't
find Stilton anywhere so substituted Danish blue, and the anchovies were in
oil, but the flavours blended together beautifully. A glass or two of cab.
shiraz merlot: superb!

best



on 14/12/01 7:30 PM, Mutualcode at aol.com at Mutualcode at aol.com wrote:

> The standard american pizza pie is almost always cut into
> eight equal slices, by four swift strokes: two perpendicular
> crosses, the second rotated 45 degrees from the first.
> 
> Pynchon seems to use the number 8 in his works like a chord
> in an opera to herald the entrance of a particular character
> or theme. To cite one example: Mason and Rebekah might
> never have gotten married if it weren't for the accidental
> intervention of the runaway Octuple.
> 
> What is the thematic significance, if any, of the number 8
> in Mr. Pynchon's works?
> 
>