Watts article (Re: NP Genoa)

[Terrance]

jbor wrote:
> 
> on 7/24/01 11:06 PM, Terrance at lycidas2 at earthlink.net wrote:
> 
> >> Pynchon does not refer to the Watts article in the _Slow Learner_ 'Intro'.
> >
> > Correct. I meant that he admits that some of the offensive
> > language in
> > the early Short Stories are not simply the character's, but,
> > as Pynchon admits,
> > his own. I have argued, I think you agree with me, that the
> > Slow Learner Introduction is
> > an honest retrospective.
> 
> Yes indeed. He also writes, honestly and retrospectively, that 'The Secret
> Integration' marks a highpoint in his early career, a "positive or
> professional direction". 

Yes, that's true. A very important point and although I'm
not sure we can say that he is discussing, at least
directly,  his more mature and more positive, affirmative
even, attitude toward race relations, but rather his
Professional development, we can extrapolate from these
comments about TSI and his other comments, particularly what
he finds lacking in his earlier attempts in terms of
character and human experience, and when we take into
account the fact that he attributes the offensive language
and thoughts of the characters in the earlier stories  to
his his own prejudices, and (here I suggest Joseph Tabbi's
essay, "Pynchon's Groundward Art") his Introduction to
Farina's BDSL, we can, at least I can, see that Pynchon's
understanding,  and thus his journalistic and fictional
works reflect, of the Black experience in America,
progresses. However, in the Watts essay, there are problems.
I won't re-state my position because I don't want over
emphasize these at the expense of what I think is the more
important maturity evidenced in the Essay and in TSI and of
course in the more mature fictions--GR, VL, M&D. 
I quite agree with Pynchon's assessment of CL49. Sorry that
I won't be able to participate in the group read next month.
I know that quite a few folks here do not share my
unfavorable opinion of this book, so perhaps I would change
my opinion if I were able to read it with you all. Certainly
I would have a better reading of it. I read Pynchon for the
first time when I was asked to review a Play called Entropy.
I did not know, even after having seen the Play twice, what
Entropy was. I went to the library and discovered Pynchon's
story in a magazine. Next, I took a course in the Literature
of the 1960s. We read CL49. The teacher spent a considerable
amount of time on the book, I sat in the back reading
Shelly, I was crazy for the Romantics, being a young
politically active protester of everything that smelled like
power and control. Pynchon didn't have much to say to me
then. I was so much older than....

    



In this context I believe that 'TSI' can be twinned
> with the 'Watts' article, and for a number of reasons. First, they were both
> written during the period 1964-1966, that interval of time between his first
> two novels. 

Right. 




Second: they deal with the same thematic content. 

Right. 

Thirdly, they
> are significant departures from his work to that point: both see Pynchon
> striking off in new directions. The 'Watts' article is investigative
> journalism; 'TSI' is, to my mind, a children's story. Both have a strongly
> didactic purpose.

Yes. 

> 
> If 'TSI' still appealed to Pynchon in 1984 when he wrote the _Slow Learner_
> 'Intro' then I see no reason to suggest that he would be ashamed of the
> 'Watts' article at that time either. Nor, indeed, now.


I don't think I said he should be or would be ashamed, but,
given how honest and critical P is about his mistakes, I
think he would be and should be embarassed for some of the
generalizations, language, stereotypes/irony of the article.
On this we disagree, that's fine, it's all only specualtion
after all. That is, we have no idea how Pynchon feels about
it. That being said, whatever he may or may not feel, the
article is deeply flawed for the reasons I have outlined and
we can clearly see that P matures and develops, as pertains
to his attitudes and his fictional representations.