WARLOCK and Loss

[Judith A. Panetta]

And speaking of Warlock...just received "Positively 4th Street." There's a
passage that describes Mr. P and Farina enthusiastically discussing the
merits of said novel. As for P4thS...it's easy, kinda fun with some fodder
to support or dispute one's opinoins of the man's politics.

Judith Panetta
Brand X Communications, Inc.
610.352.7400 (voice)
610.734.0705 (fax)

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org]On
Behalf Of calbert at tiac.net
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2001 11:05 AM
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: WARLOCK and Loss




Why is it so difficult for some to imagine that Pynchon may be
ambivalent with respect to politics? Is not one of the central themes
of WARLOCK, one which I read echoed in the pages of Pynchon's
novels, that there are the preterite, the elect and those flitting in the
zone in between? When the citizens of WARLOCK debate the
merits of "incorporating", they seem to have no difficulty recognizing
that the two conditions are NOT at opposite ends of a spectrum, but
are in fact, different only in "degree".....

I understand that Oakley Hall is not a direct proxy for Pynchon, but
the objective stance he takes towards the miners' faction strikes me
as very similar to that taken by P towards the evolution of the politics
of Frenesi's family....There is an equilibrium to this which I recall
admiring about Fathers and Sons, and even though Turgenev was
challenged by critics for what some perceived as a moral neutrality,
it does appear to be artistically and intellectually more "honest",
moving beyond mere charicature....


love,
cfa