Kai, Do you know this girl?

[Paul Mackin]

Dave--anything you'd recommend OMITTING when doing the research and legwork
in preparation for reading Pynchon? Forgive me please I couldn't resist.
Seriously, I think what you have been saying turns out to be that a Pynchon
reader is better off with as much knowledge as possible of what was in the
intellectual 60s air. On this I fully agree.

 I also believe that the best way to read Pynchon is not as a reference to
ideas expressed and points made in other books--at least in any greater
sense than that all writing (and reading) is a reference to ideas expressed
in other books.  Failure to honor the general expectation that for the
average reader the words actually on the page tell enough  might be
downright counterproductive if assumed-other-text is allowed to become
distracting. Of course if we are careful  this will not need to happen. And
some ideas are more related than others. But I really think Pynchon is as
good a prepartion for Brown as Brown is for Pynchon. Dick and Jane books
were our preparation for both of them. Don't think it too much of an
exaggeration. Slight one maybe and of course one might argue that Pynchon,
not Brown, is the subject of the p-list. Still I would like to insist again
for emphasis on the point that it is inadvisable to associate p-text with
other text with too much specificity (even when the author explicitly makes
the connection).. I would see danger there of missing something really
important. Of course it is always a matter of balance and judgement. Your
industriousness in pointing out references is commendable, I can agree on. I
do have "Life Against Death" here beside me and there are at least five
Marcuse books in the next room. Can't believe i actually used to read the
latter in almost total awe.

        P.




----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Monroe" <davidmmonroe at yahoo.com>
To: "David Morris" <fqmorris at hotmail.com>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2001 2:56 AM
Subject: Re: Kai, Do you know this girl?


> Yr very welcome.  Am trying to increase the peace
> here.  Or at least the detente.  But, then, y'all see
> what I mean about doing yr research?  Another
> eminently useful approach, that "thick description"
> ((c) Clifford Geertz), "archaeology" ((c) Michel
> Foucault), perhaps, a "New Historicism" ((c) Stephen
> Greenblatt et al.) of the contemporary, perhaps more
> accurately.  What was in the air ...
>
> I think Terrance will second that a looksee at Herbert
> Marcuse's Eros and Civilization (and maybe his
> One-Dimensional Man as well) might also prove
> worthwhile.  Frantz Fanon's White Skins, Black Masks.
> Among many, many others.  Across the spectrum
> (spectra?) of cultural production(s).  Again, legwork.
>  Might not always get you where you wanted to go, but
> it's typically excellent exercise, at least ...
>
> --- David Morris <fqmorris at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> > I'm finding more and more resonances, and I fully
> > believe Pynchon read both "Love Against Death" and
> > "Love's Body" before writing GR.  I think Norman O.
> > Brown is a must-read for a true GR scholar
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Find a job, post your resume.
> http://careers.yahoo.com