MDMD: Something that could be mistaken for a real post. Subject/Objective Reality/Illusion

[Judy Panetta]

I've take the liberty of adding Sam Moyer, Mark Wright and kai frederik

And about that lifeboat. Well if Barbara is playing Tallulah -- can I be
Hume Cronyn?

"Dying together's even more personal than living together." Connie Porter
(Tallulah Bankhead) in Lifeboat

Captain Otto. Permission to come aboard, sir...

And...well...there was a discussion not so long ago...Dave and Rob, et al.
To recap: about reading Pynchon, in particular, but reading in general.
Approaching literature. Preparing for literature (let's hear it for Dick and
Jane and their paste-eating sister, Sally! Thanks, Paul M. Delicious.)

And so, having nothing to do with the modest point I'd like to make, I feel
we mustn't in any way disparage Dave for his research. He has saved at least
one lister some embarrassment in having to admit into the evidence that s/he
never made it beyond Dick and Jane (despite the parchment). And... as some
of us are on at least our second go around on these novels -- going on the
treasure hunt is part of the sport, no? And finally there is Mr. Pynchon's
style that can test one's vocabulary and try one's patience at times. Came
across this statement about Pynchon from Paul Bowles, "I don't know why he
has to be so willfully difficult."

OK. So, this exchange touched a chord that resonates often on our coma-list:
the subjective vs. the objective. What is the individual's encounter with
the text exclusive of, well anything but the experience of the reader at
that moment. I'm thinking of that very interesting exchange btwn Terrance
and Paul N. a few weeks ago. The subjective approach was disparaged as I
recall: the novel as it relates to my mother's little black cat. Hmmm. Yes
that response would hardly be insightful or helpful. However, one can be
subjective without being self-indulgent. Consider: can objective reading be
possible? I find objectivity a fallacy. Is history objective? Journalism?
(Sorry.) Description is dependent on perception. Perception is riddled with
variables - each uncommon to each individual and is therefore subjective.
Save for some human universalities?

So...onward, M&D. The dog. The giant veggies. The more subtle and discreet
inclusions. Are they rooted in history? Are these elements real to the novel
or illusionary to the characters or something entirely different? The
encyclopedic Pynchon...it must be real. I'm remembering the Museum of
Jurassic Technology. That eclectic storefront museum exhibiting the wonders
of the world - the curiosity chamber. Except that some of it is real and
some of it isn't. What's the difference and why does it matter? Any
thoughts?

So there. A post. Doesn't have that same voyeuristic quality without the
lurkers.

-----Original Message-----
From: barbara100 at jps.net [mailto:barbara100 at jps.net]
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 6:37 PM
To: Otto; KXX4493553 at aol.com; scuffling at hotmail.com;
dedalus204 at home.com; pynchon-l at waste.org; lupine at ncia.net;
paul.mackin at verizon.net
Cc: calbert at hslboxmaster.com; richardromeo at hotmail.com;
paul.mackin at waste.org; davidmmonroe at yahoo.com; yenamand at cs.umn.edu;
paulngale at supanet.com; johnbonbailey at hotmail.com;
michel.ryckx at freebel.net; jbor at bigpond.com; judy at brandxinc.com;
MalignD at aol.com; thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de; lycidas2 at earthlink.net;
millison at online-journalist.com; Dan Jizzenberry
Subject: Re: p-list lifeboat (was Re: temporary p-list)


Adding Pantychrist.  How can we forget him, with a name like that...
So what's happened to us anyway?  I hadn't considered technical
difficulties; I just thought everyone was speechless after the last
"fuck-off" tirade.


----- Original Message -----
From: Otto <o.sell at telda.net>
To: <KXX4493553 at aol.com>; <scuffling at hotmail.com>; <dedalus204 at home.com>;
<pynchon-l at waste.org>; <lupine at ncia.net>; <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
Cc: <barbara100 at jps.net>; <calbert at hslboxmaster.com>;
<richardromeo at hotmail.com>; <paul.mackin at waste.org>;
<davidmmonroe at yahoo.com>; <yenamand at cs.umn.edu>; <paulngale at supanet.com>;
<johnbonbailey at hotmail.com>; <michel.ryckx at freebel.net>; <jbor at bigpond.com>;
<judy at brandxinc.com>; <MalignD at aol.com>; <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>;
<lycidas2 at earthlink.net>; <millison at online-journalist.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: p-list lifeboat (was Re: temporary p-list)


> No, but maybe my mother-:)
>
> Otto
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <KXX4493553 at aol.com>
> To: <scuffling at hotmail.com>; <dedalus204 at home.com>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>;
> <lupine at ncia.net>; <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
> Cc: <barbara100 at jps.net>; <calbert at hslboxmaster.com>;
> <richardromeo at hotmail.com>; <paul.mackin at waste.org>;
> <davidmmonroe at yahoo.com>; <yenamand at cs.umn.edu>; <paulngale at supanet.com>;
> <johnbonbailey at hotmail.com>; <michel.ryckx at freebel.net>;
<jbor at bigpond.com>;
> <judy at brandxinc.com>; <MalignD at aol.com>; <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>;
> <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>; <o.sell at telda.net>;
> <millison at online-journalist.com>
> Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 10:03 PM
> Subject: Re: p-list lifeboat (was Re: temporary p-list)
>
>
> In einer eMail vom 17.11.01 21:53:51 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit schreibt
> scuffling at hotmail.com:
>
> > Who's the German captain on this lifeboat, anyhow?
> >
> Otto, of course.
>
> Kurt-Werner Pörtner
>
>
>