Oh, no! War talk on Pynchon-L?

[barbara100 at jps.net]

Richard Romeo:
"Beyond that, what can an artist do, but make it easier to swallow the
bullshit. Pynchon and others do this very
well. Doug, I fear, you and all the other armchair critics (left and right),
without the saving grace of art, cannot offer much else besides platitudes
of war is bad, our gov't is wrong. "

Platitudes are not all that are offered.  We offer influence and the weight
of support.  And for every pound the artist or the armchair critic or the
loud-mouthed p-lister contributes to an effort--whatever kind of effort--the
easier it makes someone teetering on line to throw in his/her weight too.
I'm not sure I was ever teetering, but if there was ever any doubt in my
mind, reading Thomas Pynchon made me want to run as far and as fast from the
middle as I could. He may not get his way in the end (his end), but he is
not "powerless," and neither are we. Just think what those lightbulbs coulda
did if they'da banded together and taken control (thier own little personal
circuits of *power*) from the Grid! Oh, Byron! Oh, Pynchon!  I throw my
weight with thee!

Barbara






----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Romeo <richardromeo at hotmail.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 3:56 PM
Subject: Re: Oh, no! War talk on Pynchon-L?


> doug sed:
>
> >  I asked Rich:  "What's unclear about Pynchon's concerns with war,
> >complicity in war crimes, multinational corporations profiting from war,
> > >etc. ? That's material that P comes back to in his fiction and
> >non-fiction >writing again and again.  I'm asserting that P takes these
> >issues seriously >in his writing -- a non-controversial statement, surely
> >-- , and that makes >them fair game for discussion on the P-list. "
> ------------------------
> what's unclear to me is the other explanations/interpretations Pynchon
> throws into his novels that you seem to jettison as you deem fit. For
> example, the human element in "Bad Shit", sure blame it on Technology and
> the Systems we've nurtured and perfected, but still the novels come back
to
> pretty much nailing everyone.  The systems are here and are with us for
good
> (or bad), usually a little of both. Beyond that, what can an artist do,
but
> make it easier to swallow the bullshit. Pynchon and others do this very
> well. Doug, I fear, you and all the other armchair critics (left and
right),
> without the saving grace of art, cannot offer much else besides platitudes
> of war is bad, our gov't is wrong. Artists know they can't change
anything,
> hence the best art is melancholic and aware of its limitations (as we as
> individuals know in the larger scheme of things, are powerless).  One can
> detect Pynchon's lefty leanings, but his critiques about modern society
are
> pretty well balanced between horror at what the systems have wrought and
> intrigued by its accomplishments. Unfortunately, much of the
alternate-press
> clippings you've posted do not seem very well-balanced, IMHO.
>
> One huge factor that you seem to forget is humor--we've seen a lack of it
> here, recently. Why do folks get so angry here?
>
> Anyone who claims to know what the hell is going on is either a fool or
> worse, self-righteous. Follow the paper trail if you must, you'll find
> explanations for everything.
>
> keep cool but care
> Rich
>
>
>
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