MDDM English dogs, Quakers, and a red coat

[jbor]

Weren't the English referred to as "English dogs" in some war or another?

Like Mark, I'm inclined to the view that the fact that Norfolk Terriers
weren't actually bred, or registered as a breed, until 1936 is a slip-up on
Pynchon's part. But whatever the intended bio-narratological status of the
"L.E.D.", and it's a cameo which owes less to C.18th art and literature than
it does to Hanna-Barbera in my opinion, what is foregrounded by Fang's
materialisation, and by the reaction of the characters to Fang's powers of
speech, deduction and intuition (and his extreme self-consciousness, an
overtly modern trait I would think), is that this purportedly "historical"
fiction isn't going to conform to the traditional expectations of either
biography, history or "the novel". The ontological status of the projected
world, and the textual and contextual levels in operation behind this world,
are irrevocably destabilised by the intrusion.

On another tack, the fact that Dixon wears a red coat and is or was a
Quaker, and the possibility mooted by Judy that the story itself is being
told in a Quaker household, has great appeal. An English Quaker and a family
of American Quakers, just prior to and after a terrible war between their
two respective nations . . . it would certainly seem to be a typically
subtle Pynchonian narrative conceit. And, just how foolish or brave is
Dixon's choice of attire in the context of the great American war looming
right then and there!

It's the retrospective aspect of "irony" which is most often engaged in
Pynchon's texts. What the reader is able to bring, or rather, compelled to
bring, to the text, what the characters and narrators all lack, is the
capacity of *hindsight*.

I think that to be fair to others who have nominated to host sections we
should keep close to the reading schedule as advertised. We might be able to
get back on track by dividing the next 10 or so days between Chs 4-5 and Ch.
6, in readiness for Ch. 7 on 8 October:

MASON & DIXON DEEP & MEANINGFUL

Discussion Schedule for Section One: 'Latitudes and Departures'

Ch. 1       pp 5-11     10 Sept.    Judy Panetta
Chs 2-3     pp 12-29    17 Sept.    Dave Monroe
Chs 4-5     pp 30-46    24 Sept.    John Bailey
Ch. 6       pp 47-57    1 Oct.
Ch. 7       pp 58-76    8 Oct.      Michel Ryckx
Chs 8-9     pp 77-93    15 Oct.     Michel Ryckx
Ch. 10      pp 94-104   22 Oct.     Otto
Chs 11-12   pp 105-124  29 Oct.
Ch. 13      pp 125-145  5 Nov.
Chs 14-15   pp 146-166  12 Nov.     Sam Moyer
Chs 16-17   pp 167-182  19 Nov.
Chs 18-19   pp 183-198  26 Nov.
Chs 20-21   pp 199-214  3 Dec.      John Lundy
Chs 22-23   pp 215-227  10 Dec.
Chs 24-25   pp 238-253  17 Dec.     kfl

best