MDDM Ch. 70 Additional Resources

[Doug Millison]

At 12:31 AM -0700 8/19/02, Dave Monroe wrote:
>And so it happened, but
>when the golem became mud again, his whole weight fell
>on the rabbi ... and crushed him.


Another variation on that Frankenstein's monster story Pynchon uses more
than once -- man's develving into mysteries better left alone, an attempt
to use technology to solve a spiritual  problem (how to achieve everlasting
life), the technology coming back to destroy it's flawed creator.


>
>"There is a long folk history of this figure, the
>Badass. He is usually male, and while sometimes
>earning the quizzical tolerance of women, is almost
>universally admired by men for two basic virtues: he
>is Bad, and he is Big. Bad meaning not morally evil,
>necessarily, more like able to work mischief on a
>large scale. What is important here is the amplifying
>of scale, the multiplication of effect."
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/05/18/reviews/pynchon-luddite.html


Thanks again for your research efforts this time around, Dave. And for your
ability to offer insight, and move a discussion along, without having to
try to put down anybody or set up a straw man argument, or flat-out lie
about what somebody else has said-- a refreshing change hereabouts.