SLSL "TSR" - frogs, Levine, Buttercup

[jbor]

on 3/12/02 6:24 AM, Dave Meury at dmeury at lioninc.com wrote:

> Doug wrote:
>> Speaking of idiosyncratic reader-response intepretations forcing the
> text to fit a preconceived notion, reading a chorus of live frogs in the
> midst of blooming nature as symbolizing "death" seems a gloomy stretch,
> even by mid-20th-century existential standards.
> 
> 
> But frogs are noted for their . . . croaking.

Precisely. And they live in swamps and like rain. And make noise.

There's no question of "sour grapes" or "flamebait". I was aware of
Aristophanes' play when I read the scene, thought about whether or not it
was relevant, and decided it probably wasn't. When the chunk from it was
posted I asked what the connection was thought to be, because I was
interested. Doug, I note, has since claimed it as a "reference". I assume
he's saying that there's a deliberate allusion to Aristophanes' play in the
text (i.e. an allusion made by Pynchon), rather than that as a reader he's
making an incidental connection (i.e. comparison, contrast, juxtaposition,
whatever) between the story and the play. I'd find the other possible
alternatives, that the play was an unconscious influence on the author or
that the occurrence of words "chorus" and "frogs" are part of some
collective unconscious, to be highly unlikely.

I'm still finding it very difficult to see any valid or relevant connection
with Aristophanes' play.

best