re Pynchon in Playboy Japan

[Paul Mackin]

Doug Millison wrote:

> Just to let you know, I have in my hand...the actual issue of Playboy Japan
> that contains an article based on an interview with Thomas Pynchon -- his
> name appears in English, along with a couple of quotes, on a page otherwise
> occupied by only Japanese characters.  Whatever the story proves to be
> behind this article, it certainly looks as if Playboy Japan is convinced
> they have published an article based on an interview with Pynchon.
>
> I observe that the statements attributed to Pynchon in this article seem of
> a piece with the generally progressive, left-leaning, anti-fascist, and
> anti-corporate/global capital stance revealed in his novels and other
> writings, up to and including Mason & Dixon with its unmistakeable
> indictment of slavery and the colonial/capitalist system that slavery makes
> possible (as somebody mentioned in an earlier message).
>
> What I continue to find fascinating is how people who hold political views
> that appear to differ so with those that undergird Pynchon's work still
> manage to to enjoy his fiction.  A tribute to Pynchon's style, encyclopedic
> coverage of subject matter, and occasional obscurity, I guess.

Oh, I get it. Not wanting to do trendy things like visit the WTC site and be
exposed to toxic chemicals in the subway or anthrax in the mail, or having to
read propaganda (nature unspecified) in the Times or listen to insufficiently
emotional anchor people read it on TV--all this together with semicomic
speculation on bin Laden and terrible stock market advice--IS A PIECE with a
progressive, left-leaning, anti-fascist, and anti-corporate/global captial
stance.

Very interesting.

        P.