MDDM Ch. 57 Coventry

[jbor]

on 11/6/02 5:30 PM, O.SELL at telda.net at O.SELL at telda.net wrote:

> If we assume that Pynchon went into research
> before he took the name *Coventry* for a British warship of 1766 engaged in
> British Stamp-Act activities, he must have come across that Thatcher-War
> "Coventry" too. As a critical reader I can make that connection:

But, assuming more extensive research on Pynchon's part than you or I have
undertaken in an idle hour or two here and there, what about the (to my
mind) very likely possibility that there really was an HMS Coventry
"regulating Traffick" out of New York Harbour back in 1766, just like there
really was a Montagne's Tavern on Broad-Way where the local Sons of Liberty
met? That would make a difference, wouldn't it? Just because he names a
character Benjamin Franklin doesn't mean there's a reference to Aretha
Franklin in it because "he must have come across" her as well, does it?

But even if there wasn't an HMS Coventry there at the time, and it is a
totally fictional name like that of Captain Volcanoe, then why not say that
he was thinking of the WWII HMS Coventry? Or another one entirely?

But I guess my main question is, allowing for a moment the possibility of a
deliberate reference, what is Pynchon actually saying about that Falklands
HMS Coventry? 

http://www.hmscoventry.co.uk/

"25th May 1982 after being hit by Skyhawk bombs she took about 20 minutes to
turn turtle. 19 killed and 30 injured."

(follow the links from the Gallery at this site:

http://www.btinternet.com/~broadsword82/index.htm

To be honest, I don't see how the 1982 war between Britain and Argentina
over the Falklands Is. and the lead up to the War of Independence in 1760s
America are comparable in any way, shape or form. As an allusion it just
doesn't say anything about anything: it's a dead end.

And, further, once you've accepted it as being a deliberate reference, then
it's not just sitting there by itself. What of Pynchon's HMS Coventry's
captain - Kennedy - placed right there on the very same line of text? The
same research/prior knowledge/"must have come across it" equation applies
there too, doesn't it? So, which Kennedy is it? And, how does he fit in?
What's, let's say, JFK's connection with the Falklands? Or is only one an
allusion and the other a coincidence? Whose decision is it to make?

Being (as I trust you accept) a critical reader also, and in full awareness
of the existence of the Falklands HMS Coventry, can I similarly choose *not*
to make the connection? And, if so, could Pynchon have?

It's an interesting debate, and I think it's more like probabilities along a
continuum than a hard and fast proposition one way or the other. But I've
enjoyed the discussion. Thanks.

best