MDDM Ch. 58 Young Nathe

[jbor]

Archibald McClean complains of his son: "He is wasting too damn'd much time
reading books." (457.12) And I don't doubt that Pynchon has read Proust. On
the other hand, his research would have shown him that there were dairy
farms all about the region at the time, so the detail is certainly not
incongruous with the historical record. Is there another connection? Nathe
falls for a maid who he names "Galactica" (465.15), which struck me as
unusual. The other thing I noted at the time was that Nathe's friend,
Murray, hails from Tidewater, Virginia (458.6):

http://www.press.jhu.edu/press/books/titles/s97/s97bati.htm

A couple of questions:

Not having had the opportunity to read much Proust yet, are there other
similarities (stylistic, thematic etc) between his work and Pynchon's? Which
English translation/edition would you recommend?

best



Clément wrote:

> Well, you know many things about Pynchon's works that I don't, but those
> milkmaids may be some remembering of Proust's milkmaids in _A l'ombre des
> jeunes filles en fleurs_, first part (the second book of _A la recherche du
> temps perdu_). The young man keeps thinking of them during the train
> journey to Balbec, and even sees one, just at the beginnig of the book, and
> then can't stop loving in advance any country-girl he could meet when
> driving through the forests all around. I believe they stop being
> milkmaids, but I'm not sure.
> The fact that P's milkmaids always trick their milk (the disguting thing
> with snails, or more, p. 464) could be some humoristic re-reading of Proust
> (his milkmaiden are so pure and naive!).
> What do you think of that?
> Regards.
> Clément
> 
> jbor à dit à ÒRe: MDDM Ch. 58 Young NatheÓ.
> [2002/06/17 23:15:14]
> 
>> Mike wrote:
>> 
>>> On the more biographical front: young Tom may very well have had a job
>>> similar to Nathan's--his father was in charge of roads and surveying for
>>> the county, wasn't he? (I forget his exact title).  So it's possible
>> that
>>> Pynchon found himself working on a county road crew during the summers
>>> between years at Cornell.  I can't recall any direct evidence to support
>>> this, but I've always read Benny Profane's experinces on the road crew
>> as
>>> semi-autobigraphical.
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> He was indeed; I hadn't even considered that connection. Thanks. Recall
>> also
>> that Pynchon's first fictional protagonist is named Nathan "Lardass"
>> Levine,
>> and that events in 'The Small Rain' supposedly draw on Pynchon's own
>> experiences as well. So, perhaps there is a mysterious milkmaid d'amour
>> lurking somewhere in Tommy P's past, eh?
>> 
>> I think you might be right re. Benny too, and there's also the stunning
>> passage in _GR_ where Tyrone recalls his time in the Berkshires doing
>> "Chapter 81 work" (625-6), remembering those
>> 
>> [...] days when in superstition and fright he could *make it all fit*,
>> seeing clearly in each entry a record, a history: his own, his
>> winter's,
>> his country's . . .
>> 
>> It is quite tempting to try and *make it all fit*, isn't it.
>> 
>> best
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>