SLSL Intro: "if...I were...him"

[MalignD at aol.com]

Slothenvypride:

<<Tone, yes.  But "overstating" presumes that you know what our author was 
intending, and in fact you don't have that authority. None of us do. >> 

It isn't a question of authority, it's making a reasonable argument off the 
available facts.  

<<The bottom line: there is a possibility of persona that cannot be ignored 
simply because you don't think it is a persona.  And if it is, that opens a 
whole additional dimension to how one reads this intro.>>

That's the bottom line, is it?

There's nothing persuasive to suggest that Pynchon is creating a "persona."  
On that basis, I can certainly ignore the notion.  You can insist that 
Pynchon was trying to imitate Uncle Remus if you like, see how it flies, but 
I might ignore that as well.  

One can say, however, that he has chosen a tone/(voice/style).  Difficult to 
write without doing so.

As to your hopes, I could care less.