Venery by reason of the wind

cathy ramirez cathyramirez69 at yahoo.com
Sat Oct 5 22:28:01 CDT 2002


--- Bandwraith at aol.com wrote:
> 
> I think that the Luddite essay spells it out
> fairly clearly. Tox seems allied with the Luddites
> reaching for a Golem/Badass in times of trouble and
> uncertainty, to stand up to the evil forces
> of technological change that threaten to
> overwhelm his people. But I don't think Pynchon,
> although sympathetic, goes over entirely to
> the Luddite side of the Snovian disjunction.

I agree. I think that  Pynchon argues that the Snovian
disjunction doesn't apply. In his nostalgia P seems to
suggest that is partly because we are quite
overwhelmed by so many disciplines and have beome J/H
acks of all trades and masters of none.  



Also, I agree that Pynchon is sympathetic to the
Luddite side.  they are, all after all, the preterit, 
labor, even union labor. But even as Mason is reminded
(by Amy's "uncle") how the people in his homeland were
forced to labor, he also sees how the persuit of
"liberty" by force is no luddite rebellion. Mason is
forced to labor on the telescope, to fix it as an
instrument not for gazing above, marking and charting
the moving stars, but for gazing below, marking and
charting the movements of combatants. 

Also, thinking now of Otto's comments on science and
enlightenment. I'm still thinking that Pynchon (author
of GR) can not be ignoring how  the "decline of
science" helped usher in the fascists and nazis. 
Although I'm not sure how he deals with Weber's "value
free" science questions. 



> 
> Mason, on the other hand, is certainly not a
> Luddite, but being human can't help but hope
> for transcendence. He's trying to embrace
> Deism but I don't think it quite fills his needs.

And I'm not sure Dixon embraces it either. In fact,
Dixon often calls Mason on his slipping into Deism. 




> Sci Fi hasn't been invented yet, and the Gothic
> Novel is still in diapers. Mason, in his pride,
> would 
> probably label it as "escapist fare" anyway- if
> not guilty of "insufficient hatred" than, as the
> essay suggests- "insuffiecient seriousness."



> 
> I think his "great single Engine, the size of a
> Continent" is his tortured mind's reponse to
> the need for a "countercritter Bad and big
> enough" to deal with what he senses the future
> holds. It may be his version of "Oboy." Mason 
> may be another "unintentional luddite" like Ike.
> 
> regards


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