How people read the Pyncher (was Re: Charles Hollander's Essay)

[Dave Monroe]

As I depserately try to clear out my inbox here
(currently at 103% of my limit, having been out of
town for the Chicago International Film Festival,
http://www.chicagofilmfestival.org/) ...

--- "calbert at hslboxmaster.com"
<calbert at hslboxmaster.com> wrote:
> I found the JFk hypothesis less convincing than
> Hollander's "disinherited" thesis as presented in
> the Cornell Alumni Mag article. THe former suffers,
> in my opinion, from the effort to seek a "definitive
> key" in a work which, taken as a whole, seems
> to assume as a fundamental premise that its is the
> riddle, not its "answer", which defines the reader's
> experience.

Hollander always perecents his cases rather strongly,
but they are typically strong cases.  At any rate,
perhaps not THE key (no such thing?), but, certainly,
A key.  "Disinheritance" is a theme Petillon mentions
as well (via Scott via Nerval via Eliot) ...

> I think it is Petillion who suggests a connection
> with an earlier work (Borges, maybe - my notes
> are in the office) where this idea is more explicit,
> and the resolution is nearly identical to that of
> COL49, to wit, the door is "opened", but we are
> not told what appears inside......

Petillon and, perhaps ironically, given his
cryptographic bent, I take as reading Lot 49 as
presenting a bit of a Purloined Letter, "secrets"
hidden in plain sight.  By the time of Vineland
(setting, publication), such "secrets" aren't even so
well hidden ...

> I took some flack from legitimate scholars on the
> list

Who?  Where?

> for recommending the cornell mag article, but I
> maintain, that as a "catalyst" for a relevant
> interpretive premise, the piece remains one of
> considerable merit.....

I'd suggest reading Hollander alongside Petillon, as
well as Thoreen.  For example.  A.greed, anyway ...
 
> Oh, and Hollander/dudious is, in my personal
> experience, a kind correspondent who seems perfectly
> willing to have his view challenged and
> superceeded.....

I don't know about "willing," but ...

> I don't say this in contradiction of what Jbor has
> related (Jbor, is, in my view, another of the list's
> rare resources), but I wanted, as an unapologetic
> COL49 enthusiast to see Hollander credited for his
> contribution to my increased understanding of the
> novel....

Well, I don't know what's been said recently about His
Duditude here just yet, only just catching up on
proceedings since, what, Friday? but, as an
unapologetic Lot 49 AND Charles Hollander, again, I
second that e-motion ...

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