Not for nothing but....

[P. Chevalier]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, i feel more comfortable with the original 
French text, eventhough a translated version would be quite helpful for the 
current debates!
The price you announce is surprisingly cheap though... The French version 
costs more than $50.00... But thanks for the information!


At 09:42 10/04/2003 -0400, Paul Mackin wrote:
>On Thu, 2003-04-10 at 05:48, P. Chevalier wrote:
> > I'll be back...
> > Just to make that point clear however: I find my sources more in
> > "Critique of Dialectical Reason", which is far less fashionable than
> > "Being and Nothingness" . Much more technical and less connected to
> > the simplified idea everyone has about "existencialism" (ooh, yeah,
> > french philosophy written in parisian underground Cafés, while
> > listening to Boris Vian or dancing the jerk in St Germain...).
> > But i can't find any english translation of the texts I'd like to
> > bring as arguments. Need some more time to work on that...
>
>
>According to Amazon.com there is an as yet unreleased English
>translation you can order (doesn't say how soon you'd get it)
>
>Critique of Dialectical Reason, volume 1, Theory of Practical Ensembles
>
>$15.40.
>
>
> >
> > Anyway, my point was not to describe "V." only as a narrative version
> > of Sartre's dialectical essay, but to expose some impressive
> > similarities between a narrative masterpiece and an equally impressive
> > philosophical essay. The tension between human and inert, between
> > subject and object (in history for instance), between the living and
> > the matter,  is a keypoint to Pynchon's novel; every chapter is a
> > variation on that theme... which is the central idea in "Critique of
> > Dialectical Reason" (the dialectic between "individual praxis" and
> > "practico-inert", as Sartre names it, and the possibility of
> > individual freedom through the movements of history).
> >
> > My attempt would be pure "yahoo-philosophy" or postmodern delirium if
> > the link had only been the fact that the action is in late 50's and
> > that the whole-sick crew is somehow beat-like or (en français dans le
> > texte) zazou; but the contact-points are far more deep and productive
> > than those circumstancial look-alikes.
> >
> > And I'd like to discuss them furthermore!
> >
> >
> >
> > At 19:36 9/04/2003 -0400, Paul Mackin wrote:
> > > On Wed, 2003-04-09 at 18:53, Terrance wrote:
> > >
> > > > The irony here is that wrangling over the meaning of the noun
> > > > "nothingness" on a single page in a huge and complex novel in an
> > > absurd
> > > > manner has prevented a discussion of  "nothingness",
> > > Existentialism,
> > > > Atheism, so on ... as a driving force, theme,  or idea in the
> > > novel or
> > > > in Pynchon's novels.
> > >
> > >
> > > I thought M. Chevalier was going to get back to us with his
> > > investigation of Existentialism in V.
> > >
> > > Being and Nothingness
> > >
> > > By the way, everyone was an Existentialist back in the fifties.
> > > Don't
> > > remember anyone actually reading the book however. Perhaps a
> > > translation
> > > was not yet available.
> > >
> > > P.
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > You know, this discussion would not probably never get bogged down
> > > like
> > > > this if the contexts was DeLillo or Gaddis. What is it about
> > > Pynchon or
> > > > the Pynchon Critical Industry that gets people into such absurd
> > > dead end
> > > > End Zones?
> > > >
> > > > PS I'm not avoiding your quires S~Z, Mind, Consciousness,
> > > Wholeness,
> > > > etc., just thinking  about the best way to include Jung and not
> > > get my
> > > > ass in trouble.