GR 'Father Rapier'

[jbor]

on 23/4/03 6:06 AM, pynchonoid wrote:

> I'm guessing Pynchon probably did realize how silly it
> might sound, at times, for book critics to discuss and
> take seriously a priest called Father Raper.

It's actually "Rapier". And I think the double-edged sword connotation (+
rapier wit?) is an apt one. Fr Rapier slices and dices from both sides of
the Counterforce problem - how to go about opposing and halting "Their"
dominion without actually being or becoming "Them" - so much so that in the
end it's almost impossible to work out where he does stand or what he's
actually advocating. The fact that "visitors can tune in from anywhere in
the Convention" to his sermons and monologues seems to confirm that he's a
part of the Counterforce cadre.

best