Foreword, the inevitable backlash

[Paul Mackin]

On Wed, 2003-04-30 at 09:28, Dave Monroe wrote:
> I post something, Robert makes some oblique or
> otherwise complaint about it, you 'n' Morris 'n' maybe
> even Terrance these days rush in, y'all, not much
> wanting to deal with, here, elsewhere, unmistakable
> political commentary on Pynchon's part, any reasonably
> direct commentary on Pynchon's part

I and the others named ARE dealing with the Pyncher's political
commentary, if that's what it is, fairly harshly.


>  (or is it just the
> fact that I've been fielding the prose pieces here? 
> Rob of course'll badmouth anything with any hint of my
> stamp on it--and speaking of my stamps, the offer
> still stands, have copy ready to go, all I need is an
> address) 

I'm glad you posted the excepts but continuing to talk about your
exertions and offers may be bad strategy.

> write it off as "bad writing" or whatever,

We've done that.


> start in instead on, at best, whatever might have been
> the object of Pynchon's attention, rather than on what
> Pynchon might be hinting at, revealing, whatever,
> about, well,

If the writing wasn't such a mess we might be able to do that better. It
goes without saying that one of his aims must have been to provide
something useful to readers or rereaders 1984..


>  Pynchon, meanwhile maintaining a second
> front (yes, yes, military trope here, sorry) on, if
> not something else entirely, something else that's a
> surefire bickering point for the self-enclosed boys'
> club that seems to take itself as THE List (be careful
> bandying about those "we"s), and so forth ...

Complaining about what other people do on the p-list is futility in the
extreme. (I don't always practice what I preach here) 

> 
> --- Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net> wrote:
> > On Wed, 2003-04-30 at 03:47, Dave Monroe wrote:
> >
> > > You guys are all about the avoidance, aren't you? 
> > > But's it's all fallen into the usual pattern so
> > > far,  so ... so it's Pynchon, deal with it ...
> > 
> > Huh?
> 
> Though you missed a golden opportunity here ...
> 
> "What?" --Richard M. Nixon ...

Good point. This is the Dave Monroe we (better say I) like to see.


P.