VLVL2 (1) "More is Less"

[Terrance]

pynchonoid wrote:
> 
> I guess it does make more sense to some readers to
> pluck Pynchon's phrase from its context, rewrite it
> (change from "More is Less" to "Less is more") and
> interpret it with a high-culture reference that, at
> first glance, seems to fit Vineland's pop-culture
> about as well as a square peg fits a round hole.

Well, Berger's essay id far from perfect, but it's really quite good. 
Yeah, he gets the store wrong, pay-less, more is less, less is more...
more or less. 






> 
> Reading the phrase straight and taking advantage of
> the _1984_ reference with which P begins the novel
> seems more to the point. 


What point? 

Certainly most Vineland
> criticism -- not all of those scholars insane
> "Kinbotes" I don't suppose -- see the _1984_
> references as important in the novel.

It depends on what said critics are attempting to say. Some disregard
the 1984 allusions. Other mention them in the margins. Still others note
that others have discussed them and note where and why the agree or
disagree. It's the way the business works. 


> 
> The architectural reading is interesting in light of
> Pynchon's later reference to Nazi architecture, and
> his linking of the Reagan/Bush Administration to the
> Nazis.

An architectural reading of VL? OH BOY! Did I miss that? Tell me more,
please.