VLVL2 (2): flawed Readings

[pynchonoid]

lycidas2 at earthlink.net:
> VL is about the neurotic maladjustments of workers
> to castration of
> skill, the discipline of starvation, land-monopoly
> and diseducation.


That may be part of it, but far from exhaustive.  I
agree with Tim -- this obsession with nailing down
precisely what a novel is "about" isn't particularly
useful; moreover, using such a restrictive definition
to reject other interpretations or to provoke other
discussants is just sophomoric. 

VL is also "about" how a fascist state might emerge
within a highly-developed, TV-based culture of
consumerism, as corporate, government, and "Mafia"
interests and projects converge. 

VL is also "about" the way Western culture has evolved
to oppress women, thereby reversing an earlier
cultural phase in which the sexes were on a more equal
footing.

VL is also "about" the family relationships '60's
sub-culture hippies and revolutionaries managed to
form, successfully or less so.

& etc.



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