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[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/3/2003 12:02:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
jmsmall at vheissu.freeserve.co.uk writes:


> PS if anyone can give me details of this introduction to Nineteen
> Eighty-Four I'd be grateful - I did request before, perhaps I missed the
> response.
> 

To understand the significance of being asked to write a foreword
to the centennial edition of _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ it might be
helpful to reflect on the identity of its largest target audience

In the U.S., _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ is probably the most commonly
read novel in secondary, or, high school. It requires no marketing. It
is basically part of the curriculum. One of the very few works of
fiction that is not objected to by idealogues of either the right or
left, who have turned public education in the U.S. into a desert, "1984"
is still a commonly shared experience. 

Any discussion of Pynchon's intentions in The Foreword should 
begin with the recognition that he is writing to and for the masses
at a very impressionable age. 

respectfully
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