Pynchon Interview Playboy Japan -- Translation Questions

[barbara100 at jps.net]

This is not the time to get literal with Pynchon's words. Remember, this is a bad Japanese translation. (No offense, Tim.) 
But translation aside, yes, I think such "prejudicial" statements about the super rich are typical of Pynchon. The excerpt I posted yesterday is a good example--
"...the numb and joyless hardons of human sultans, human elite with no right at all to be where they are --"
Sounds pretty prejudicial to me...


> Barbara:
> >I was thinking the kind of "rich" that makes Pynchon's stomach turn are IB
> >Farben and Shell types, or their modern-day equivalents. You know, the
> super
> >rich.
> 
> But Pynchon doesn't say "wealthy corporations" or "wealthy crooks" or "super
> wealthy" or.....he (or somebody) says "wealthy person". For many Americans,
> let alone the rest of the world population, Pynchon would be considered a
> "wealthy person" - hypocrisy aside, are they justified in hating him? The
> point is that "wealthy" is relative and his use of the term, and the
> statement he makes, is meaningless. Odd for an author noted for his
> considerable attention to the use and meaning of words. Also, do you really
> think the prejudicial nature of the statement is typical of Pynchon? Or, If
> he, and you, are saying that "wealth", however accumulated, is to be
> despised, I know many who would be happy to accept half the difference
> between their income and savings and his/yours to help close the gap and
> ease your souls.....
> 
> Whoever the author is, Pynchon, the interviewer or somebody completely
> different, the statements are asinine. And however bad a day he might have
> been having, or however poor he is at political commentary or thinking on
> his feet, the gap between Pynchon's fiction (and other commentary) and this
> article is huge. This isn't deification, it's simply consideration of the
> evidence.
> 
> Scott Badger
> 
> 
>