1984 Foreword "fascistic disposition"
pynchonoid
pynchonoid at yahoo.com
Thu May 1 10:00:59 CDT 2003
Don't forget, it's the War that never ends. Bush,
Slayer of Evildoers, will be careful not to tell US,
this evening, that the war in Iraq is over (that would
mean having to release prisoners of war), but instead
that the war is moving into a new phase -- the war
that Bush has promised will go on, as long as it
takes. Of course, as long as the War goes on, it will
be "unseemly" to question the erosion of civil
liberties, convergence of
military/corporate/government ties, and other
fascistic measures.
Pynchon makes this pretty obvious by setting his Cold
War novel in WWII, illustrating how the War never does
end but instead continues through the time Pynchon
writes GR (with its anachronistic references to
the'50s and '60s; Vineland shows the War continuing
beyond the end of the U.S. invasion of Vietnam and
into the fascistic Reagan/Bush years right up to
present.
--- Dave Monroe <davidmmonroe at yahoo.com> wrote:
> "Don't forget the real business of the War is buying
> and selling. The murdering and the violence are
> self-policing, and can be entrusted to
> non-professionals. The mass nature of wartime death
> is
> useful in many ways. It serves as spectacle, as
> diversion from the real movements of the War. It
> provides raw material to be recorded into History,
> so
> that children may be taught History as sequences of
> violence, battle after battle, and be more prepared
> for the adult world. Best of all, mass death's a
> stimulus to just ordinary folks, little fellows, to
> try 'n' grab a piece of that Pie while they're still
> here to gobble it up. The true war is a celebration
> of
> markets." (GR, Pt. I, p. 105)
>
> --- Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net> wrote:
> >
> > It's exceedingly important to note that "those of
> > fascistic disposition" are talking about WARTIME,
> > not any old time. War is in the foreground right
> > from the start, and prewar in the background.
> > (that is, if there IS a prewar, see down a few
> > inches) ...
>
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
More information about the Pynchon-l
mailing list