What Pynchon wrote?

[Terrance]

Paul Mackin wrote:
> 
> Why start off in the present tense? Why not ask, WAS 1984 (consequently
> Orwell)  what  it was generally perceived to be on publication almost 60
> years ago? Pynchon says that 1984 wasn't supposed to be just about the
> Soviet Union, or just an anti-communist screed. (even though perceptions
> at the time were that it was these things)

Old hat. Why does P bring this up? I agree with you, Paul. Why start off
in the present tense? Pynchon's Foreword is not, afterall, Foucault's
Foreword. It's pretty much a St. Jerome Introduction to an author and
his text.