VLVL DL and Frenesi: "It wasn't politics"

[jbor]

In the photo of DL and Frenesi together (114-5), the last thing she looks at
before she logs off and heads for bed, Prairie perceives the natural and
carefree friendship which existed between the two women and she fantasises
for a moment about the conversation they might have been having about some
stereotypical hippie boy. The image and the narrative Prairie builds around
the photo are strongly optimistic. The one dark note is her wondering "who'd
taken the picture" (115.13). It all probably tells us more about Prairie's
resilience and positive outlook than it does about the relationship between
Frenesi and DL, but her perceptions are again incisive.

The text then segues into a recount compiled from the other bits and bytes
of information stored on the computer, information which Prairie is not
privy to, and which is Pynchon's narrative strategy for presenting a
detached account of the meeting between DL and Frenesi. It quickly becomes a
nested narrative in its own right, however, as Pynchon engages the
characters' perspectives and slides into the temporal setting. We get
insight into DL's dyke-on-a-bike "wild one" behaviour (eg. 116.1-5), her
reason for coming to Berkeley ("lured ... by promises of action" 115.32-3),
and the immediate sexual attraction between the two women. We see that
Frenesi is turned on by the scent of "the boys in khaki" (116.23-8), but
she's just as turned on, perhaps even more so, by DL's leather uniform
(117.1-4) and by the excitement of the rescue.

best

ps Thanks to Don for the link to the "est" article. I have a general
impression that there was a whole panoply of kooky "self-help" ranches and
ashrams, particularly in California, Colorado, Arizona and so forth, which
began popping up in the '70s and '80s. I think the Kunoichi retreat is
perhaps a composite creation drawing from quite a few different examples.
See also Updike's _S_ (1988), the final novel in his _Scarlet Letter_
trilogy, for another satirical depiction of one such place.