Vineland underrated
Terrance
lycidas2 at earthlink.net
Thu Sep 25 22:31:49 CDT 2003
Mike Weaver wrote:
> The subject matter of Vineland includes a critical but sympathetic view of
> radical politics in the US in the late sixties.
Nope.
> It seems to me that the mistake that the anti-lefties here make is by
> taking P's critiques of US radicalism to be made from outside the
> tradition. Recently Rob J wrote
>
> >Pynchon's disillusionment with the "hippie resurgence" is pretty
> > explicit in the _Slow Learner_ 'Intro' (SL 9.18-26), and ... amplified
> > in _Vineland_ into something
> > which approaches a full-on critique
>
> Trouble with this is that there is no evidence that P ever had illusions to
> be dissed. The final ineffectuality of the Counterforce in GR wasn't the
> creation of someone who overrated their strength and sinew in opposition to
> the "massive presence of money".
I agree. P never was a a 60's radical.
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