VL page 77 Sasha & Turn.2

[Dave Monroe]

"He's very conventional and old-fashioned and has the
values of his generation of the Fifties from upper
class Oyster Bay. He never met a person who said "dig"
or "man" or "it's not my bag." It's only in his
imagination. He'd like to be one of his characters and
wear a black leather jacket and stand on the corner
spit. Or he'd like to be one of those surfers that he
studied like a sociologist in Manhattan Beach. He's
really a professional sociologist, studying people. 
 
[...]
 
"He is a Yankee, a New Englander--wear it out, make it
do, or do without. He needs to follow the Calvinist
work ethic in order not to feel guilt about his life. 
He has to measure up to the Yankee ideal. It's all
Newport, Rhode Island, stuff, the old WASP combined
with the inward-looking Irish Catholic. He's a
conservative old-fashioned workaholic with good
values, strict Anglo-Christian values. He just happens
to be a conservative artist instead of a conservative
investment banker."

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9610&msg=7135&sort=date

--- Terrance <lycidas2 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> Again. I don't think that the "biography" is
> claiming that P is a Reagan-Bush supporter, but
> that he is conservative. Next time you're in
> NYC I'll take you around to where me and Pynchon
> grew up. Townies are conservative folk who have
> been living there for three-hundred-odd years.

Do note that "conservative" need not mean "politically
conservative" ...

Main Entry: con·ser·va·tive 
Pronunciation: k&n-'s&r-v&-tiv
Function: adjective
Date: 14th century
1 : PRESERVATIVE
2 a : of or relating to a philosophy of conservatism b
capitalized : of or constituting a political party
professing the principles of conservatism : as (1) :
of or constituting a party of the United Kingdom
advocating support of established institutions (2) :
PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE
3 a : tending or disposed to maintain existing views,
conditions, or institutions : TRADITIONAL b : marked
by moderation or caution <a conservative estimate> c :
marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste,
elegance, style, or manners <a conservative suit> ...

http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary

... as well as that, in any case, political or
otherwise, "conservative" is a relative term at best,
what is "conservative" or "liberal" or "reactionary"
or "leftist" or "fascist" or "radical" or ... to one
being a matter of where one conceives of oneself as
falling on the political so-called spectrum.  At any
rate, "conservative" as  deployed above isn't used in
realtion to anything capital-p Political.  Again ...

"The hippies tried to steer it in the right direction
but they were too irresponsible and they tried to
change the institutions too fast for the middle and
lower classes. There was a big backlash. They were
frightened and jealous. That's what Thomas Pynchon's
books are about ...."

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9610&msg=7135&sort=date

There's no indication of a lack of sympathy with the
cause, per se, just ... disappointment in? a
recognition/critique of? whatever--said
"irresponsibility" given nonetheless "teh right
direction" (I'm taking Chrissie as reporting something
she felt they were in agreement on: "That's what
Thomas Pynchon's books are about") ...


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