Pynchon and the Subway

[davemarc]

MalignD referred to the "Japanese interview saying he's afraid to ride the
subway (I think that's where he said it).   I'd call that a somewhat bizarre
overreaction, as would the millions who continue to ride the NY subway,
myself included."

Later, MalignD wrote, "Meanwhile Pynchon stays home, stays mute, and avoids
the subway."

I think it's worth stepping back to re-examine the subway issue, which comes
up every now and then on this list in efforts to establish that Pynchon is
timid and, perhaps, a loon.

The quotation is from the December 2001 issue of Playboy Japan. Here it is:
"Since the attacks, I stopped taking subways. That's the biggest change in
my everyday life. I used to go everywhere riding the subways, but now I
never take subways because I'm afraid of chemical weapons. There is a
precedent of the sarin attacks in Tokyo and the casualties from the
biological weapon called anthrax are spreading. I will not be surprised if
chemical weapons are used against us anytime soon."

Obviously, this quotation refers to Pynchon's attitude during a time period
before the publication of the 12/01 Playboy Japan and after 9/11 and the
disclosures that an unknown number of anthrax-filled envelopes, addressed to
people in government and the media, had passed through the USPS, infecting
people at random. In other words, the remarks were made during an extremely
chaotic, uncertain, and fear-filled period in Manhattan history. Concern
about subway safety was widespread. There were frequent subway closings due
to "police actions." Soldiers patrolled subways. (Even today, they still
patrol the mass transit system--the city remains on a high state of alert.)
There was much media discussion of how the subways could be vulnerable to
chemical attack. In conversing about his own concerns, Pynchon doesn't cite
imaginary threats--he cites precedence, including an example that a Japanese
audience would know.

Having been in Manhattan during that period, I know that there were many
reasonable people who were reluctant to ride the subway for a time. I
traveled on the subway during that period--as little as possible--and noted
that ridership had seemed to dip.

Considering the extremely abnormal, alarming environment we found ourselves
in at the time, Pynchon's comments seem to me to be a normal, reasoned
response (though by no means the only possible normal or reasoned reaction).
As far as I know, there is no indication that Pynchon continued to avoid the
subway after the time of those comments, made more than two years ago.

I also note that a timid soul might not have been as inclined as Pynchon to
take the subways "everywhere," and that I am sure that his low public
profile enabled him (and perhaps enables him) to do so with ease. It seems
to me that the more recognizable the celebrity, the less likely the
celebrity would be to ride the subway.

d.