MMV: Critical sources

[jbor]

King, Vincent. 'Giving Destruction a Name and a Face: Thomas Pynchon's
"Mortality and Mercy in Vienna"'. Studies in Short Fiction 35.1, 1998, pp.
13-21. 

Not a bad article (though the journal editors have rechristened the story
"Mortality and Mercy in Venice" in their page headers -- much to the
critic's chagrin, I'd imagine). King says that there is a "general
consensus" that 'MMV' is "one of Pynchon's best short stories", which is
news to me. He argues that there are in the story "convincing signs that
[Siegel] is a psychopath" (16) and that Pynchon intended him to be a
"monster rather than a messiah" (17), but in my opinion he stretches plot
and dialogue elements to an extreme degree to make his case. While King's
conclusion -- that "Siegel's moral failure boils down to his careless use of
language" and that, concomitantly, the "reader's moral failure can be
attributed to careless reading" (20) -- isn't very convincing, the article
does provide a handy overview of the published criticism specifically
dealing with MMV. 

Anyway, at least it's on-topic. If anyone would like me to forward a pdf
contact me offlist.

As well as commentary on 'MMV' in the books by Dugdale, Seed and Slade, King
addresses the following journal articles:

Keesey, Douglas. 'The Politics of Doubling in 'Mortality and Mercy in
Vienna"'. Pynchon Notes 24-25, 1989, pp. 5-19.

Smetak, Jacqueline. 'Thomas Pynchon's "Mortality and Mercy in Vienna": Major
Themes in an Early Work'. Iowa Journal of Literary Studies 4.1, 1993, pp.
65-76. 

White, Allon. 'Ironic Equivalence: a reading of Thomas Pynchon's "Mortality
and Mercy in Vienna"'. Critical Quarterly 23.3, 1981, pp. 55-62.

My guess is that the White article is the pick of the crop. If anyone has
access to it I'd be grateful for a copy.

best