VLVL Rex and the BLGVN

[Otto]

Of course Rob's attempt to liken Ho Chi Minh to Pol Pot fails historically:

"The murderous dictatorships in South-East Asia (Ho Chi Minh's, the Khmer Rouge)"
(May 8)

But that's just an example of his "lop-sided" view of the history of the Vietnam War he has shown again and again.

Back to the original argument:

I think you are right, there's no reason why being careful should't have been among his motives.

Otto


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Joseph Tracy 
  To: pynchon-l 
  Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 7:46 AM
  Subject: Re: VLVL Rex and the BLGVN



  Since Pol Pot isn't mentioned explicitly in the novel I don't see how
  Pynchon could be an apologist for the "killing fields." You have mentioned
  this repeatedly but I still don't see why.

  "Pol Pot, an enemy of the Soviet Union, also gained support from Thailand
  and the US. In particular, the US and the PRC vetoed the allocation of
  Cambodia's United Nations General Assembly seat to a representative of Heng
  Samrin's government. Influenced by realpolitik the US directly and
  indirectly supported Pol Pot, who espoused a radically revised variant of
  Maoism adapted to Khmer nationalism. Envisaging a perfectly egalitarian
  agrarianism, the Khmer Rouge favored a direct route to communism, thus
  bypassing the intermediate stage of socialism. An autonomist, Pol Pot was
  quite the opponent of Soviet orthodoxy. Because he was anti-Soviet, the
  United States, Thailand and People's Republic of China considered him
  preferable to the pro-Vietnamese government."
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

  Otto

  Isn't the timing rather awkward too,  for Rex to be giving an argument relating to Pol Pot who doesn't appear as a significant leader until 1974 or 75? The action here appears to be happening several years earlier in the 1st Nixon term. At any rate Jbor's attempt to liken Ho Chi Minh  to Pol Pot  fails historically. Ho was a successful revolutionary nationalist who led the Vienamese in their fight for  freedom 1st  from French , and   then American colonialism  and military occupation.  He united  his people in the face of enormous  military power and a classic scheme to  divide and conquer..   Pol pot was a bloodthirsty idealogue who tore his  own country to shreds. 

  Going back to the original argument. Why is it so strange that Pynchon's reclusiveness might be partly an attempt to keep away from the watchful eye of the U.S. Govt. Certainly his encyclopedic knowledge of the history of spying, imperial conspiracies, and persecution provide adequate reasons for avoiding attention. As for the media , why feed this trivializing beast when you can communicate with a large audience on your own terms without sacrificing personal privacy, and the freedom of almost complete anonymity. 



  Joseph Tracy
  brook7 at earthlink.net
  Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.

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