re VLVL Pynchon's eye for detail

[Dave Monroe]

But I'm not so sure Pynchon's critique comes from the
Left, either.  Maybe more from a sympathetic observer.
 As Terrance also noted, his ... distaste for? (my
word, not T.'s), his parody, critique, whatever of the
Right is obvious.  He spends his (and, as raeders,
our) time more on the opposition, resistance, loyal or
(more often than not) otherwise.  But I take that s
indicating not that he's, despite evidence to the
contrary, nontheless cryptically or otherwsie
sympathetic to the Right after all, but, rather, that
he's disappointed in the failures of the Left, perhaps
because they act as a reaction formation, are
necessarily tainted by the systems in which all
(contemporary, American, whatever) politics operate. 
But I DON'T read 'em as saying, they're ALL crooks,
Anarachy in the U.S.A., whatever.  I think the novels,
and, esp., from Lot 49 onward, play out the
problematics of Power 'n' Resistance, albeit without
necessarily offering (at least not overtly, though
maybe there are hints) alternatives.  But Pynchon's a
novelist, not a social engineer.  I believe very
strongly in the value of critique.  It's difficult
enough simply to identify some problems, but it has to
be done before they can be solved, so ...

--- Otto <ottosell at yahoo.de> wrote:
> 
> > > again, VL doesn't set out to confirm the
> > > left's views of reagan-bush or preach to the
> > > prairie, but to chastise the left for their
> > > betrayals and their turns.
> >
> > I do not disagree.  But this does imply, and
> > quite correctly, I think, that he feels perhaps
> > personally betrayed.  One on the Right would not
> > feel "betrayed" by the Left, not in the manner
> > I believe you might mean.  Vineland's critique
> > of the Left is not delievered from the Right.
> > It's odd that readers, posters, might tend to
> > imply otherwise here, but ...
> 
> Good point. Precisely what I've been saying from
> the beginning of the Vineland-reading on. The Left
> blew it, but Pynchon's critique is from within, so
> he's taking his share....

Me, I voted for Clark in the primaries, I signed
nomination papers for Nader (and took hell for it from
a friend, but I don't blame Nader for running, I'll
blame the people who might continue to suffer under
Bush for voting for him), but I'm voting for Kerry
nonetheless, as I did for Gore in 2000.  I voted for
Nader in 1996, but I had no reason to fear the
eventuality of a Dole Administration (and I'd trade GW
for Bob D any day of the week) ...


		
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