GR and Nixon

[Malignd]

<<But to what purpose does Pynchon portrait corporate
America that way?>>

He's not "portraying" corporate America.  He's using
contextually, for fictional purposes, something that
went on during World War II, the time in which the
novel takes place.  It's worth reminding yourself that
Pynchon specifically and effectively uses the idea and
mood of paranoia to drive the book; i.e., it's a
fictional device and GR is a novel.    

<<Was it widespread knowledge in 1973 that the world
wasn't run (and ruined) by governments but trusts and
cartels?>>

As it is now, you mean?  See Fowler's, under "begging
the question."  

As to knowledge of attempts by allied corporations to
maintain ties with their German counterparts, who
knows?  It was there to be learned of.  Despite
Millison's insistence that no one knew such a thing
before Pynchon told the world, Sasuly's book came out
in 1947.  A book by Anthony Sampson called The
Sovereign State of ITT -- which came out the same year
as GR and was on the bestseller list -- talks about it
as well.  

One has reason to doubt that the situation being
referenced in a book as famously unread as GR led to
any mass dropping of scales from eyes. 





		
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com