Watts article

[Paul Mackin]

On Wed, 2004-09-29 at 18:41, jbor wrote:
> >> You've decided that Pynchon has made up these quotes, on no other basis than
> >> that you don't think the way the speakers are speaking is authentic, or
> >> "good", enough.
> > 
> > No other basis?   How many times do I need to point out to you that my basis
> > is that they cannot be authentic as used.   One cannot attribute a direct
> > quote to "they."   One cannot attribute a direct quote to what one is likely
> > to hear.   Such attributions can be nothing other than inauthentic.
> 
> I understand your argument. I disagree with it, and have explained why, many
> times. In the article there are direct quotations which are assigned to
> individuals ("a kid says", "a counsellor recalls"); there are other direct
> quotations which are given more general attribution ("others", "they",
> "you'll hear");

Hard to imagine something much more general and generic than "a kid
says."

>  and then there are descriptions and extended scenarios where
> Pynchon is apparently paraphrasing or embellishing on what he's been told.
> The use of speech marks distinguishes between the direct quotes and the
> paraphrases. Every usage of "man" (for emphasis), "baby" and "cats" in the
> article occurs within the direct quotations (i.e. within inverted commas, as
> part of attributed speech).
> 
> Addressing his reader, Pynchon writes:

>     "You are likely to hear from them wisdom on the order
>     of: 'Life has a way of surprising us, simply as a
>     function of time. Even if all you do is stand on the
>     street corner and wait.'"
> 
> In other words, if "you" (the reader) ever do go to Watts and talk to the
> people there, you're "likely to hear" this sort of comment, *because it's a
> comment I heard and am quoting to you 

If he'd heard it, he could have said so directly. He never does, in case
you hadn't noticed. He might have said "a young man on such and such
street corner told me such and such and added that similar views were
expressed by others hanging around."

As it is, he's giving us fact based fiction (we can give him that
benefit of the doubt), which leaves us only to decide whether it is good
fiction or bad fiction. I have my answer. It's pretty good but not
outstanding.

> 
> Attributing a direct quotation to more than one person is not as outrageous
> as you are making out. It's easy to imagine the process: in collecting
> material for the article he has been contracted to write Pynchon goes to
> Watts and speaks to various individuals and groups of locals, perhaps even
> tapes these exchanges. When speaking with a group one of them says something
> with which the rest of the group expresses agreement, so Pynchon
> incorporates the quote verbatim and attributes it as the sentiment of the
> whole group. 
> That seems to me a more straightforward way to read Pynchon's
> use of direct quotation, consensus attributions, and black slang in the
> article rather than asserting, over and over again and without evidence,
> that he made it all up.

In other words it's fiction based on his trip to Watts.