pynchon-l-digest V2 #4336

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Actually bought the Weisenburger book only yesterday.  On the subway ride home, I opened it at random and was disappointed to find an error on p.48, in the note on "Kryptosam."  Weisenburger refers to the amino acid tyrosine as "an unknown and doubtless fictional substance."  Hope there aren't too many more like this.

> Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 22:46:03 +0100
> From: Paul Taylor <neon.taylor at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: maps in V. and Vineland?
> 
> Anybody's thoughts on the actual usefulness of: "Gravity's Rainbow"
Companion: Sources and Contexts for Pynchon's Novel   Steven
Weisenburger

When I read GR in the mid 1970's I brought a certain amount of basic
knowledge to the table. WWII wasn't ancient history, back then.  I'd
read a lot about WWII, I knew something about the way the war economy
worked in the US and Germany, I knew the history of the V2 rocket
program. I'd read Malcolm X and watched Hogan's Heroes. I was part of a
whole culture that Pynchon was writing in and for. GR engaged a lot I
already knew and rearranged it into new, useful and entertaining
patterns.

WWII is ancient history now. The whole cold-war seems like ancient
history. I'm not sure that younger readers come to the book with the
data set that we had back then. I surmise that Weisenberger's book is
useful chiefly as a glossary, and may help to keep the faint of heart
from abandoning GR. Personally, I bought Weisenberger during my third
or fourth read as a way of spicing it up.

Mark

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com