Gustav v. Gottfied [WAS Re: Gentlemen...]

[jporter]

On Oct 20, 2005, at 6:59 PM, Ivan Ackerman wrote:

> Hi folks
>  
> Now I know I'm potentially letting myself in for a real flame-fest 
> here, but what the hell.
>  
> I've been running through Gravity's Rainbow again, nearly finished 
> Part III (In The Zone). And my question is this: Am I the only one who 
> finds GR significantly decreases, in terms of being an enjoyable read, 
> as it goes on?
>

Well, you know, it seems to me that GR is the ultimate
one way ticket, and the beginning of such trips are always
more lighthearted than the finale. I think that's part of
Pynchon's game- to consistently narrow the field of view
as the novel progresses- options and opportunities
become more and more limited- until the last dt.

Potential gradually becomes converted into the inevitable,
just as birth and youth give way to old age and the options
for change and renewal become less and less. This is
another meaning of the parabolic arc reflected in the
Rocket's trajectory- a metaphor for the individual, as well
as, the collective Western Götterdammerüng. None but
the most fervid death-worshippers among us care to
face The Grand Integrator any sooner than necessary.
Although, I suspect, many get a secret erotic thrill by the
vicarious appreciation of the Blicero/Gottfried debacle.


The end is sad, sure, but not necessarily as perverse and
bleak as the anti-paschal interlude between Blicero and
Gottfried. By the end, we tend to forget momentarily, in the
heat of the moment, like Prairie at the end of Vineland,
where we've come from and what we're about. As we begin
to disassociate ourselves from Blicero's con job, however,
and regain our bearings, other examples of healthier,
"life-worshipping" relationships between older men and
the younger men who will inevitably supplant them, from
earlier in the text, begin to reassert themselves in our memories.

I'm thinking here particularly of the Saure/Gustav scene,
which forms a nice contrast with the Blicero/Gottfied
monstrosity. While Gottfied seeks the sterile the womb of the
Rocket, Gustav seeks the security of a glossy Bosendorfer
Imperial grand piano from which he will latter emerge
to actively debate his "father", in the form of Saure, over
music, pot and other life-sustaining cultural artifacts.

They share a real affection and mutual respect. Even
Gustav's description of a concert hall filled with drooling,
farting, nostalgic Rossini-loving old men lingers some-
where in the dimmed theatre of the damned, staring
at the blank screen, waiting for the Rocket, at book's end.

Such recollections can be used keep the rocket at bay-
suspended even- for just a little while longer. It's an
on going process, moment by moment, the magic cannot
last forever, but it's sufficient unto the needs of the hour,
made more precious, perhaps, by its futility.

jody










































Bosendorf