AtD blurb - "false" religiosity?

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Then there's Geli Tripping's little episode from GR, utilizing A. E. Waite's little grey book of black magic. Or the ritual aspects of Brigadier Pudding's escapades with "Domina Nocturna". You can run, but you can't hide from Pynchon's interests/obsessions with black magic (and magic from other ethnic groups and color pallettes), at least in Gravity's Rainbow. And it's not like TRP ever did a thing to explain why there are so many different religious systems in all his books, why there are so many deviations from the dominant religious paradigms in his novels. Of course, defining edges that are in the process of historical shift---that's an prime theme in all of Pynchon's work, delta-t's, maps, postmarks and other ways of defining location and the directions of motion from the original location. Heresy is a prime historical marker. In fact, heresies abound in GR, and they are served up with relish in his other books. Counterforces to the Judeo-Christian juggernaut ofter appear as g
ood guys in Pynchon's novels. In fact, oftimes it appears like his goals are more in the James Joyce/Joseph Campbell/Bill Moyers camp of interest in relegion as a world-wide gestalt and myth generator as opposed to an evangelical duty to steer people towards the "light". 

One thing is for sure, whether Enochian or Episcopalian, Pynchon's interested in Angels and the afterlife in a great big way, and various previously living charecters (who sustain roles in his novels, despite their non-living status) are a major component in all of his books.

As regards the whole issue of Pynchon's tendency to fold commentary on modern life and politics into these vast historical canvases from distant eras: yup, he does it and you don't have to look hard to come up with lists of good guys and bad guys---you know, this guy has these little moral tales slipped into his books, and well known public figures do drop in from time to time. It may be the "least interesting" of the many aspects of his books, but an aspect it is, was and evermore shall be.

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Michael J. Hußmann" <michael at michael-hussmann.de>
> jbor at bigpond.com (jbor at bigpond.com) wrote:
> 
> > that it's more and more 
> > apparent that P is a Theist or Deist of some stripe (why else the 
> > distinction implicit in "false religiosity"?)
> 
> Acknowledging that some people are religious isn't much different from
> acknowledging that some people are paranoid. It doesn't imply that one
> is endorsing either world view. And if one draws a distinction between
> real and fake religiosity (or real and fake paranoia, or whatever), it
> still doesn't imply such an endorsement.
> 
> - Michael
> 
> 
> Michael J. Hußmann
> 
> E-mail: michael at michael-hussmann.de
> WWW (personal): http://michael-hussmann.de
> WWW (professional): http://digicam-experts.de
> 
>