Atd : page 542---starts on page 524.Big Ass Spoiler

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Dear A.A.,

I'm getting the impression that you probably have a better handle on 
upper division math/physics than most (I've no handle on that stuff at
all) and I've a feeling that lots of the math/physics in AtD is the basis
of personal actions for various characters in the novel. Hopefully 
some of these metaphors/analogies that are over my head will be 
explained as we go along. I see all sorts of elements of the story 
having their little convention on pgs. 524-542, but I'm particularly 
intrigued by Kit's actions on 1079-1081, and I have to wonder if these 
scenes in the novel are rooted in mathematics or concepts from physics. 

Of course, throwing the Tuvan/Shambahlan stamp stuff into the 
mix (along with the free-for-all on 978/979) suggests that 
Pynchon has been a hardcore philatelist all along. Re-reading 
COL 49 way the hell too many times has led me to constantly ask 
where the stamps came from without ever really asking myself: 
"Is this man a stamp collector?"

(and now I must break into song):

"Who needs a hobby,
like tennis, or philately?
I've got a hobby,
re-reading "Lady Chatterly"

. . . .so the Tuvan stuff, tied as it is to the stamp stuff, may have been
 on the author's back burner for quite some time now.

I still smell a pony in here.

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Anville Azote" <anville.azote at gmail.com>
> On 12/8/06, robinlandseadel at comcast.net <robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Anybody gotta copy of "Tuva or Bust? Prove me wrong. I really don't
> > know anything about Richard Feynman, but a lot of pointers seemed
> > to be angled towards him anyway. So do me a favor, kids---if you've
> > read "Tuva Or Bust", or have something meaningful to say about this
> > here particular neck of the woods---speak up!. 'Cause as far as I can tell,
> > it's simple arithmetic: Tuva + Physics = Feynman. In any case, I've already
> > ordered a copy for myself.
> >
> 
> Tuva + Lots of math not associated with Feynman + some physics also
> not strongly associated with Feynman (double refraction, Prandtl's
> boundary layer, luminferous aether) + absence of stories strongly tied
> to Feynman (safecracking, bongo drums, Challenger's o-rings) = . . . .
> 
> If Pynchon devoted even a fraction of the time he spent on the
> Quaternion Wars to liquid helium, for example, I think we could make a
> much stronger case for a Feynman connection.  Ditto for quarks or
> quantum electrodynamics --- but alluding to those topics in a
> fin-de-siecle story would be Really Hard.  (Not impossible, mind you.)
> 
> The only detail in Feynman's Tuva saga which correlates with anything
> Pynchonian is the postage stamps.  And IIRC, **Tuva or Bust** mentions
> that the old stamps from Tannu Touva were renowned among philatelists.
> . . so if anything brought Tuva to Pynchon's attention, he practically
> **has to use** them.  Ditto for throat-singing:  Tuva is famous for
> it, so Pynchon uses it.  I didn't notice any particular parallels with
> Feynman's attempts to reach Tuva, which had much more to do with
> hunting down obscure books via interlibrary loan, outwitting the
> Soviet bureaucracy and so forth.
> 
> **Tuva or Bust** is a good book.  I expect you'll enjoy it.
> 
> -A. A.