More Against the Day

[Ya Sam]

Against the days, as I see it, are various instances of the expression 
'against the day'.
Speaking about the tite itself, I think it is very peculiar if compared to 
others. V. is about V. (many duhs in brackets), Mason & Dixon is about those 
two (on the other hand 18c (and 19c) tradition of calling the novels by the 
names of the characters), Vineland is about Vineland, Lot 49 at least 
indicates that there is this lot, Gravity's Rainbow is much trickier, 
although, on the obvious side, it is about gravity which pulls down the 
rocket whose contrail (is this the word?) is seen as a rainbow. OK, that 
much for duhs. But Against the Day, is a way too abstract and vague. Maybe 
the polysemantic monstrosity of this phrase was the factor that influenced 
Pynchon's choice?


>From: Joseph T <brook7 at sover.net>
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: More Against the Day
>Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 17:56:20 -0400
>
>  I don't get why it's being called Against the Days with  a plural   
>rather than the Singular Day as appears on Amazon etc. Part of why  I'm 
>asking is that while my first thought was of the Biblical use of  the  
>phrase and I think that is the most obvious reference, the  phrase might 
>also be taken in the direction of "opposing the light" .  This would fit 
>with Pychon's investigation of those who cloak  themselves in secrecy, 
>support the workings of imperial ambition, and  posit themselves as tools 
>of the manifest greater destiny. The time  period is certainly the era when 
>America clearly takes on  international imperial appetites.

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