Vietnam World War II Gravity's Rainbow

[John Carvill]

Good question. I'm sure it's been covered in the archives. I suppose you might get some answers if you went through the book keeping that angle in mind. Trouble is, there are so many angles you could try to keep in mind. No doubt at all, Pynchon's thoughts on Vietnam must've informed his handling of WWII, but specific references are, as far as I'm aware, still fairly obscure (if there at all). Wonder if there's been an article in Pynchon Notes about this?

One example. At the start, in the banana breakfast sequence, Pirate enters his jungle-like bananery, and he clears his mind, "an old commando trick"; this vaguely calls to mind Vietnam for me.  



<<In the Mind of P Documentary, much is mentioned often of this World War II
as Vietnam and the the US as the aggressors just like Germany was during
world war 2. I could see Gravitys Rainbow as an oblique reaction to Vietnam,
but I see not direct correlation or reference. What are your thought s on
this?>>



 


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