M & D and ATD, thematic homage, parallels, etc.

[Paul Mackin]

On Apr 26, 2007, at 10:19 PM, David Casseres wrote:

> On 4/26/07, Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Is anything really at stake then (besides fine writing)  in these
> unrealistic, mythical, un-nuanced depictions of imperialism,
> colonialism, capitalism, anarchism, innocence, edens, paradises,   
> etc.?
>
> Fending off possible excuses can't be what Pynchon labors mightily  
> for..
>
> More likely  those portentous-sounding passages like "Does Britannia,
> when she sleeps, . . ."  serve mainly to make our nerve endings
> tingle, which they make mine do exceedingly well..  The more such
> passages the better as far as I'm concerned. And don't tell me I'm
> trivializing Pynchon's art. I'm  recognizing it for what it is.
>
> I think there's a moral viewpoint at stake, a concern for the moral  
> trajectories to be seen in human enterprise.  The unrealistic,  
> mythic technique makes it easier to portray connections.
>
> Not to say that Pynch isn't interested in tingling the nerves,  
> causing a bit of horripilation or heavy breathing, etc.
>
>
and it isn't that easy to make my nerves tingle these days

the "moral" idea seems to be compelling to many of us so I shouldn't  
discount it entirely, though it does seem to me
the EXISTENTIAL trajectory is where the emphasis should lie

the irreversible movement from subjunctive to actual.

that God (in a manner of speaking) is both creator and destroyer

that the number of untaken possibilities is infinite

that time (change) moves only forward,  never back. or sideways in  
some off-the-number-line additional dimension

that  our judgment of history can't rely  on some unicorn  
(mythological) theory of earthly existence

that ideas (which include ideals) need to approximate reality, not  
the other ways around






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