About Pynchon's Lot 49

[Dan Hansong]

===============Evie's Question ===================================
Evie | E-mail: xxx at hotmail.com | IP: 71.104.169.120

After reading your comments on Mr.Lin’s translation, it seems you read 
this novel thoroughly. May I ask you some questions? I don’t really 
understand this novel after finishing the whole book. At the end of 
the enovel, Oedipa recalls hearing Pierce tell her that the “secret” 
is to “keep it bouncing.” Though the comment is vague, Oedipa derives 
meaning from the advice after all her weeks of trying to execute 
Pierce’s will and estate and weeks of investigating the Trystero. 
What does this message to “keep it bouncing” mean exactly? What 
is “it”? What did Pierce mean by keeping it “bouncing”? And 
how might this message connect to Oedipa’s character, motives, 
and experience over the course of the novel?

And, some people said the novel’s main goal is to reveal the poor 
society by Oedipa’s journey; however, I can’t find any scene that 
imply the society is poor. Could you share some ideas with me? Thank 
you very much. Hope to hear from you soon. 

===============My Answer ===================================

"The secret is to keep it bouncing" is such an apt line in this novel.
Personally, I believe Pierce Invarity, Oedipa's father-like lover, is 
playing a Jehovah role when tantalizing her with these elusive clues, 
which sometimes lead to revelation but sometimes dead-ends.

Take this "oracle" for instance, this "secret" probably refers to a 
fundamental understanding of life itself. Obviously, at the beginning 
of Oedipa's quest, she was no more than a captive housewife living
in a nameless suburban neighborhood. She knew very little about her 
husband, her lover, her country, let alone the truth of life.She was 
a prey, uncommunicative, inert and lonely. Notice three important
allusions: 1) Oedipa as Oedipus, a riddle cracker; 2) Oedipa as Echo, 
a nymph under spell 3) Maiden Rapunzel, a girl imprisoned in her ego 
tower. In other words, she was CHARMED and STUCK. 

To get away from her personal tragedy, to execute her "will" (a pun, 
you see), she must learn to take initiative and decode an underground 
postal system on her own. Though she bumped into some men, like Metzger, 
once in a while, but they all deserted her eventually. She bounced between 
one hint to another, none of which are definitive and conclusive. As 
Pynchon suggests, her quest is necessarily unfinishable. This is the 
significance of "keeping it bouncing". Always searching, always meandering.
The motion, rather than the end, makes difference. Otherwise, a picture of 
informational entropy might loom.

As to your second question, I recommend a second-reading. Pynchon's works 
forbid fast reading.Slow down and then  you can find what resides between 
the lines. I've read it four times, still haunted by some questions. I don't 
think Pynchon's main goal is to render the dark side of the United States,
though he is obviously critical of his fatherland. Please keep in mind that 
the subject matter of Tristero is disinheritedness. As the novel reveals, 
the patron of this forbidden mailing system are largely the outcast of  
American society, such as the Black, the right or left radicals, the senile
veteran, the querulous inventors, the homosexual,etc. As a writer says, what 
the system excludes is very important for the understading of what's inside. 

I'm so glad to know of someone who shares my interests in Pynchon. He is more 
than worth your reading. Trust me. I'm reading his Against the Day. It's hugely fun.

Dan Hansong

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