ATD First Section & Wood Review

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

From: Joseph T <brook7 at sover.net>

"P.O.V. =point of view?" 

Yes, but what I wrote was "P.O.V.'s"---plural, knowing full well that AtD has
more than one novel in it, the Western outlaw as hero being one of them,
nocturnal pligrimages a'la GR another, Chums of Chance being yet 
another. I think deploying a multiplicity of story lines, the monstrous 
overstuffing of plots into AtD is an obvious and major aspect of AtD's design,
feeding the themes of Iceland Spar, time travel and other sorts of
reflection/displacement..
  
"Robin's contention that anarchy is an overarching theme and equally, that 
reviewers are avoiding this theme carries weight with my reading thus far, 
but some might want to substitute entropy for anarchy.  I think the moving 
point of view/authorial voice enhances this contention.  It seems that whether 
we are reading a boys adventure novel, a contest between "pure alchemy" 
and the captains of industry, or a Greek tragedy in the form of a western, 
things quickly move toward some dark and badass chaos .  I see the novel as 
being mostly about possibilities lost through a kind of inevitable polarization 
of forces. Some try to stand outside these polarites or see their ultimate unity, 
but this is a lonely,  and extremely vulnerable pursuit."

Anarchy/Chaos/Entropy/Discordianism---the inverse of order, the other side of
the Hammerheaded Western "Manifest Destiny" meme, the realm of the 
preterite, the ass end of western civilization---it's always been there in all of
Pynchon's novels, but there's the chosen years, the historical figures cited: 
Anarchy is the Rocket of AtD.

"The figurehead debate I found particularly  comforting . . .       The reconciliation
around this choice is clearly important as  indicated on (113)  . . . ."

'Was it any wonder that when the opportunity did arise, as it would shortly, the 
boys would grasp unreflectively at a chance to transcend "the secular," even 
at the cost of betraying their organization, their country, even humankind itself?'

-------------- next part --------------
An embedded message was scrubbed...
From: Joseph T <brook7 at sover.net>
Subject: ATD First Section & Wood Review
Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 23:24:12 +0000
Size: 7933
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20070102/23224efb/attachment.mht>