Pynchon's misdirection

[Keith]

When I first read Hollander, I was dazzled by his readings, but have  
ended up feeling the same as you. I'm fine with calling what he does  
a fair "reading" but his rhetoric implying that he has found the key  
to unlock Pynchon's true intent - all that 'magic eye' and 'those who  
know' nonsense is annoying. It's a thorough, intelligent, and  
creative reading, but ends up looking like the script to "They Might  
Be Giants II " when it's all said and done.

But, as Justin Playfair responded to such criticism:

Dr. Mildred Watson: You're just like Don Quixote. You think that  
everything is always something else.

Justin Playfair: Well, he had a point. 'Course he carried it a bit  
too far. He thought that every windmill was a giant. That's insane.  
But, thinking that they might be, well... All the best minds used to  
think the world was flat. But what if it isn't? It might be round.  
And bread mold might be medicine. If we never looked at things and  
thought of what might be, why we'd all still be out there in the tall  
grass with the apes.


On Jan 26, 2007, at 2:54 PM, Tore Rye Andersen wrote:

I think the misdirection in this quote is Charles Hollander's.