ATDTDA (5.1) - The Etienne-Louis Malus

[David Morris]

On 3/23/07, Monte Davis <monte.davis at bms.com> wrote:
> David Morris wrote:
>
> The evidence that the CoC exist in the "real" world of AtD is in their  interaction with characters on the ground in Chicago and elsewhere (Merle, Dahly, Lew, etc.). This needs to be qualified with that line on p. 36:"...the great national celebration possessed the exact degree of fictitiousness to permit the boys access and agency.  The harsh nonfictional world waited outside the White City's limits..."
>
> So yes, there's interaction, but only under (un)certain circumstances.
>

OK, I get your (& Pynchon's) point about the White City's level of
"fictitiousness," allowing the CoC "access & agency," but it seems a
statement less about the Chum's existence and more about their nature.
 I mean, how "real" could the talking dog be?  But they do interact
with "real" (a very relative term for everyone in the book) characters
in numerous locations besides the White City, in the "harsh
nonfictional world" (again, in AtD, being a work of fiction, not to be
taken literally).

David Morris