Against the Day, re-examined

[mikebailey]

On Sat, 5 May 2007, Paul Mackin wrote:

>
> On May 5, 2007, at 2:15 AM, mikebailey wrote:
>
> >
> > heh, "in reality" indeed - funny criterion to evaluate a novel...
>
>
> yes, it is.
>
> this is a perfect example of a major problem with blogging
>
> no editor to tell you when you say something dumb
>
> I do agree with him on the Dally character however.
>
>

I suppose he thinks Pynchon should have concentrated on the ideas
of Freud and Roosevelt at work in that era.  Although AtD's world
is animated by different concepts, psychiatry isn't absent (ie
Kit's sojourn in the loony bin) nor is Roosevelt - Pynchon's
placement of them may indicate the regard he holds them in...

I dunno, I liked Dally.  Merle is able to connect with her in
a surreal-techie way at the end; she gives poignancy to Merle's
character, and her interactions with Kit and with Cyprian may
prove important after we've had time to think about them...