ATDTDA (23): "it's way too late anymore" (643.10)

Tim Strzechowski dedalus204 at comcast.net
Wed Nov 28 04:06:37 CST 2007


"For you-all, it's way too late anymore."


Strange.  

I keep returning to this phrase, trying to figure it out.  

In the context of the paragraph, Ewball is commenting to Dwayne on how Americans are more or less beyond hope because they've "delivered [themselves] into the hands of capitalists and Christers,"  whereas "folks down here still have a chance."

But to my ear it's an odd construction. Why follow up "It's way too late" with the word "anymore"?  Is this Pynchon trying to evoke colloquial folk-speak, or broken English?  Or is there the subtle suggestion of a double-negative in the phrase:  wouldn't "anymore" seem more befitting a sentence like, "It's not too late"?  So, does "It's way too late anymore" function as an ironic statement by the unwitting Ewball?

Strange.

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