VL 'Stokely's dog' 49.1

[bandwraith at aol.com]

Ok. I'll nibble (yibble? don't have time for a lengthy discussion)- but
your opening is interesting and thought provoking and goes to the
dynamics of the plot. I could, if I were so inclined, I think, make at
least as good a case for Brock Vond's abrogation of authority as
being "just like a novelists lot."

Numerous other picky points come to mind, like the fact that
royalties for three previous novels and a handsome prize probably
weaken the link between successful Pynchon and hand-to-mouth
Zoyd, but who knows? The comparison seems better made with an
unpublished novelist.

Point is, the story spills out, and the plot unfolds, through the 
tension
between the 60's p.o.v. mediated thru the 80's tube culture, and
Brock's perpetual hard-on for and desire to control Frenesi. He wants
to write her story. In that sense, Zoyd is like a bad case of writer's
cramp- a symptom to be overcome rather than the real deal, and
Brock is the man with a plan, fascist as it imay be.

The question of why it took 18 years to finish Vineland can be
understood by considering that Pynchon was probably working on
at least three other novels, simultaneously.

Thanks


-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Jackson <jbor at bigpond.com>
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 5:43 am
Subject: VL 'Stokely's dog' 49.1


'Trent, a sensitive poet-artist from the city: " ... somebody said they 
shot Stokely's dog ..."' (48-9) 
 0D
http://www.interchange.org/Kwameture/nytimes111698.html 
 
Zoyd's deal is indeed just like a novelist's lot; and a bit like a dog 
having to sing for his supper. But Zoyd's clearly into his '15 minutes 
of fame' as well and is teetering just on that precarious edge between 
disguise, or anonymity, and exhibitionism - whether 'its, uh, a Calvin 
Klein original' or, say, a paper bag over his head.