Preparation for

[Robin Landseadel]

Alchemy allsorts, if you want to get right down to it. The whole
opening of the east as a source of spiritual nourishment in the
west has a huge role in AtD. There's also theosophy and its offspring,
the "Golden Dawn" & the Crowlian version of the OTO. "Enlightenment,"
both most literal and metaphysical is [IMHO] the central leitmotif of  
AtD.
I dipped into books on those subjects while luxuriating in minimal
employment as I  played in the group read of Against the Day.

I think you will find research into the roots of Buddhism the most  
fruitful.
A-a-a-and philately, believe it or not. They co-join in Tuva.

On Nov 10, 2008, at 12:02 PM, Ian Livingston wrote:

> Jungian alchemy is everywhere in AtD.  You might at least get some  
> kind
> of overview somewhere online.
>
> Ian
>
> On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 11:03 AM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
> It's probably best to just plunge in, google-searching as needed.   
> The USA trilogy by
> Dos Passos would be great thing to read before or after, if you  
> haven't read it yet.
>
> Laura
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Guy Ian Scott Pursey <g.i.s.pursey at reading.ac.uk>
> >Sent: Nov 10, 2008 9:28 AM
> >To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> >Subject: Preparation for "the Day"...
> >
> >Hello all,
> >
> >
> >
> >I've put it off long enough - so I'm thinking of beginning Against  
> The
> >Day this December and seeing if I can finish it in a month (highly
> >unlikely but the Christmas vacation may give me a fighting chance).
> >
> >
> >
> >Could any of you advise me of what I might do to ready myself for  
> this
> >daunting task. . .
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