Not politics - Pynchon (bombs)

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Dual refraction?  Does that mean you agree with both of us?

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
>Sent: Oct 8, 2008 2:18 PM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: Not politics - Pynchon (bombs)
>
>As Far as I can tell, the spirit of the Yippies looms large in  
>Gravity's Rainbow, and in Vineland.  Webb Traverse---like most  
>everything else in Against the Day, is a dual refraction. Webb is one  
>of the tales of the wild[e] west that never made it to pulp fiction.  
>It is also the anarchy of the internet. By traversing the web we are  
>co-conspirators in the revisionist histories that are central to all  
>of Pynchon's work. I will continue to insist that the 'loser' status  
>of so many of TRP's relatives is a major engine of Pynchon's fictions.
>
>
>On Oct 8, 2008, at 11:02 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>
>> My daughter's a Brandeis kid, following in the footsteps (or not) of  
>> Abby Hoffman, Angela Davis, and various other Brandeis alums who  
>> straddled both sides of the militant/terrorist divide.  To steer  
>> this back to Pynchon, Mark Kohut and I have had a running argument  
>> about whether TRP sees Webb Traverse and other anarchist bombers as  
>> good guys or bad guys.  I say yes, Mark says no.  To reframe the  
>> question, what might TRP's attitude be towards Bill Ayers and the  
>> other Weathermen?  I'm assuming a basic, if critical, tolerance  
>> (somewhat short of outright affection).  Mark, I'm guessing would  
>> disagree.
>>
>> Laura