Consumption
Henry
scuffling at gmail.com
Fri Oct 24 14:55:01 CDT 2008
Mmm, how does that red herring taste? Yes, I'm in complete agreement with
you, Lawrence, but next to the plastic arts and the internet, a line of type
is as straight as an arrow. Even tear-up Burroughs does not read well
backwards.
Henry Mu
Hey, have a look at my O'blog,
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/henrymu and support and
contribute to the campaign (it's not over until the polls close):
http://tinyurl.com/henrym4obamafundraising
-----Original Message-----
From: Lawrence Bryan [mailto:lebryan at speakeasy.net]
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 3:32 PM
To: Henry
Cc: Pynchon Liste
Subject: Re: Consumption
Not sure I agree that "books" are as linear as music or films. I can
and do easily pause while reading and back up to reread or
thoughtfully consider what I just read before moving on. The other two
are meant to have a time-like linearity which books just don't have
for me.
Lawrence
On Oct 24, 2008, at 7:33 AM, Henry wrote:
> I've always said that unlike the plastic arts, linear art, e.g.
> books, film,
> and music, is consumed, much like food. (Untutored as I am, I make
> no claim
> that I am alone in this assertion.) You can order another helping,
> but it
> has a start and when it's the end, it's over.
>
>
>
> It sure feels like, happy ending or not, Election Day will feel like
> finishing a long, engrossing book..
>
>
>
> Last Chapter of a Storybook Campaign
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102302
> 883.html
>
>
>
> In a week and a half, it'll be over. What will we do to fill the
> void in our
> lives?
>
>
>
> Opinion surveys, voter registration totals and cable television
> ratings
> indicate that Americans have been engrossed by the marathon
> presidential
> campaign. That's no surprise, given the first-in-history nature of the
> candidacies, the host of crucial problems we face and the sense that
> the
> outcome may determine the course -- and the prospects -- of our
> nation for
> many years to come.
>
>
>
> But there's a fine line between being engrossed and being obsessed,
> and many
> of us have crossed it.
>
>
>
> .
>
> It feels as if we've been making our way through some great epic
> novel, by
> Tolstoy, perhaps, or Thomas Pynchon -- a book peopled by indelible
> characters who act against the backdrop of sweeping events. Just
> think back
> to where we started. On New Year's Day, the conventional wisdom was
> that the
> general election would be an Empire State contest between Hillary
> Clinton
> and Rudy Giuliani.
>
>
>
> So much for the conventionally wise. The Iowa caucuses were the
> equivalent
> of the famous opening line of "Gravity's Rainbow," Pynchon's
> masterpiece: "A
> screaming comes across the sky."
>
>
>
> In the course of the long narrative, some characters emerged from
> nowhere --
> Joe the Plumber, for example -- had a dramatic impact, and then
> disappeared
> -- Jeremiah Wright, for example. Others went away but returned
> unexpectedly,
> such as Giuliani, who came back to lead Republican convention
> delegates in
> the unforgettable chant "Drill, baby, drill." Or John Edwards, who
> dropped
> out of the race but later resurfaced at a Beverly Hills hotel,
> hiding from
> National Enquirer reporters chasing a tip that he was visiting his
> mistress.
>
>
>
>
> As for plot twists, I can think of few in literature that compare
> with the
> sudden emergence of Sarah Palin. If you look closely at the video
> clip of
> her appearance on "Saturday Night Live," when she's in the hallway
> talking
> to Alec Baldwin and SNL honcho Lorne Michaels, a man dressed like
> Abraham
> Lincoln is in the background with what appears to be a llama.
>
>
>
> That's the kind of year it's been.
>
>
>
> We're now at a bittersweet point that's analogous to reaching the
> middle of
> the final chapter. We want to race ahead and find out what happens.
> We want
> to know if our hero -- Obama or McCain -- is victorious. But we also
> know
> that when we finally get the answer, we'll have to exit the
> alternative
> reality of narrative, atmosphere and emotion that we've inhabited for
> months. We'll be bereft.
>
>
>
> We'll have something to savor, though. After Election Day has come
> and gone,
> we -- at least those of us who bother to vote -- will know that the
> time we
> spent obsessing about the campaign was worth it. That's because
> we'll be the
> ones who decided how the story ended.
>
>
>
> Henry Mu
>
> Information, Media, and Technology Management Consultant
>
> Please have a look at my blog,
> http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/henrymu and support and
> contribute to the campaign (it's not over until the polls close):
> http://tinyurl.com/henrym4obamafundraising
>
>
>
>
>
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