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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