IVIV recommended reading: McLuhan

[Heikki Raudaskoski]

Tom Schaub was among the first to emphasize the importance of McLuhan's
_Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man_ for TCoL49, especially its
appropriation of the Narcissus myth. For McLuhan, Narcissus falls in
love not with a reflection, but with an extension of himself. This
extension numbs his perceptions until he becomes a servomechanism of
his own extended image.

Schaub writes: "The world of _The Crying of Lot 49_ is built around those
'extensions': word of mouth, cars and mattresses, the written work in
plays and bathrooms, even the configuration of cities and towns. In
McLuhan's view, all these are the narcissistic extensions of man whose
medium is the message of his culture."
Thomas Schaub: "A Gentle Chill, An Ambiguity: _The Crying of Lot 49_".
P. 54 in Pearce, _Critical Essays on Thomas Pynchon_ G.K. Hall 1981.


Heikki


On Tue, 18 Aug 2009, Mark Kohut wrote:
> I think I have seen in bibliographic lists about TRP's work, an article or couple that
> points to TRP using McLuhan, closely, almost quotingly, not just as parallel insights......I have some McLuhan on my list to read. (the major one to reread--- I was so much stupider then, I'm smarter and still pre-dementia now...)
>
> A...and, I've ordered "Society of the Spectacle". TRP might have arrived at the equivalent of a lot of DeBord's theses hisself, but I think they are so THERE in Vineland and Against the Day, influenced by DeBord or self-seen.
>
> --- On Tue, 8/18/09, Doug Millison <dougmillison at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > From: Doug Millison <dougmillison at comcast.net>
> > Subject: IVIV recommended reading:  McLuhan
> > To: "Pynchon-L" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> > Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 3:07 PM
> >  Understanding Media: The Extensions
> > of Man by Marshall McLuhan
> >  The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man by
> > Marshall McLuhan
> >
> > I've re-read these both this year and thoroughly enjoyed
> > them. Very helpful as I look at the Web from the day-job
> > perspective  as editorial chief for a social media
> > start-up. Lots of connections to Pynchon's books, I was
> > surprised at how strong some them appear and would not be
> > surprised to learn that Pynchon has read and been influenced
> > by them to some degree, although I don't know if that's the
> > case.  The Gutenberg Galaxy is the more satisfying
> > book, in my opinion.
> >
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