Parrots in Pynchon

[Robin Landseadel]

On Feb 25, 2009, at 2:01 PM, Great Quail wrote:

> --Quail
>
> PS: As a parrot "owner," thanks for that list of parrots in Pynchon!  
> I found it quite enjoyable.

   --Robin

   You're welcome. I've never owned a parrot but have had many  
engaging conversations with mynahs.

> I am honestly not picking a fight!  I just personally believe that  
> 75% of anything in a Pynchon novel is usually a signifier of the  
> presence of magical realism!


This is not a fight, this is an argument. If you want a fight you  
might try abuse in 2c.

I'll cop to overinterpreting but it's that sort of reading that keeps  
me in this tourist town. In any case, "the parrots could tell full- 
length stories - of humorless jaguars and mischief-seeking monkeys,  
mating competitions and displays, the coming of humans and the  
disappearance of the trees -" sounds like it was extracted from 100  
Years of Solitude. I'd say that your 75% rule applies more to later  
Pynchon than earlier---can't call the stuff that whizzes around in San  
Narcisco magic, more like its threatening opposite.