VL-IV pgs. 98/99: Postmodern Mysticism

[Mark Kohut]

He USES whatever for his thematic purposes, to fill out his worldview, yes?  
Like other writers use what charges their imagination? 

Ray's remarks below reinforce what I could not tell myself, but wanted to believe re maths in AtD: their
metaphoric meaning. 


 


----- Original Message ----
From: Ray Easton <kraimie at kraimie.net>
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 10:05:57 AM
Subject: Re: VL-IV pgs. 98/99: Postmodern Mysticism

Robin Landseadel wrote:
> 
> My point is not hinging on how superficial or deep Pynchon's knowledge of these matters is. His knowledge may well be superficial, as you [both] are saying. My knowledge is superficial, as you both have pointed out.  Pynchon may well be skimming the surface of these topics, but that does not eliminate the presence of these topics in his books.

I've no idea, of course, what Pynchon's actual knowledge of any subject matter is.  But his knowledge of mathematics as displayed in AtD is certainly superficial.  In the case of the math, I've concluded that the details of the mathematics present in AtD have in fact no meaning at all -- that all that actually matters is that the characters are wrapped up in this activity. 
I lack the knowledge to have a good basis to draw the same conclusion about his use of the occult, but I wonder if this case is not similar.

Ray