CoL49 (6) The Crying of Lot 49

[Robin Landseadel]

On Jul 23, 2009, at 9:28 AM, Dave Monroe wrote:

> "The auctioneer cleared his throat. Oedipa settled back, to await the
> crying of lot 49." (Lot
> 49, Ch. 6, p. 183)
>
> http://www.nbu.bg/webs/amb/american/6/pynchon/lot6.htm
> http://www.innternet.de/~peter.patti/thomaspynchon- 
> thecryingoflot49.htm
>
> . . . Q: How'd y'all feel when you first hit that final sentence?   
> Howzabout
> these days?  Let me know.  Thanks.  To all who've hosted,
> participated, or otherwise endured ...

Oedipa went "Underground," under the concrete to that place where  
there is still some possibility of things being different, to where  
there are still signs of life. The way out was the way underground. By  
the time the novel is over Oedipa has dropped out. By the time The  
Crying of Lot 49 was issued, the author had dropped out too.

I still hang on to the notion of the importance of the last 49 words  
of CoL49 in some way underscoring the novel's  theme of revelation in  
potentia:

	She heard a lock snap shut; the sound echoed a moment.
	Passerine spread his arms in a gesture that seemed to belong
	to the priesthood of some remote culture; perhaps to a
	descending angel. The auctioneer cleared his throat. Oedipa
	settled back, to await the crying of lot 49.

Again, signs and arrows throughout CoL49 point to CIA control of the  
drug trade. That theme flares up in this novel and never goes away.  
The author sets things up so we seem to be constantly on the verge of  
revelation. Remember, though, that by the time CoL49 is over, Mucho  
Maas has already experienced his Gnostic moment.

Interesting that at our particular historical node—late July 2009—we  
are on the verge of quite a few revelations involving the CIA. August  
4th 2009  might prove to be quite the propitious moment for issuing  
this book. The author does pay attention to astrology, you  
know . . .      :   )