C of L49: "Destroying its own message irretrievably" Or, the Immanence of Transcendence

[Page]

Mark writes:

>Paradise [Shambala], What Makes It, is only pointed to, never articulated.

>Also, reminiscent of Wittgenstein's thoughts on religious beliefs, in some 
>ways.

"it is only pointed to, never articulated" sounds like the 'early' 
Wittgenstein. And, yes, we know from V. on that TRP has read the 
"Tractatus."

I believe that Mr. Kohut has read Wittgenstein, (though I have no proof of 
this) and his post is infused with some of that knowledge.







----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Kohut" <markekohut at yahoo.com>
To: "pynchon -l" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 11:55 AM
Subject: C of L49: "Destroying its own message irretrievably" Or, the 
Immanence of Transcendence


>
> p. 95 "She could, at this stage of things, recognize signals like that, as 
> the epileptic is said to----
> an odor, color, pure piercing grace note announcing his seizure. Afterward 
> it is only this signal,
> really dross, this secular announcement, and never what is revealed during 
> the attack, that he remembers.
> Oedipa wondered whether, at the end of this (if it were supposed to end), 
> she too
> might not be left with only compiled memories of clues, announcements, 
> intimations, but never the
> central truth itself, which must somehow each time be too bright for her 
> memory to hold;
> which must always blaze out, destroying its own message irreversibly, 
> leaving
> an overexposed blank when the ordinary world came back. In the space of a 
> sip of dandelion wine
> it came clear to her that she would never know how many times such a 
> seizure may already have visited,
> or how to grasp it should it visit again. Perhaps even in this last 
> second---but there was no way to tell.
> She glanced down the corridor of Cohen's rooms in the rain and saw, for 
> the very first time, how far it
> might be possible to get lost in this."
>
> Wonderfully written, seemingly VERY THEMATICALLY IMPORTANT paragraph. 
> Let's unpack some layers.
>
> [Misc. Dostoevsky is the most famous God-obsessed writer who experienced 
> epilepsy. Dick may have had temporal lobe epilepsy. I may send misc. words 
> on the phenomenon in another post]
>
> I'm going to throw out a reading, one I've hinted at in my posting: O. can 
> 'at this stage of things', i.e. in what she is learning in her quest, 
> recognize 'signals'.......'pure piercing grace note"---Notice Pierce's 
> name and another important P word....
>
> I suggest that this is one of P's most direct 'statements' that the Word 
> [of God], the revelation [of God] is not known to us in this world as 
> anything Transcendent IF He exists as a Transcendent Being....Or, 
> postmodernly maybe, we have
> to live in the uncertainty of any certainty regarding Transcendence.....
>
> Clues; A 'secular announcement' ---like Gabriel to Mary; like a Rilke 
> angel---that could come from beyond the secular?
> Clues: 'at the end of this (if it were to end)...suggesting this is our 
> constant daily fate (since the uncertainty never ends
> by the end of the novella)...
> Clues: "never the central truth itself".....Stelliforous Meaning, 
> Transcendent Certainty........reminds of p-listers who have
> harped on the theme (in later works) that Paradise [Shambala], What Makes 
> It, is only pointed to, never fully articulated.
> Also, reminiscent of Wittgenstein's thoughts on religious belief, in some 
> ways. We know TRP has read him.
> Clues: 'when the ordinary world came back. Again, I'm going to argue that 
> one of P's key beliefs is that, whatever Truths might be Transcendent (if 
> any) , they also must exist in 'the ordinary world"....
> Clues: So, such everday transcendentals, so to speak, have been happening, 
> always happening, we don't even know
> how many there might have been and are, since they 'blaze out'.....
>
> Also, 'blaze out' remind of some merging of rocket apocalypse [in GR] and 
> God-as-Light-filled experience?
>
>
>
>
>


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