VLVL (13) - Cesare Lombroso

[Joseph Tracy]

I find it more like real life . People and their motives are not made  
credible so much by some impossibly literary inner narrative as by  
what they do, no matter how odd. I find the behaviors credible after  
seeing the weird directions lives took coming out of the 60s. Pynchon  
focuses on behavior. Inner narratives are short and often digressive.  
Some of the neocons were once radical lefties, and where did all  
those dittoheads come from? People change , often suddenly.  The  
suddenness of Frenesi's turn is hard to fathom and pushes credibility  
but we are talking about sex, drugs, power, unmet needs. Who has not  
toyed with betrayal or stepped over that line in some form?
Vonds theory of the radicals secret need for order is being played  
out with Frenesi, while her theory that there is an inner beauty/ 
vulnerability/relationship to be found in the wealth and protection  
of the state is played out with Vond. Both Ideas are stupid and  
uncrushable dreams, TV fantasies. The difference is that Frenesi has  
a reality base which is her mother, but her mother has the same  
attraction to the uniform/security. These seem like classic male  
female weaknesses/traits and they appear in many forms  and degrees  
in the book.

The dreams are in the mind. Reality disappoints and turns things in a  
sado-masochistic direction.

On Mar 10, 2009, at 4:20 PM, David Morris wrote:

> I see discussion of VL like this as proof of the book's failure as
> viable fiction:  desperate attempts to imbue the characters with
> understandable motives where none are apparent in the text.
>
> No need to respond.  I'm voiced this criticism of VL before.  Carry
> on, and I'll continue to try avoiding VLVL posts.
>
> David Morris
>
> On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 3:06 PM, Richard Ryan  
> <richardryannyc at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> Vond is both repugnant and charismatic.  He *has* to be  
>> charismatic if we're going to understand Frenesi's love for him  
>> (assuming "love" and not mere animal attraction is the right way  
>> to describe her feelings....)