CofL49 - The story so far, some reflections couched as questions (and my answers)

[Michael Bailey]

a) some evidence exists that this book is a less "labored-over" effort
than Mr Pynchon's longer novels.
what implications do you see coming from this?

- parts of it were released in different forms and fora, nice for the
writer (more payments coming in)
- same is true of V., which isn't necessarily saying that this method
is reserved for journeypersons (Joyce Carol Oates still uses this
practice, for instance), but OBA doesn't seem to be doing it anymore

- if this was written in less time, it's not necessarily true that its
plot is less consciously worked out or that the parts don't cohere as
tightly as in a longer-taking book
- for instance, he might have had a pipe-dream like Coleridge, vivid
and complete in its inception, needing only to be more or less
transcribed to fulfill its promise
- still, it's tempting to think this book might be several layers
closer to an off-the-cuff style than some of his others, or that there
is something different about it

b) if there is something different about it, what would that thing be?

- it seems to be a lot more emotionally invested, or sympathetic to
her angst than to characters in other works I might mention

- I see this as maybe due to a sort of gallantry on the author's part:
the sort of humorous indifference to the trials and tribulations of
both Stencil and Benny Profane in V. that often surfaces (and
admirably so - I credit that book with inspiring an attitude of
rueful, whimsical stoicism w/r/t certain of life's struggles that
helped me through adolescence and young adulthood), is in noticeable
contrast to the seriousness with which Oedipa's state of mind is
usually considered.  Perhaps there is a similar book by a still fairly
young woman which explores a young man's consciousness - I'm sure
there is but I can't think of one right now.  Without Tieresias's
ability, none of us knows what it's actually like for a member of the
opposite sex - CofL49 takes seriously the challenge and I think
conducts itself in a gentlemanly fashion toward its protagonist.

c) quo vadimus (thanks Aaron Sorkin (Sports Night) for that reference)
- as we progress with Oedipa, what is our starting point, our goal
(and - possibly different - where do we actually get to), our route
(planned and - possibly different - actual)?

- on page 1, I think she is seen in medias res as trying to be the
perfect housewife to an imperfect husband.
- her backstory catches up with us right quickly, though, and we see
that this world she has projected is really just a variation of the
maiden-in-the-tower myth that she has suffered with and struggled
under since at least her affair with PI
- I'm reminded of one of those self-help books written by the guy who
wrote _Games People Play_ - he followed that with _Myths People Live_
which I sort of liked back in the 70s.
- But of course, the mythic connection hearkens back to Freud, too,
who's also evoked by her name

-rather than taking Oedipus myth, we find ourselves with Rapunzel
- the tower could be a phallic symbol and her imprisonment is to know
men only by that characteristic, which (I'm told) can be compelling;
the knight in climbing up, y'know, has to use all his parts to get
there, and presents his face to her after the long climb, after which
she's not in such ignorance about the rest of him, and likes him so
much that she's no longer bound to just that one aspect and they keep
company together in freedom in the wide world
- ['cause after all, ladies, that one thing isn't all there is to like
about us][Right?]

- but of course she keeps bumping into men who fail the test

- anyway, I still think she starts out in another version of that
tower, and the strange bequest makes a certain sort of sense.
- in investigating the affairs of a deceased man, she has a sort of
completer picture ("call no man happy till he is dead, for while he
lives, tragedy can still strike") and the obvious doomed scenario has
already been played out - so, she can consider the myth or story from
outside it, a different point of view giving her the potential for
greater objectivity.

- while this objectivity is available, a seeming distraction keeps
breaking in: she learns about the Tristero, or the conflicts in human
affairs that we all suffer from, the ways we try to cope...and
possibly the message (*a* message, anyway) might be that this
suffering is distracting her potential knights from their mission?
(the Elect, like Pierce, because they are too busy with their stamp
collections, and the Preterite, like pretty much all the other dudes
except maybe Genghis Cohen*, because their suffering has stunted their
growth)

(one ending I like to imagine is a friendship with GC, growing into love)
-- 
"What's the story, morning glory?  What's the word, hummingbird?" -
from Bye Bye Birdie