CoL49 (1) magic, anonymous and malign [PC 12, 40]

[Robin Landseadel]

On May 7, 2009, at 11:46 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:

> There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of karma going on in COL49 (not  
> compared to VL, anyway), but TRP alludes to magic throughout.

VL lays out karma on the surface, CoL49 doesn't call out karma by name  
but presents scenes, like the Beaconsfield filters, "IA" and The  
Courier's Tragedy, that are built out of bad karma.

On May 7, 2009, at 11:46 AM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:

> Tarot decks, like batteries and circuit boards, have polarity.  When  
> all's said and done, the difference between science and magic is in  
> the eye of the beholder (the film The Prestige is a great  
> exploration of this).  I think Pynchon blurs magic (or at least the  
> mystical) and technology throughout the book.

That blur can be found in all of his books. Interesting how that blur  
is magnified in Against the Day, and how many threads AtD picks up  
from CoL49.