IVIV (12): 195-197
John Carvill
johncarvill at gmail.com
Tue Nov 3 03:20:25 CST 2009
>>> The assertions you and John are
>>> making about Pynchon's ambivalence to technology lack examples and
>>> textual reasoning.
>>
>> I don't think my and Monte's 'assertions' are closely enough related
>> that they can be grouped together that way.
> Sorry if my language seems loaded. Trying for clarity. This isn't an
> attack but a an inquiry into a provacative question that I would like
> to have greater clarity on.
No problem. Actually I was being just a little glib when I wrote that.
No doubt we'll hear from Monte in time, but I feel confident he'll
have found it even odder than I did that his and my opinions were
grouped together.
>> To be fair, though, I have already mentioned photography in Against
>> the Day. Oh, and film, TV, etc. Then there's the Rocket.......
> But aren't all these things examples of strong antipathy to technology?
Not wholly, no, at least not as I see them. INstead, I would say that
Pynchon displays (or, if yuo prefer, portrays) a strong antipathy to
certain aspects of a given technology, but that his approach is too
nuanced and complex to be one-sided. There is often a significant
counter-argument to be made. I guess a prime example is TV - Pynchon
clearly enjoys watching TV, even (indeed, maybe, especially) trashy
TV. And he would not have appeared on The Simpsons, surely, if he had
an unmitigated loathing for all aspects of all TV.
It is of course an interesting topic for debate. I'll give it more
thought when I can. Hectic weekend!
Cheers
John
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