IVIV Hope Harlingen: a wacky theory (possible spoilers)

[Mark Kohut]

Alice wrote:
"VL is, many things,
but definitely a novel about how TV has changed how we live, how we
work and how we love. It's a jeremiad and the Tube is what it screams
across the sky about."

IV is not so much as Vineland, I differ to say, but I will repeat an earlier observation. Robin has shown how TRP was, in Manhattan Beach, very near military and CIA happenings. Such is much of America, of the world, TRP is always showin', so why would he not 'in the destructive element immerse" to write about it? That is what most real modern artists do.

So, similarly with TV watching. Many kinds of TV shows are a 'form of social control', yet some---certain 'subversive' comedy shows---perhaps not so much? But, of course, TV, since it pervaded our lives, is like Manhattan Beach---where he/we---live. 




--- On Fri, 9/11/09, alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: IVIV Hope Harlingen: a wacky theory (possible spoilers)
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Date: Friday, September 11, 2009, 6:36 AM
> Tony Tanner
> http://www.americansc.org.uk/Reviews/AmericanMystery.htm
> 
> &
> 
> Deborah Tannen
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Tannen
> 
> Brian McHale
> 
> http://home.foni.net/~vhummel/Image-Fiction/chapter_4.html
> 
> Richard McKeon
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_McKeon
> 
> After long and deep research into VL and its sources, after
> teaching
> it to very bright college students who have, if only
> because they were
> born after 1984, very insightful and sophisticated reads of
> media
> (although they have blind spots), I'm convinced that,
> although Pynchon
> must include himself as a target of his satire, VL is, many
> things,
> but definitely a novel about how TV has changed how we
> live, how we
> work and how we love. It's a jeremiad and the Tube is what
> it screams
> across the sky about. IV is even more grave.
> 
> BTW, although I think P a very grave and negative author,
> this has
> nothing to do with how he may actually feel or think about
> things.
> When I say, P, I'm talking about the implied author of the
> texts (all
> of them, but specifically the novels), and not the man. I'm
> not
> against biographical criticism, I just don't like it.
> Thomas R.
> Pynchon of NYC may watch TV 12 hours everyday. It seems he
> either
> spent a lot of time in front of the Tube, a reasonable
> conjecture
> about anyone his age who grew up in America, or spent a lot
> of time
> reading about it. My guess is, he did both. It's not
> hypocracy it's
> only yarn spinning. He does it well. IV has lots of laughs.
> I don't
> think the fact that IV has no, none, not one, moment of
> tenderness,
> says anything much about Thomas R Pynchon's philosophy or
> his view of
> the CIA or anything like that. He just doesn't do
> tenderness without
> irony.
> .
>