More Misc. V-2nd. The profaning of The Street

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Pretty amazing situation you live in, Ian.  I think I'd go the way of the Taiwanese nun early on.

Pynchon wasn't a city kid, he was a small-town boy.  The Glen Cove he grew up in was pretty homogenous and upscale (a model for the town in The Secret Integration).  His concept of The Street, as lonely and alienating, something to be faced up to, is very much in keeping with his small-town perspective (his college town, Ithaca, being no great metropolis either). Having lived in NYC for many years now, he may well have lost that outsider's perspective.  Judging from our various posts on the subject, crowded streets seem welcoming if you're used to them, alienating if you're not.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>Sent: Aug 25, 2010 2:08 PM
>To: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>
>Cc: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>, kelber at mindspring.com, pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re: More Misc. V-2nd. The profaning of The Street
>
>Like Page, I am not a city person. My nearest neighbor is six miles
>west. However, I live as caretaker to a community of Buddhists who
>live in almost complete isolation from one another and from me. And,
>
>Oh. We just had a nice little earthquake. Felt like about a 4.0.
>
>Where was I? Oh, yeah. The thus individualized Buddhists go through
>very interesting periods of adjustment when they enter retreat, and
>some never manage to make the transition into solitude. Some have gone
>quite mad, talking to people not present and receiving instructions on
>how to do retreat from an "inner guru" who has them doing very
>unlikely practices. One Taiwanese nun actually died as a result of
>listening to that "inner guru." Still others take out all their
>insecurities and personal resentments on the caretaker, who is their
>only point of contact with the world. Each one adapts according to his
>or her personal history, emphasizing to me the proposition that no
>matter how alone we are, we remain a part of society. I think that can
>be turned around quite successfully. Having spent a few periods in
>cities (Minneapolis, New Orleans, Seattle), burbs (Burien, Aptos), and
>towns (Vermillion, SD; Stevens Point, WI; Merced and Ben Lomond, CA)
>and in a number of rural and remote locations, I have also had the
>opportunity to watch how my own mind responds to changes in population
>density. I much prefer solitude to the loneliness of anonymity in
>crowds, but I know that it has quite a lot to do with the state of
>mind in which I enter each mise en scene, as it were.
>
>The street once entranced, and later revolted me. Now I feel somewhat
>indifferent to it. The street is a tool, a way of getting things done,
>that's all. I know streets where no one walks and others where no one
>drives, everyone walks.
>
>Pynchon was a city kid, and I think his view of streets would reflect
>that. To Benny, it seems a point of reference. The middle way. There
>is an above the street, the street, and a below the street. What does
>that tell us about P. and the street?
>
>On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 6:28 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Stoop sitting was a big thing in Brooklyn years ago within generally
>> homogeneous communities and in some communities it still is. I'm
>> guessing its pbly been a part of the culture in New Orleans alot
>> longer with alot more mixing going on.
>>
>> rich
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 8:46 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> New Orleans is a much smaller city than Brooklyn, but it's people
>>> aren't anonymous, and people are everywhere you look, even in the hot
>>> humidity of the Summer.  I've lived in cities and suburbs across the
>>> US (Air force brat), but I've never lived in a place so open or been
>>> this close to so many of my neighbors.  New Orleans is the most
>>> neighborhoody place ever, and has a tradition of being on the street,
>>> stoop-sitting, porch-sitting, corner-hanging, dog-walking.
>>>
>>> This video, "Stoop Sitting," is real New Orleans:
>>> http://vimeo.com/5526305
>>>
>>
>
>
>
>-- 
>"liber enim librum aperit."