On the political thread WAS AtD/VL: The Traverse Clan

[Mark Kohut]

Almost endlessly discussable, as a classic is defined as being...

Just a couple--three overarching points I have made before, I'm sure, re 
'politics' in Pynchon

1) If politics is an attitude to history then Pynchon is a political writer---or 
a set of political writers---like Shakespeare, whose politics changes (in the 
plays
over time, it seems)

2) One political attitude is to believe deeply in being 
anti-political....free-living non-violent Anti-State anarchism....which, some 
say,
 meets free-living, anti-Government Libertarianism on the great 
Wheel...........Left kissing and hugging the Right like siblings?........maybe 
most of P?

3)  a little less abstractly, when one of the greatest anti-war novels ever 
written---GR---comes out of the anti-war sixties (and contains Nixon as BAD 
SHIT...and again in Inherent Vice)....and another novel Vineland is about 
sixties 'radicals".............not to mention the others (esp. AtD as Laura sez)

then it would seem one must read Pynchon for some clues to his political 
beliefs, which he must have, yes?




----- Original Message ----
From: "kelber at mindspring.com" <kelber at mindspring.com>
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Tue, December 14, 2010 12:44:43 PM
Subject: Re: AtD/VL: The Traverse Clan

Thanks for the kind feedback, everyone, to my story.  WHat the guy who said "No 
one fucks with my partner" exemplified to me is that old, romantic union 
solidarity that's fast fading.  I was lucky to work with a handful of 
electricians who understood the concept of solidarity, but for most, it was a 
screw or be screwed mentality.

There's discussion in another thread of what it is that makes many of us think 
that Pynchon's sympathies are leftwards.  The Traverse family seems to be one 
piece of evidence.  Webb embodies the One Big Union mentality, as does Jesse 
later in Vineland.  Their unionism descends directly from the anarchist 
Wobblies.  The union solidarity of my partner in the story descended from the 
romantic brotherhood of the craft unions, not leftist in ideology, but anti-boss 
and anti-the-powers-that-be in instinct.  One contributing factor to the demise 
of power of the present-day AFL-CIO is that the industrial union model loses out 
on the gut-level brotherhood mentality of the old craft unions (which the early 
sit-down striking industrial unionists retained) and also loses out on the 
romance of One Big Union.  There's no room for passion - just stepped 
pay-scales, percentages and bottom lines.  Why should Pynchon, young or old, 
have any affinity with that?

What I don't get is why Pynchon sets up the Traverse women, Lake and Frenesi, as 
the Enemies of Labor/progressive activism.  Can't think of any real-life 
counterparts, although American labor history is full of male union official 
sell-outs - to government redbaiting, corporate "sharing" and mafia coercion.  
Probably the most famous case of male perfidy:  James McParlan vs. the Molly 
Maguires.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McParlan

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>

>
>I LIKE this story...and the way it is told....nice