The Art of War

[bandwraith at aol.com]

There is the "original" by Sun Tzu, of the 6th
century- still popular with west point and wharton
types.

Then there is art about war- too many novels
to name, GR may be one, and also, artists
unabashedly in love with war, for example,
the romantic Herman Melville. See especially
Melville's poetry. He was, like most americans,
truly smitten.

There are war parasites, like Chris Hedges-
didn't we see an incarnation of Chris, at
dinner in GR, just prior to the Pus Pudding?-
who have made a nice living and garnished
a reputation covering war, only to change
hat's when the opportunity presented itself.

(But I'm unfair. We should all be free to evolve.)

Any art is subject to  aestheric considerations,
and war, like politics, is no exception. A good
primer, in that regard, is Walter Benjamin's

  The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
    Reproduction

Definitely worth the effort of a close read- it
should be required for any course on Pynchon.

Recently, of course, there was the widely hyped
"Mother of War," or, "Mother of All Wars." Which,
I guess (conveniently leaving Adam out of it),
might be construed to be Eve- or at least
Roger Mexico's grandmother, or something.

I keep thinking about Hamlet's mom, not quite
Swedish, but a sucker for convenience, and, I'm
told, able to whip up a shortstack second to none.
{But don't get in her way when she's got that fryin'
pan handy!)

Peace. In small homeopathic doses...