The Mechanical Bride Thread

[Mark Kohut]

I am sure it will be a fun read now that I'm old and stupid.....the thoughts I will think; the places I'll go!.......

--- On Wed, 2/24/10, Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: The Mechanical Bride Thread
> To: "P-list" <pynchon-l at waste.org>, "Michael Bailey" <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
> Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 8:33 PM
> Yes, I too always disliked and
> avoided reading The Mechanical Bride back when I was young
> and stupid....I guess I thought the title some kind of
> positive...and was too ...."simply human" to like the
> concept.....but not
> humanly smart enough to even finish V. back then and see
> how it might not be a positive.
> when older....I have thounght of V. when I've heard the
> title when older but have hardly heard it until alice (and
> Doug M. before him in praising McLuhan in gneral) have been
> using it.....
> 
> Now it is on my reading list...
> 
> --- On Wed, 2/24/10, Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > From: Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: The Mechanical Bride Thread
> > To: "P-list" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> > Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 7:35 PM
> > I liked Medium and Message, and
> > Medium and Massage, and Gutenberg Galaxy,
> > they were pretty ok in my book.  Lots of interesting
> > facts, an overarching
> > vision of some usefulness in conceptualizing the
> Zeitgeist,
> > and an
> > idiosyncratic redefinition of common words ("hot",
> "cool")
> > a la Lacan
> > eg, in service
> > of theory...which is always fun, it sets the book
> apart
> > from the quotidian and
> > reveals the amibitious nature of the project...
> > 
> > I think it was Tom Wolfe who did a piece on McLuhan
> and
> > used the pervasive theme that McLuhan was living out
> the
> > dreams of every English Lit professor who ever lusted
> after
> > the limelight...
> > 
> > but anyway, the title of Mechanical Bride - I could
> never
> > bring myself
> > to read that.  Anybody else find that title really
> > offputting?
> > 
> 
> 
> 
>