IV - chapter 19 page 348 - 350

[Mark Kohut]

Aside from seeing Bigfoot as more Bad Guy than most do, if Laura's consensus is right, this nails something fine, imho.  

At the least, the resonances with that masterpiece being written at the time, GR. I keep seeing this thematic timeline: CofL49, about America @ 1964--, pubbed in 1966, seeing some kind of underground counterculture as a real historical possibility, thru WHEN?, 1968, the May revolutions THEN the beach paved over, so to speak, and Manson and Altamont........

And on to Vineland.

--- On Fri, 1/8/10, kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:

> From: kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: IV - chapter 19 page 348 - 350
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Date: Friday, January 8, 2010, 1:02 PM
> What about the exchange between Doc
> and Denis on p. 350:
> 
> "Bigfoot's not my brother," Doc considered when he exhaled,
> "but he sure needs a keeper."
> 
> "It ain't you, Doc."
> 
> "I know.  Too bad, in a way."
> 
> Doc seems wistful that he's hopping off the investigatory
> bandwagon.  Bigfoot's no longer seeking revenge or
> profit; he just needs to know.  He's been bitten by
> Golden Fang fever, as Doc was.  Maybe he'll go on to
> become a whistleblower.  That's my reading of this
> exchange, anyway.  I think most of us would agree that
> Bigfoot's never been portrayed as an in-your-face Bad
> Guy.  He and Doc exchange info in that archetypical
> cop-and-PI relationship found in Chandler and other noir
> fiction/film.  There was a sense through the book that
> Doc's actions were driven by a need to know, but now it
> appears that all he was interested in was assuring the
> safety of Shasta, Coy and other people he cared about. 
> That's not a bad motivation, but there's something sad in
> his decision to stop pushing for answers.  The torch is
> taken up by Bigfoot.  In the end, Doc's more Slothrop
> than Oedipa.
> 
> Laura
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
> 
> >
> >On Jan 8, 2010, at 6:22 AM, Bekah wrote:
> >> As they leave the parking lot Doc notices
> Bigfoot's car trailing the  
> >> operatives, still trailing the dope.  Bigfoot
> continues to hunt for  
> >> Adrian, the "employer" of his partner's
> killer,  and there are still  
> >> lots of questions to be answered.
> >
> >'Scuse me for asking, but isn't Adrian Prussia already
> dead? Sez on  
> >page 330 that A.P. re-emerged, threatening Doc with
> permanent damage  
> >only to fall on his face in the street. The book sez
> "Dead enough." I  
> >think Bigfoot's pursuit of the Woody has more to do
> with profit  
> >motives than with revenge.
> >
> >
> 
>