V2nd - Chapter 8 - wiser heads...

[Mark Kohut]

I'm not dissing it...i know Graves goes there in The White Goddess
whcih could have germinated TRP's interest and further research...

It is integral to meaning, I say.


----- Original Message ----
From: Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
To: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
Cc: kelber at mindspring.com; pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Sat, October 9, 2010 2:10:43 PM
Subject: Re: V2nd - Chapter 8 - wiser heads...

I have looked a little at this conceptual link before. The Goddess
cult at Malta shows many connections with Celtic art and neolithic
structures in Britain and Ireland, yes? Bryan Sykes in Saxons, Vikings
and Celts traces genetic markers to establish a strong probability of
a direct connection between the Med and Britain in early post-glacial
times and on up to the Roman era. Malta is along the sea route the
early immigrants to England and Ireland would have taken as much as
10,000 years ago.

So many listers seem to dis P's early research, I've mostly just kept
it in my own line of reasoning, but why would P make such a strong
case for Malta if he was not wowed by it? I mean, I've read Hammett
and all, but that is not enough basis for the complexity of the V. /
Malta resonances. The Knights figure explicitly in the Falcon, only as
an echo in V. The plot resonances are clear enough, as it (the Falcon)
relates obliquely to Adams and all, but there is something oddly
haunting about the bad priest in Malta in light of the deep history of
the place.


On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 11:54 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> If the modern V is the inanimate non-carnation of the ancient goddess,
> Paola would be the abandoned V, and thus of course somewhat a victim
> (but ever independent - so not really), but sad?  Yes.  That she is
> Maltese is the most significant clue to her importance:
>
> http://www.infohub.com/Articles/20010219.html
>
> Nowhere on earth did a Goddess ever reign as she did in Malta.
> Architect Richard England explains the Maltese temples themselves as
> the personification of the Earth Mother, with floor plans which echo
> abundant maternal curves. One can easily imagine the concept of
> entering the "womb" of the temple for communion with the Goddess, and
> emerging "re-born" into the sunlight. Amazingly, visitors can still
> walk in several of these prehistoric temples. They are UNESCO World
> Heritage sites and the oldest free-standing buildings on the planet.
> But what about the advanced civilization which they represent?
> Two terms seem to go hand-in-hand when the temples of Malta are
> discussed. Fertility Cult is often used to describe pre-patriarchal
> societies of the Neolithic period, which in most of the world some
> 4,500 years ago worshipped a Goddess. The concept is universal and
> shows up at one time or another in virtually every culture on the
> planet.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43Nzlb_kzrQ
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 12:27 PM,  <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>> If V. is the driving force behind (or associated with) some nameless 
>>catastrophe of the 20th century, Paola, Maltese and female, is also associated 
>>with it, as its victim.  She'll resurface in an odd situation later, but still 
>>as a victim (though possibly a muse).
>



-- 
"liber enim librum aperit."