V--2nd, Chap 9..thoughts requested

[Michael Bailey]

 Robin Landseadel wrote through the haze of an awesome nyquil buzz:

> Don't, I'm running on three out of eight, feel free to start the sentence,
> I'll tag along as I see fit.
>
>

I'm really not a ball hog by nature...

you did imply at one point that you were dreading doing V.
and you're doing amazingly well, especially considering your coming
off that starting block

If Pynchon can imagine Stencil listening to Mondaugen and imagining
the characters of Sudwest; then we can imagine Pynchon as he made this
creative effort, and - yes, of course this chapter is strong, stronger
than the others, and in responding to an expert editor's advice he
made it even stronger, and found some deeper wellspring that (I
imagine) led to an even more celebrated effort

and as Professor Krafft's article suggests, the changes were decided
improvements - these are all good things!

but as for me, aware of being a bit contrarian, and not at all loath
to say that I consider the rest of the book extraordinarily fine
already, and enough of a shameless fan to say that I'm pretty sure I'd
enjoy reading the stuff he snipped too, my head isn't exactly right
yet to plunge into the LS.

I mean, I know V. works better with the changes.  But how, exactly?
And that's what I'm preoccupied with this weekend.

Alternate-universe V. - we get Vera Meroving, in Munich, in a
boardinghouse, Victoria Wren's right-wing politics having morphed into
affiliation with Weissmann, her eye probably lost in the same series
of events that deprived her of the clothing shop.

So we'd have to split the chapter between a Sudwest part and a Munich
part, and that would spread the focus.

Also, in excising explicit bits of continuity ... (dang, such a good
beginning of a sentence and I can't take it anywhere, got to get some
coffee I suppose)

--
"go on back to see the gypsy
he can move you from the rear
drive you from your fear
bring you through the mirror
he did it in Las Vegas
and he can do it here"