another, maybe, pynchon, mcluhan association

[Mark Kohut]

Although I can't quote it all, McLuhan alludes to Lewis Mumford--a fave of
Alice's I remember--saying that the early New England town was very like a
medieval village in the dynamics of its social controls and tensions. He says the
dark impulses---inherent vices?--of human nature were channelled differently, perhaps,
and often handled better by the group (than they have been in larger, less connected 
societies)
 
In his new book, Gordon Wood says the same saying modern historians have
shown this about early American small towns...
 
I was remined, yet again, of that extended scene in Olde Europe in Against the Day where
Cyprian and the other guy went and stayed. I remember stuff about dark emotions.
 
And I have sorta long believed that Mason & Dixon was set where it was becuase P. felt
American society then--lotsa villages and small towns then--- had it more or less right. 
 
The "utopias' are the same....
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20110831/dcd2e0fc/attachment.html>