Fwd: "He thinks he's hallucinating"

[bandwraith at aol.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: bandwraith <bandwraith at aol.com>
To: alicewellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
Sent: Sun, Jan 9, 2011 1:45 pm
Subject: Re: "He thinks he's hallucinating"


I don't have the book with me. What's the
exact quote?


-----Original Message-----
From: alice wellintown <alicewellintown at gmail.com>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Sun, Jan 9, 2011 1:39 pm
Subject: Re: "He thinks he's hallucinating"


If it were an aside Doc would not hear it. He does hear it, and he
replies to it. Also, I don't read it as a conventional aside because
it does not divulge inner thoughts or feelings to the audience.
Moreover, it is not kept from the other characters or actors, in this
case, Doc. Also, the aside conveys some truth to the audience. Doc is
not hallucinating. He does not think he is hallucinating.

It's dialogue. She is talking to Doc. He replies. The situation is a
bit awkward as Shasta has been gone a long time and some things went
down that make her return now, asking for help, uncomfortable; she is
trying to ease into the big question and the story she wants to tell.
She drops the subject pronoun. This is common in the speech of the
characters in the novel and common in American dialogue. An aside
might drop the quotation marks and either keep the subject pronoun "He
thinks he's..." or even use the subject proper noun, "Doc thinks
he's..."