V--2nd, Prolegomena to an Epilogue

[Mark Kohut]

I can see Brenda as a partial stand-in for young Pynchon too---that poem is not 
poetry but it is
a lot of TRP's themes , and is dismissed as college-girl 
stuff...............................

And Benny had to go off to the Mediterranean--the Navy--- to learn enuff life to 
write..........


----- Original Message ----
From: "kelber at mindspring.com" <kelber at mindspring.com>
To: pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Thu, March 3, 2011 2:37:03 PM
Subject: Re: V--2nd, Prolegomena to an Epilogue

I sort of imagine (with zero evidence!!) that Brenda looks at Profane the way 
young Pynchon may have looked at Kerouac.  So Benny's answer to Brenda is the 
one Kerouac might have given to Pynchon: endless roaming doesn't teach you 
squat.  Better to sit in one place and try to write that Great American Novel.

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
>Sent: Mar 3, 2011 10:43 AM
>To: Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>, P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: V--2nd, Prolegomena to an Epilogue
>
>so interesting.....
>
>So, I focussed, perhaps myopically, on what I called the bleakness of the very 
>last paragraph.
>
>You took a more wide-angle look at the whole last chapter......
>
>Which, now as I read some of your observations on Benny and Brenda lead me
>to not think of the ending of Gravity's Rainbow---which very compactly 
envisions
> a little togetherness, touchingness (two senses at least) and interpersonal 
>communication
>before...........the bomb falls...........THE END.
>
>Anyone else see it this way? Anyone, anyone?
>
>
>----- Original Message ----
>From: Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
>To: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>; P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Sent: Thu, March 3, 2011 2:34:52 AM
>Subject: Re: V--2nd, Prolegomena to an Epilogue
>
>I'm trying to muster any evidence, but my subjective impression was
>that ol' Benny and Brenda have a good thing going.
>I'm always happy for him when I review this passage.
>
>
>The depth and darkness of the night always strike me as being
>refreshing and clean, if that makes sense.
>(and perhaps a sign that he has achieved his initial aim of putting
>out the sun (if you want to refer back to that))
>
>he's made his way through x amount of months and hasn't re-enlisted
>
>he's met some interesting people
>
>he has not lied about himself, and therefore...
>he has avoided making commitments that he can't meet
>
>he hasn't learned anything - but, what was he supposed to learn?  once
>you learn something, they'll probably change it all anyway...
>
>not only that, but it seems like BW and BP will be able to talk
>comfortably, important for a longer term relationship ----
>
>summed up by BW's poem which is, well, not affectless, but certainly
>not offputtingly emotional, a-and it's soon over (not a long poem...)
>and she introduces it in a self-deprecating way that is in harmony
>with his self-deprecation
>
>and the succinct way he signifies his approval seems heartfelt (for
>him) -- "seems about right" (or words to that effect)
>
>So I suggest that - unlike all his other conversational partners,
>starting with Dewey Gland and his "PFC" song (BP says, "that's pretty"
>(or something patently insincere like that) and DG says "there's
>more"...) in BW, BP has finally met somebody whose discourse, if you
>will, meets his standards...
>
>
>I dunno, anyway, my strong impression at the end is warm and fuzzy,
>that beautiful black velvet night sky and the sea air...
>
>
>
>
>-- 
>"The general agreement is that language should be a kind of honey.  I
>like it to be a kind of speed." - Michael Moorcock
>
>
>
>