Bodysurfing

[Joseph Tracy]

Nice
On Dec 28, 2012, at 6:49 AM, bandwraith at aol.com wrote:

> Been thinking about St Flip of IV fame and his presence which is really
> an absence. I don't remember him making an actual appearance in the
> novel, except maybe a cameo, and his surfer's theophany. Specifically:
> the idea of "walking on water" along with his acquisition of a splinter
> of "the True Board."
> 
> The Christian story of walking on the waters has always struck me as a
> metaphor for time. The sea, usually associated with faith and the whole
> body of the church, might also be construed as a sea of time, which
> faith, and the grace of god, allow the body to traverse- either as an
> individual, or collectively.
> 
> Pynchon's jokey metaphor-  the conflation of the cross/board with the
> story of walking on the waters- is complex, if awkward. It would simply
> things greatly if the board/cross were dispensed with altogether and just
> considered to represent the material aspect of being- the body. It would
> be kind of like getting back to pre-technology days.
> 
> Bodysurfing on the sea of time- Why worry about walking when you can
> learn how to swim?
> 
> Happy New Wave!
>