AtD gold: the defense

[Michael Bailey]

Paul Mackin wrote:

> Mark Kohut wrote:
>
>  Surely directed at me as much as at Barbie Gaze......
>
>  I think there's some personal hostility there and that you, Mark, are not
(as Laura Archera Huxley wrote) the target...
but parsing that sort of thing is not (as Austin Powers said) my bag, baby,
so I will leave it at that


> > just me flailing like someone in The Recognitions. Not just flailing but
> waving. Sometimes while drowning.
>
>
> I'm probably not the only one who that resounds with

Not any plisters but SOME  are always against any "translation" into meaning
> because they feel "it misses the experience"; it takes "the
> fun/richness/interest" out of the text, etc.
>
>
in the past, I may have said some things in that vein...not exactly that
way - although I recall "Against Interpretation" coming up in a previous
discussion, I don't recall agreeing completely with that manifesto --- more
like a personal statement that I engage more readily with,some things than
others...

the some things being maybe
a) particular phrases and grammatical excellences in the text
b) emotional moments in the stories, particularly affectionate interactions
c) connections to personal experience

the other things being
a) external philosophies such as Max Weber or po-mo or myths and legends
*even though* these are definitely on-topic and I'll admit learning from
them
b) the assertion of Pynchon as having a pessimistic or paranoid POV

but in general my strategy is to post on what engages me and listen and
learn on the other stuff - case in point your idea of Lew as moral center
got me off on an elliptical tangent, but that doesn't mean I wasn't still
reading what you were saying


> ---that are as simplistic as my tired remarks on a genius's meaning.
>
>
they're not tired remarks...they're actually invigorating (I find myself
tired this winter, midnight shift and so forth, and they actually perk me
up...also, I was reading up on Vitamin D, you know this time of the year
our exposure to sunlight is lessened and it's a good time to drink organic
milk or break out the supplements, supposedly vitamin d supplementation is
the most bang for your buck vitaminwise that most of us could do
http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/10/a-closer-look-at-vitamin-d/)


> Sorry this is so long and more sorry that I am boring some here and with
> the posts......I would appreciate the continued
> pointing out of simplicities so I can try to express them with more nuance
> and aggregated examples.
>
>
what I would like some elaboration on is Lew as moral center.
I sort of "get" him as fallen man realizing his fallen nature -- but then
what?  is his attainment of grace early on maintained or was it just one of
those things, a trip to the moon on gossamer wings?

He observes, one might say he exerts his capacity of moral choice - *not*
to pursue Kieselguhr - but then what is he doing in England?  is his
reaction to the Icosadyad similar to his reaction to the trumped-up
anarchist threat?  he lets them pay him to chase that illusion for awhile,
simply because he needs a gig, but you can almost see him not buying into
it, and he eventually detaches...(details not clear in my mind, although
there's that one scene at a party and there's somebody's pond with a
lobster crawling out of it like a Tarot picture where he is like - I seem
to remember - Mr Jones in the Dylan song, in it but not of it like the kid
in the story by Lionel Trilling - so and so would get his "A"... remember
that story?...a terrifying one to me as a young dogsbody, almost as
horrorsome as Silent Snow Secret Snow or The Lottery....yeesh...

Lew's more of a cipher than Profane, imho --

but I'm ragging on him, just because I like Merle better, not denigrating
your statement, basically hoping you will non-ad-hominemly disagree and
thrash my arguments while sparing my feelings...
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