"Of a Fond Ghoul"! ( Was "The Two V.s… )

[Paul Mackin]

On 7/13/2012 1:43 PM, Tyler Wilson wrote:
> Thanks, Dave, for bringing this piece by Albert Rolls regarding the 
> two versions of "V." to our attention. Interesting stuff. Mr. Rolls 
> has another piece in the same journal titled "Pynchon, In His Absence" 
> which discusses the contents of "Of a Fond Ghoul" and is also quite 
> worth the read:
>
> https://www.pynchon.net/owap/article/view/27/59
>
> In this piece--as well as a couple others I run across but which won't 
> come to mind right now, and in any case probably all stem from the 
> same source--it is mentioned that "Of a Fond Ghoul" was one suggestion 
> made by Pynchon for the title of what would become "V." ("Down 
> Paradise Street" and "Dream tonight of Peacock tails" or something 
> similar were another two, if I recall.)
>
> Like I said, I've read this a few different places and it is not 
> anything that anyone with a strong interest doesn't already know, 
> likely. However, I've never run across anyone maki ng any commentary 
> on this choice for a title. Not even a subtle textual wink or 
> "ha-ha!". The other potential titles I can understand and take 
> seriously in some small measure; there are links to the text. If there 
> are any with "Of a Fond Ghoul" then I just don't see them, though it 
> is easy money that I've just missed something. I can understand, 
> kinda, the somewhat general appropriateness of the phrase to the "V." 
> of the story, but it is just so goofy. Which Pynchon certainly is, but 
> never with the titles of his books.
>
> I find it much more likely P. was joking and having fun with language 
> as is his wont:  If one says the phrase in an exaggerated Hollywood 
> Italian accent, it sounds an awful lot like the Italian word:
>
> "vaffanculo‏"
>
> Given Pynchon's penchant for puns and wordplay, the often sophomoric 
> sense of humor and the fact that a similar play on words appears in 
>  "Against the Day" ( h 
> ttp://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0611&msg=111564&keywords=vaffanculo%26%238207%3b 
> ), I'm fairly certain that Pynchon was proposing--in fun--to Cork 
> Smith that his debut novel be titled (more or less):
>
> "Go Fuck Yourself!"
>
> Just my two cents, and perhaps not worth stating explicitly. Only, it 
> strikes me as a healthy perspective to keep in mind when sifting the 
> words for the man.

I'm  feel kind of sure you're right, Tyler.

Did TP try again, this time succeeding, in GR with Gerhardt von 
Goll--umbaut in goll, therefore pronouced FONGILL?

I always had throught  that the joke was FUN GIRL, but now not so sure.

P


>
> --
> T
>
>
>
> > From: against.the.dave at gmail.com
> > Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2012 20:08:57 -0500
> > Subject: The Two V.s of Thomas Pynchon
> > To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> >
> > The Two V.s of Thomas Pynchon, or From Lippincott to Jonathan Cape 
> and Beyond
> > Albert Rolls
> >
> > Abstract
> >
> > Two versions of V. were issued in 1963, one in the U.S. and one in
> > England, because erro rs that had crept into the first American edition
> > were found and corrected in time for the British edition’s release.
> > Pynchon would be able to get the corrections he had made for the
> > British edition into the American paperback the following year. The
> > fact that the first U.S. edition needed to be corrected was forgotten,
> > and with the exception of those printed by Bantam, the U.S. paperback
> > publisher, all other U.S. editions are reproductions of the
> > uncorrected first American edition. This paper traces the editorial
> > history of V. after its publication, detailing the differences between
> > the corrected and uncorrected editions of the novel.
> >
> > https://pynchon.net/owap/article/view/33
> >
> > The issue, in any case, should have been settled, indeed had been
> > settled in Britain and in the United States for about twenty years —
> > between 1967 and 1986 — while the corrected Ban tam edition was the
> > only U.S. text being reproduced, but the problem resurfaced when
> > Bantam lost the rights to reprint its edition and Lippincott's fiction
> > catalogue was taken over by Harper and Row in the mid-1980s. The text
> > of the first Perennial reprint — which also seems to have been
> > produced using the original Lippincott edition, even though the
> > chapter titles are centered rather than flushed to the left — followed
> > the original American text to the letter and the later reprints
> > continue to do so, with the exception of the introduction of new typos
> > after two resettings, one in 1999 and the other in 2005. Meanwhile,
> > the text that continues to be printed in Britain follows the Cape
> > edition. Consequently, since 1986, the two versions of V. that were
> > issued between 1963 and 1966 have been available to readers, and as in
> > 1963, the corrected, near definitive edition has only been the British
> > one, a Vintage paperback in its present manifestation, while those in
> > the U.S who have been relying on the Perennial imprints, or the newly
> > released Penguin e-book, have been reading an unauthorized text.
> >
> > https://pynchon.net/owap/article/view/33/72
> >
> > Orbit: Writing Around Pynchon
> >
> > https://pynchon.net/owap/index


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