Saure Trauben der Mathematik

[Kai Frederik Lorentzen]

Me thinks there's an autobiographical dimension in this. After the 
publication of /V/ Pynchon wanted to add a math degree to his literature 
BA. But in 1964 "Pynchon tells friends he has recently been denied 
admission to an undergraduate program in mathematics at the University 
of California at Berkeley", as it says in the Chronology of the 
Cambridge Companion. So the making fun of math plus the fact that "P has 
math given up by main characters in order to live" in AtD are oozing an 
aroma of sour grapes.


On 31.07.2012 00:47, Mark Kohut wrote:

>   From imaginary numbers on in AtD, mathematics is another trope
> about our self-alienating distance from the physical world, certain 
> values to live by, other human relationships' meanings and more, I submit.
> I know no one else is rereading at the moment but from memory or when 
> you do, make the case for higher-level math in ATD that is
> not part of the ridicule?  I can't see it.
> It is no accident, as Ian observed and as the verbal footfall of a 
> finished argument, that P has math given up by main characters in
> order to live...Yashmeen so clearly it is almost heavy-handed, imho, 
> yet in his way, TRP encodes tons of nuance (as usual) entertaining us
> with his theme.....
>

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