9-11 box cutters 11 september utility knives

[John Bailey]

If BE has a particular (perhaps encoded) argument to make about 11
Sept, it's surely contradicted by the other focus of the novel - that
is, if there's a truth to be learned about the events of that era, how
are we supposed to glean it from The Internet?

Which... I don't know about you... but it's the only way I have to
access any of this stuff. In spite of everything we learn on an almost
daily basis, why do we put such naive faith in anything we read or see
on this damned thing?

"It was conceived in sin, the worst possible..." Which sin is the
worst possible? Is that made clear later in that section? I was
mulling over that line last night and weighing up the sin it might be
referring to. In regard to Pynchon I'm happy ruling out gluttony,
lust, sloth.

On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 6:51 PM, Michael Bailey
<michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
> Pynchon - er, Maxine - mentioned one of the most compelling indicators, the
> shorting of airline stock.  some people made money off it.  Maybe they were
> just playing a hunch.
>
> W /r/t BE which really is where I am interested in going, i'm trying to
> remember where Norman Mailer wrote re the JFK assassination words to the
> effect that this is a topic that will attract efforts from all the best
> writers of this time. Maybe in the author's preface to Oswald's Story?
>
> I remember that malignd has expressed admiration for Mr Mailer, so perhaps
> would concur.
>
> At any rate, it was worthy, in Mailer's estimation, of copious study and
> evaluation, and resulted in a narrative marked by Mailer's interests and
> passions: examining the character of Oswald in depth and spinning out
> remarkable insights in many directions.
>
> The same noteworthiness is true of 11 Sep, and apart from some of the scenes
> in AtD, BE contains the bulk of Mr Pynchon's efforts in that direction, thus
> far.
>
> In accordance with the style he's developed it's not surprising that Mr
> Pynchon wouldn't choose to ignore tantalizing hints of some sort of foul
> play...and it's also not surprising that his take is more subtle than to be
> taken in any kind of truther net. Suspicion of the US gov't is reasonable
> after cointelpro, iran-contra, gulf of tonkin, etc etc - weepers, any # of
> things, the 2000 presidential election! these things make the US a person of
> interest in any crime hereabouts, remember it came out that FBI was, well,
> not culpable but duked into the 1993 bombing? See emad salem eg.
>
>   maxine's parents are opera habitues and antiwar demonstrators, but she is
> of the new generation, clubgoing and following the money.  As the Ferengi
> say, war is good for business.  And peace is good for business.  For Maxine,
> as for Doc, foul play is a cash nexus, but who will foot the bill?
> Following her cash trail, she gets money from Stu Gotts, from March's ex,
> and from Windust's widow...
> And of course Horst.  So her livelihood indicates there are those within
> society who support investigation of fraud, for their own reasons, and
> whether or not the investigator's credentials are current with the dominant
> culture. How and why she chose that field isn't directly narrated except by
> exposing her character, probably something like "that's where the fun is!"
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l