Re: V2 to Bomarc: Reading Gravity’s Rainbow in Context

[Monte Davis]

One thing Comyn doesn't make explicit (a graphic timeline might have
helped) is that the Bomarc (and the early Nike rockets) were purely
*anti-aircraft* missiles.They were designed for the Soviet attacks we had
envisioned from the late 1940s through the late 1950s, and stood no chance
against much faster ICBMs (with much less warning). By the time Pynchon was
working at Boeing (1960-62), it was well understood in defense and
contractor circles that both sides in the Cold War were shifting from
bombers to ICBMs as fast as they could. By the time GR was completed,
despite a flurry of ABM (anti-ballistic missile) talk under Nixon, there
was little prospect of effective defense (missile or otherwise) against
ICBMs. Ditto during Reagan's SDI in the 1980s; ditto today against any
attacker more capable than North Korea.

So the specific technological system Pynchon was closest to was becoming
futile before his eyes. The scope of destruction increased enormously --
but by 1973, every city dweller in the industrialized world was in a
position no less defenseless than Londoners in GR. I think that
helplessness should find a place in any reading that leans heavily on
totalizing notions of control.

On Sun, Feb 21, 2016 at 5:03 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> https://www.pynchon.net/articles/10.7766/orbit.v2.2.62/#bibd2e888
>
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