BE -- "death wish for the planet" why the internet?

[David Morris]

I applaud Thomas's distinction (which should be obvious) between Maxine's
(or other character's view on ANY subject and Pynchon's views.  Such
conflation is sloppy and juvenile.

David Morris

On Wed, Mar 9, 2016 at 2:39 PM, Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de
> wrote:

> Am 09.03.2016 um 11:11 schrieb ish mailian:
>
> To dismiss March, her truth, as Thomas does, seems easy enough.
>>
>
> I don't dismiss March or her truth.
>
> Foucault's de-centering of the author is useful here. So much of the
>> discussion is about finding out what Pynchon has to say on the truth
>> of 11 September, but no matter. God is dead. The author is dead.
>>
>
> I thought I had made that clear: I am not so much interested in what
> Pynchon's truth about 9/11 is, although I speculated about this (note that
> I prudently used "the implied author" instead of "Pynchon") but in how the
> event is reflected in the novel and perceived by the novel's characters. I
> am also interested in Pynchon's sources.
>
> Mainly, however, I wish to argue for a closer look at Pynchon's deep
> politics, at his use of conspiracy theory not only with a view to
> religious, philosphical or psychological aspects or for associative
> purposes, although he does all that, but with regard to actual or possible
> conspiracies in the real world -- as he did in VL with Iran-Contra which,
> of course, was an actual conspiracy reaching up to the White House, and
> which is a central aspect of the novel.
>
> Insofar as Roland Barthes' catchphrase "the death of the author" means
> that an author can never be in complete control of her/his text and its
> meanings --  d'accord, naturellement.
>
> That the sisters disagree about the truth of 11 September is not
>> caused by the event or the truth of it.
>>
>
> As I read it, Pynchon is juxtaposing different attitudes to the event. The
> disagreement is caused by Maxine expressing doubts about the official
> narrative, while her sister wants to rally behind the flag and implies that
> Maxine's doubts make her a traitor to the country. I don't think it can be
> denied that this is first and foremost political, i.e. primarily related to
> the event and its possible interpretations, and not merely an illustration
> of the kind of relationship Brooke and Maxine have.
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
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