BTZ42Read: it has happened before

[Steven Koteff]

I don't read the word "but" as necessarily implying there WAS something to compare it to. 

I read it as: it has happened before [and therefore there should be something to compare it to now, because it happened before] but there is nothing to compare it to now

All previous iterations are nullified or obliterated. Or there relevance or importance or rememberability is nullified/obliterated. There are a lot of reasons this might be the case. Depending on part on what you take to be the thing that has happened before, is happening now. 

> On Mar 14, 2016, at 12:20 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey, wasn't the official group read start date tomorrow? Will we have anything to compare the discussion to then?
> 
> I take the opening sentences at closer to face value - the prosaic view:
> 
> A screaming comes across the sky. The V-2 rocket, super-sonic, so its sound is out of kilter with time. "Screaming" reflects that more than "a scream."
> 
> It has happened before … Again, the prosaic read - if you're hearing the V-2, it's already landed - no need to kiss your ass goodbye.
> 
> … but there is nothing to compare it to now. This is the toughest nut to crack.  " … and, therefore, there is nothing to compare it to now," seems a more logical end to the sentence. The word "but" emphasizes the word "now." It implies that when it happened before (when this rocket was launched? Or: whenever these rockets have been launched in the past?) there WAS something to compare it to. So I guess what I'm saying is that the word "but" derails the simplistic V-2 reading. What in hell does Pynchon mean?
> 
> Laura
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ray Easton <raymond.lee.easton at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Mar 14, 2016 12:51 PM
>> To: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Subject: BTZ42Read: it has happened before
>> 
>> How do you (any of you) read the second sentence?
>> 
>> Ray
>> 
>> -----
>> You don't need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
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