BE group read: CH 2

Mon Nov 8 08:09:31 UTC 2021

The book is permeated with money, with commercialism, with NYC as the
center of
money and its fungibility; more posts to come on that as TRP leans into it
hard. Examples galore.
The business of America is business said one former President and at this
time, in this
NYC, in this America, dotcommers a constant here, along with Maxine's
profession
and trying to follow the money, it is no accident to me that Pynchon uses
the phrase, label,
"late capitalism" imo. It is a thing and has been and it is getting later
and later, he might be saying.

Late capitalism as a thing, concept, stresses the workings of monopoly, the
system working toward
monopolies, an inherent vice one might say.

In this reading it now occurs to me that Pynchon stresses the movement
toward monopolies---the duck stamp
collector, the Beanie Babies collector.

On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 7:53 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> I’m not following, just skimming a bit from some of these posts. But I
> hope your discussion doesn’t get short-changed by your use of labels like
> “postmodernism” and “late capitalism.”  Pointing to a text description of
> *anything* as an example of one of those isms is just lazy and
> self-defeating for a real discussion, even if it’s used as a term inside
> the text.  TV isn’t just TV, if you catch my drift.  Links within the text
> for deeper intent is a richer source IMHO.  Reference to outside text or TV
> or current life is great, but only so far as the novel provides its take on
> them (for the most part).  Authority is always a moving target.  Anyway,
> that’s my 2 cents.
>
> David Morris
>
> On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 7:02 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Uh, maybe, if that means the idea of bootlegging from the screen, but
>> Seinfeld got it from NYC life....
>> ....in the nineties at least, people were doing this and selling lots in
>> the streets of New York and other cities.
>> Openly enough on the streets of Jersey City where I lived when I wasn't in
>> NYC, very smilingly perky attractive Chinese-American woman in my neck of
>> JC....
>>
>> I also think TRP is satirizing academia and supposed film-makers as well.
>> Reg is just doing commercial film, everything is now commercial in late
>> capitalism.
>> As well as satirizing postmodernism and its labels.
>>
>> On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 6:32 PM David Elliott via Pynchon-l <
>> pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:
>>
>> >   pp. 8-9 in the PB on Reg as movie pirate - "... far ahead of the
>> leading
>> > edge of this postmodern art form" "with your neo-Brechtian subversion of
>> > the diegesis."
>> > Do you think Pynchon got the idea from the Seinfeld "Little Kicks"
>> episode?
>> > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Kicks
>> >
>> >
>> > |
>> > |
>> > |  |
>> > The Little Kicks
>> >
>> > George tags along to a company party held by Elaine. He hits on Anna,
>> one
>> > of Elaine's employees, but she isn't i...
>> >  |
>> >
>> >  |
>> >
>> >  |
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >     On Sunday, November 7, 2021, 03:21:53 PM EST, Joseph Tracy <
>> > brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >  Edward Despard’s life is a fascinating bit of evidence that modern
>> > ethical ideas about racial/ethnic justice are not as restricted to
>> recent
>> > times as some argue. His complaints about the Crown's financial abuse
>> and
>> > his administative attempt at racial justice in Honduras landed him in a
>> > narrow prison and when a fellow officer visited him he looked in bad
>> > shape.The parallels to Reg seem a bit extreme but the power and
>> > ruthlessness of Ice&co soon become evident. This is the second time in
>> > Pynchon’s novels that a person with a camera is on the frontlines of
>> > ominous cultural changes, and since Vineland in the 80s the documentary
>> > (and Docudrama) has become a major force of social critique, from
>> Michael
>> > Moore to Citizen 4, few things so authoritative as seeing an event,
>> though
>> > we have also learned that editing can be pretty misleading.  Reg is
>> already
>> > shaken by what he is seeing, perhaps more than makes obvious sense. He
>> has
>> > the documentarian’s sense that he needs confirmation, grounding, solid
>> > evidence. But what this reader feels as an overall impression is fear,
>> > which Maxine picks up as "One of those funny looks Maxine by now knows
>> > better than to ignore. “
>> >   The name Gabriel Ice amplifies this subtle note of fear, particularlly
>> > for the Pynchon reader, with references to ATD’s  Vormance expedition to
>> > Iceland and the Ice monster they release, but also Gabriel and the
>> Trump-et
>> > of apocalypse.  The comic prose style that P uses gives the reader a
>> safe
>> > distance from the drama. He is cluing us to what looks like some dark
>> stuff
>> > but he doesn’t want to manipulate our emotions. It’s like a vampire
>> > appearing in the Simpsons, funny, silly but not necessarily empty of
>> > meaning.
>> >   “You’re suggesting what, mob, covert ops?” “According to Eric, a
>> purpose
>> > on earth written in code none of us can read. Except maybe for 666,
>> which
>> > tends to recur.” The use of 666, appearing only this once in the novel,
>> and
>> > kinda offhand, has some serious implications connected to a digital
>> > powerhouse with connections to the government, or several governments.
>> In
>> > the book of the Revelation, which is admittedly a strange piece of work,
>> > 666 has 2 meanings; it is connected to a figure called the beast or
>> > 'anti-Christ’ and implicit in his ’name’, and it is a mark instituted by
>> > the beast's rule, a number embedded in the body that allows the
>> citizens to
>> > buy or sell and restricting those who don’t have the mark from economic
>> > transactions. This kind of system has been made dramatically more
>> feasible
>> > with digital technology and is not without proponents among the high
>> tech
>> > plutocrats. Some are nervous that the pandemiic and the idea of a
>> digital
>> > passport point in this direction. Not trying to say Pynchon sees this a
>> > prophetic situation, but he is throwing out some pretty dark imagery
>> around
>> > Ice and the implicit growth of electronic surveillance and secretiveness
>> > that got kicked into high gear after 9-11.
>> >   I don’t like John of Patmos’ book at all, the cruel gloating as God
>> > pours out his curses on an evil humanity does not appeal to me, but is
>> > there some possibility that the altered state that allowed this vision
>> > holds some inherent logic about the combination of economic and military
>> > imperialism that reached an early height of power in the Roman empire?
>> > Well, that is what is weird about ‘sacred texts’.  They look like
>> > superstitious nonsense one period and like uncanny prescience the next.
>> >  Pynchon works this territory with uncommon fearlessness and can’t
>> easily
>> > be reduced to a skilled hypertext game player for me. My own connection
>> to
>> > literature, to words, to images, is not without the quality of 'a
>> purpose
>> > on earth written in code none of us can read’ but all of us want to.
>> >
>> >
>> > >
>> > > Bleeding edge Ch 2 summary
>> > >
>> > > at end of Ch 1 Reg Despard arrives at Maxine’s office and  is brought
>> in
>> > with warmth, affection
>> > > and curious anticipation. “Do get your ass in here. Long time.”
>> > > CH 2 BE
>> > > Reg Despard’s name -  Reg by itself derives from latin for
>> > ruler/king/queen The only historic Despard I found was Edward Despard (
>> > 1751-18030 famous for contending for equal teatment of races, right to
>> buy
>> > land in Carribean, for marrying a black woman, for accusations of
>> sedition
>> > that, though unproved, bankrupted him and later for accusation and
>> > conviction for  questionable plot to kill king George 3, for this he was
>> > drawn and quartered long after that horrifying practice was in use. He
>> was
>> > a social reformer/revolutionary Influenced by Tom Paine.            Reg
>> > Despard first met Maxine on a carribean cruise.
>> > >
>> > > Reg looks considerably hammered by interval of a couple years( this
>> > would fit life of Edward Despard, but why hammered?). He is a video
>> > documentarian who began as movie pirate making camcorder videos of first
>> > run movies, duplicating and selling for a dollar or 2. He got drawn into
>> > academic scene by professor who says he is on leading edge ”“with your
>> > neo-Brechtian subversion of the diegesis.”  Soon he is shooting his own
>> > pictures and has a business making documentaries. Maxine asks what he’s
>> > there about and …
>> > > “It’s this company I’ve been shooting a documentary about? I keep
>> > running into . . .” One of those funny looks Maxine by now knows better
>> > than to ignore.
>> > > “Attitude.” “Access issues. Too much I’m not being told.”
>> > > Reg thinks info is hidden in Deep Web, Maxi says maybe you want a
>> > techie. He already has one named Eric Outfield.
>> > > The firm who commissioned the documentary is called hashslingerz, does
>> > computer security , reputed to be expanding , making big money….
>> > >
>> > > R “ I have this tiny advance the company’s kicking in, plus I’m
>> allowed
>> > total access, or so I thought till yesterday, which is when I figured
>> I’d
>> > better see you.” “Something in the accounting.” “Just like to know who
>> I’m
>> > working for. I haven’t sold my soul yet—“
>> > >
>> > > The firm is owned by Gabriel Ice, Maxi recalls  photo of boy
>> billionaire
>> > in white, makes Bill Gates look charismatic.
>> > > “That’s only his party mask. He has deep resources.”
>> > > “You’re suggesting what, mob, covert ops?” “According to Eric, a
>> purpose
>> > on earth written in code none of us can read. Except maybe for 666,
>> which
>> > tends to recur.
>> > > Reg asks maxi if she still has concealed carry permit and if whole set
>> > up is too paranoid.
>> > > “Not me, paranoia’s the garlic in life’s kitchen, right, you can never
>> > have too much.”
>> > >
>> > > In  the course of  a talk about pay Reg suggests she looks like  film
>> > star Rachel Weisz.This leads into 5 pages of flashback to a budget
>> cruise
>> > Maxi went on at suggestion of her sex, cop, pop culture obsessed best
>> > friend Heidi Czornak. The cruise was Heidi’s  attempt to break Maxine’s
>> > post divorce depair which was causing her to drink too much and cry a
>> lot.
>> > The passengers are mostly from“AMBOPEDIA Frolix ’98,” a yearly
>> gathering of
>> > the American Borderline Personality Disorder Association.”
>> > > She meets Reg on this cruise, continues to drink heavily, meets duck
>> > stamp collectors and other amusing folk, gambles  and talks with Reg
>> using
>> > Jujubes under the influence of “Generic Undiagnosed James Bond Syndrome,
>> > whole different support group.She meets Joel Weiner ( the real??? J
>> Weiner
>> > was  an unscrupulous real estate mogul indicted many times) Occasionally
>> > forgets about Horst. This trip the budget cruise line is headed for
>> > borderline of Haiti and Dominican Republic. Her and Reg start drinking
>> > Mamajuana, a jar containing a vine soaked in rum and red wine with voodo
>> > love spell. They find room in abandoned luxury hotel and misbehave on
>> > moldering bed amidst vines and lizards.
>> > >
>> > > Back in novel’s real time Maxine asks Reg if they… He politely or
>> memory
>> > fogged by mamajuana says no. We find out somehow Weiner indirectly
>> caused
>> > Maxine's license to be revoked when she “cut him too much slack” not
>> > following evidence of fraud and offering him some “tricks of the trade
>> out
>> > of “friendship”.
>> > >  “Friendship?” Reg is puzzled. “You didn’t even like him.”
>> > > M “A technical term.”
>> > > We get more details of license removal, possibility of appeal which
>> > Maxine does not pursue.  Not sure she wants to be  “the one
>> incorruptible
>> > still point in the whole jittery mess, the atomic clock everybody
>> trusts.”
>> > > …………………………………………………………….
>> > >
>> > > Hope that isn’t too long or too short for  a summary, but still lots
>> of
>> > room for details and questions raised.  Summaries help me see the acton
>> as
>> > a whole, since Pynchon writes so engagingly in the digressions.
>> > >
>> > > comic issues- Ambopedia, academic media criticism, duck stamps, James
>> > Bond Syndrome, cheapo luxury cruises,
>> > >
>> > > serious issues- divorce; secretive powerful tech firm tagged
>> > 666/Ice/apocalyptic angel Gabriel; deep web; real estate fraud abuse;
>> fraud
>> > investigation;  moral and job independence.
>> > >
>> > > comico-serious-why hashslingerz ?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>