BE group read: CH 2

[David Morris]

I’ve been challenged to be more than an insulting stinkbomb thrower, and
I’ll admit that some of my comments have been jabs at previous comments.
Sorry for being so jabby.  And, so to try to answer some of my last
question:  What is Pynchon winking at us about by calling this company the
derogatory slang: Hashslingerz?

First, I’d say it serves to cut them down to size.  They might be hiding
stuff, but they aren’t super-villains.  Not a deep observation, I know.
But  I don’t think it means to denigrate the tastes or appetites of those
to whom they sling their slop.  We all are consumers, and the world is just
one big trade-trough.

That’s not to downplay the mechanisms of control that are deployed by those
that can.  And that those hiding those mechanisms are a way to augment
control further.  Those have always been Pynchon’s concerns, but they
haven’t yet been nibbled at yet.

Sorry for jabbing at the jumping on of late capitalism as a BE topic.  I
just think using the term shortcuts real discussion.  And at this point
taking about Postmodernism seems a meaningless  game.

David Morris

On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 8:09 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> In other words (in case you missed my drift), “Hashslingerz” would seem to
> be an obviously derogatory moniker.  *Do the characters in BE see that
> obvious put-down when referring to this company*?  If they don’t see what
> is so obvious to the even slightly aware reader, then *why is that*? Is
> this an inside joke between Pynchon and the reader?  If so, what is Pynchon
> winking at us about?  I think THAT question will take you a lot further
> than trying to find some hidden code in the name.
>
> But maybe I just can’t get beyond the obvious.
>
> David Morris
>
> On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 3:51 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> A hash slinger is a short order cook. Someone who “slings” crap food
>> across a grill and onto a plate, to be served in a cheap diner.  “Crap
>> thrower” might be its equivalent.  Or crap “server”:  somebody who serves
>> crap.
>>
>