SLPAD - 41 -

[Mark Kohut]

Mike,

Levine comes to share your dislike, right?

Mark

On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 1:44 PM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think Levine is passable. maybe it's been mentioned already, but he is
> Beetle Bailey, no?. his nemesis the NCO, Camp Swampy (I looked that up)
>
> rich
>
> On Tue, Apr 4, 2023 at 4:16 AM Michael Bailey <
> michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I’m ready to like Levine, but he’s not eminently likeable.
> >
> > If you’re gonna smoke, flicking ashes in your helmet liner is
> > understandable, putting butts out in it is borderline, and dumping them
> on
> > the floor is boorish. In my humble opinion.
> >
> > The only thing worse is putting them out on a melon rind - that’s
> > schrecklich!
> >
> > Or wait, the only thing worse than that is putting them in a half full
> soda
> > can & leaving it out.
> >
> >
> > But anyway, he does have some humor -
> >
> > “He squeezed the orderly’s head* as he went out. ‘What’s shaking?’
> Capucci
> > said. Levine squinted into the bright heavy air outside.
> >                ‘Oh, the Pentagon, again,’ he said. ‘Just won’t let me
> > alone.’”
> >
> > (Probably affectionately? Or at least a little less than
> fight-pickingly?)
> >
> > Delusional self-exaltation is funny, when done consciously. Also, since
> > Pentagon is a major source of orders, it’s marginally a true statement.
> >
> > Wearing the helmet liner - probably not regulation turnout - he trudges
> to
> > the orderly room.
> >
> > - in a meta sense, a place incompatible with the disorderly character
> > traits he’s been exhibiting -
> >
> >
> > Braced unnecessarily for more persiflage with Dugan, who’s busy typing,
> he
> > leans on the first sergeant’s desk railing & casually greets him with,
> “Hi,
> > Sarge.”
> >
> > (One thinks of the reverse-punctilio of Hawkeye Pierce in M.A.S.H., but
> > Levine’s about as much like Hawkeye as Dugan is like Radar O’Reilly)
> >
> > The idea of his isolation is encapsulated in his walk thru the company
> area
> > - he’s not in the group lining up for early chow, he’s not one of the
> > office workers, and he’s not in the (tiny spoiler) meeting.
> >
> > The whole group mentality mindset seems to be lost on him, or he’s
> > deliberately rebelling against it.
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>