Re: SLPAD - 90 - “Low-Lands” - 4

[rich]

Can I just say I find this story rather awful. a low point imho (with some
recompense in the author being young and learning the craft). wouldnt be
surprised this is the one Pynchon referenced in his intro as giving him
pains of one sort or another.  he should have called it Misogyny

rich

On Tue, Aug 29, 2023 at 2:30 AM Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
wrote:

> One could get into a thing about how the definition of “lowlands”
> https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/lowland#:~:text=%2F
> ˈlo%CA%8Al%C9%99nd%2F-,plural%20lowlands,a%20village%20in%20the%20lowlands
>
> includes “at, near, or below sea level” and since there is some upcoming
> textual evidence that Flange’s attracted to the sea in general, and his
> progress thru the story is generally downwards - starting early as his
> compliance with Rocco’s invitation to “come on down” from the upper story
> of his house to the lower level - the tension between land & sea, between
> the intimacy of shipboard companions and the intimacy of married life, and
> the loosening & even breaching (if not even “breakdown” though that seems
> too extreme - or does it?) of metaphorical dikes responsible for keeping
> his lowlands dry may be one of the determining conflicts found in most
> worthwhile fiction.
>
>
> “Cindy was Mrs. Flange and needless to say she did not dig this muscatel
> business. She did not dig Rocco Squarcione either. Or as a matter of fact
> any of her husband’s friends. “You keep that weird crew down in the rumpus
> room,” she would yell, brandishing a cocktail shaker. “You are a damned
> ASPCA, is what you are. I doubt if even they would take some of the animals
> you bring home.”
>
>
> “she would yell” indicating a compaction of multiple instances. It seems
> likely that Mrs Flange is a full-time homemaker & hostess (hors d’oeuvre
> dishes and cocktail trays) and would be happier with guests such as the
> lawyers Flange works with and/or their clients, and with gatherings focused
> on conversation  rather than music which would downplay the role of the
> stereo, making it more of an accessory and conversation piece.
>
> Which is totally legit; a full-service aspiring attorney & mover/shaker can
> use - needs, really - a panoply of hostessing & “homekeeping” a la Martha
> Stewart - but Flange has decided to color outside the lines of the
> partnership.
>
> What possible social or business advancement - or, for that matter,
> contribution to the commonwealth - can come of listening to Vivaldi with
> Rocco et al? It’s a legitimate question.
>
> Also, who are the “et al” she refers to as animals in need so dire that
> their plight would daunt even the rescue efforts of the ASPCA?
>
> Do we meet any of the others?
> I can’t remember. We can imagine others - the newspaper delivery person,
> town drunks, the mailman, snow plow drivers, beachcombers, off-duty
> policemen, panhandlers and buskers if any dared set out their hats on Long
> Island’s North Shore?
>
> Pig Bodine of course transcends even the “mangy animal” category. But we’ll
> get to him.
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>