CoL49 - Zachary All suit

[Mark Kohut]

James got the exact quote which is more nuanced, as he admitted, than his
quick sum-up
and I would not describe that as having it both ways.....I would just
describe it as fan-like
lit criticism that goes way beyond the text as written......a gloss as it
were that is glossolalia.
so to speak...

On Sun, Jul 7, 2024 at 2:38 AM Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:

>  I am not sure any weaknesses in Hollander’s approach can be summarized as
> “trying to have it both ways”. His arguments, with whatever problems they
> may have, are clearly stated. In this case the hiding has to do with his
> argument, reasonably persuasive, that Pynchon was quite nervous about a
> direct approach to making the Kennedy assassination and power struggle with
> the CIA and cold- warriors central and obvious , as say the parallel to
> 1984 in Vineland or the various theories around 9-11 in Bleeding Edge.
> Because of this apprehension about becoming a political target  Hollander
> argues Pynchon hid the core historical parallel, but used multiple
> allusions and names to point the careful reader to that core theme. My own
> problem with Hollander’s arguments has to do with how heavily it relies on
> a presumed outrage over the dispossession of the Pynchon family by the
> Rockefellers and  an implied energy investment and Bank war between war
> between the Rothschild’s and Rockefeller, then resumed in the Rockefellerr
> connected Dulles allied with Angleton.  Maybe. Not impossible. Others have
> mentioned this family history,  but it implies a personal motive that is
> tenuous and unprovable and only remotely relevant or explanatory IMO.
>    On the other hand The essay bristles with telling connections between
> fascists and Nazi loot and Dulles, Angleton and others that has much
> stronger references in the text. It  is a tour de force of interesting
> historic references drawn from serious research, and all drawn from the
> names and events in the COL 49. Whether any reader would go to such lengths
> to get at these references the way Hollander does seems unlikely. But I can
> say honestly that referring to the text and names before reading his essay,
> I also made several of these connections and a few of my own and derived
> the same basic theme.
>
>
> > On Jul 5, 2024, at 4:37 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > "to hide and confirm at the same time (not a great paraphrase)."...I'll
> > say....having it both ways is a cliche comment.....having it both ways is
> > usually not good criticism.....one can't be wrong therefore can't be
> > right....
> >
> > On Fri, Jul 5, 2024 at 4:32 PM J K Van Nort via Pynchon-l <
> > pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Another example of Pynchon minor details that lead down rabbit holes but
> >> also have links to previous moments. Charles Hollander says that Pynchon
> >> uses multiple allusions and proper names to hide and confirm at the same
> >> time (not a great paraphrase).
> >>
> >> The founder of IA choses a Zachary All suit, which would have come from
> >> the Zachary All Clothing store on Wilshire Blvd. The founder of the
> store,
> >> Edward Nalbandian, an Armenian-American (like Fallopian) made
> commercials
> >> on local Los Angeles stations, one of which inspired Frank Zappa's song
> >> "Eddie, are you kidding?".
> >>
> >> Relevance? I'm not sure, but the idea that Pynchon mixes allusions
> across
> >> the book to point and verify is an interesting concept, and one that we
> see
> >> often in CoL49.
> >>
> >> In solidarity,
> >> James
> >>
> >> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> >> --
> >> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >>
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>
>
>
>