CoL49 Chapter 4

[Joseph Tracy]

Well curiosity got the better of me last night and I read the Hollander essay: Pynchon. JFK and the CIA: Magic Eye Views of the Crying of Lot 49

I remembered that I had read part of it, felt it was too reliant on references to names without really giving logical flow to an argument and quit reading before finishing. A lot of the most interesting historical information was toward the end  and I have more historic contextual knowledge now in which to place it. I think the essay needed to be edited down and given more coherent flow.  Some of his ideas were things I had come to independently and  I think the basic premise, which is that the mystery Oedipa is following  is Pynchon’s way of invoking the JFK killing without drawing the heat , would turn up plenty of corroborating evidence for anyone who pursued the idea with reasonable effort.  I may follow some of Hollander’s research leads if I have the stamina to keep working on this. 

The essay did stir up many thoughts, from Bertolt Brecht’s take on the role of art, to the role of Porky and other pigs in Pynchon’s thinking and approach to satiric heroes, to the serious investment in names and wordplay and historic references in P novels. This group reading has had similar effects for me from an interest in reading some Jacques Ellul ( who sounds rather like a kindred soul) mentioned by Mark K to questions about my own artistic process.  I  am tending to think now of COL 49 as Pynchon’s least successful work in terms of accessibility and thematic development,  but the human interactions so narrowly contained in this slim volume feel very successful and speak volumes about the social dynamics of that period and how those flowed into our current moment. 

Thomas,  as for myself as occasional participant in the P-list, you  are always welcome, and  I look forward to any further thoughts  you might have on COL 49. 

 

> On Jun 18, 2024, at 7:53 AM, Hübschräuber <huebschraeuber at protonmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I thought Hollander's interpretation was too narrow and it did not convince me but I enjoyed reading it. Since you mention J. J. Angleton: I like to speculate that the subject of postal services in COL49 in some way has to do with the CIA's domestic surveillance programmes which were incorporated into Angleton's Operation CHAOS a few years later.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>