The Public Burning

[J Tracy]

I agree, his Nixon defies expectations, at least in his inner life, does not like a lot of what he does to his opponents, feels compassion,  knows his own flaws. And  that makes him more credible as a human..  There is the idea, which I find credible, that human monsters are not their own creation, but in a very real , or at least practical sense are possessed by  dark and powerful spirits that they have embraced.  Of course Uncle Sam sees himself with no doubts as the global leader of the  Sons of Light and even does folk songs and a weird humor. There are moments when I admire him, or at least his spiel. Coover always explores motives and so digs into our own.  

> On May 11, 2025, at 11:09 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Glad you like it Joseph. I think you'll like the ending. But I think what the makes the book soar is that Nixon is a full-fledged, full-bodied character, not just what we would expect if it was just a dull retread of Nixon the man in real life. 
> 
> rich
> 
> On Fri, May 9, 2025 at 11:11 PM J Tracy <brook7 at sover.net <mailto:brook7 at sover.net>> wrote:
>> I’m about 200 pages into it, having read Huck Out West and some short stories some years ago, I thought I'd check it out.
>> It is an intense read. The character of Uncle Sam is the most  credible and terrifying attempt to give voice to an essential part of the american spirit I have found; or maybe not exactly the American spirit but the spirit energy of the US government. This Uncle Sam is odiously self righteous aggressive, propagating hate as freedom, but comically poetically macho country boy  .   It is fucking mesmerizing and impossible to describe.    I’m now at the place where Nixon has been mentally reviewing the trial of the Rosenbergs as though he were the defense attorney and seeing the high probability that it was staged by the FBI and surrounded by the   influences on Judge  and Prosecutor  of the high pitch of McCarthy anticommunism.  The details with which this case is being reviewed is stunning and as impressive as journalism as it is as fiction. Coover's point not being as far as I can tell to argue innocence, but a very disturbing fever pitch of manipulation of very little evidence and  a very incompetent defense.
>>    I agree that it resonates with recent events in provocative ways. 
>> 
>> Coover may be the greatest iconoclast of recent US literature.
>>   
>> 
>> 
>>> On May 1, 2025, at 11:50 AM, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com <mailto:richard.romeo at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi all
>>> 
>>> If you want something to tickle your whiskers re: the rogue nature of the
>>> current administration, read the Public Burning, Coover's masterpiece. Much
>>> of it resonates even more today though it was great before the King in
>>> Yellow showed up.
>>> 
>>> having a re-re-reread with new recognitions
>>> 
>>> rich
>>> --
>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>> 
>>