STetc ch38 & assorted musings/ramblings

[Michael Bailey]

What do I know about Pirandello? Not that much, really. I promised a deep dive, but it might take a few more days to get even a little beneath the surface. Not sure I even want to go very deep. Pynchon apparently found it interesting/important/amusing enough to include a heavy-duty reference in the penultimate chapter as he's winding things down, and that carries a lot of weight with me. (I mean, if it's a middle-aged Bildungs-redux-roman, McTaggart has gone from Point A to Point B pretty thoroughly in all respects: geographically, emotionally...what else is there? Probably a thing or three...)

I have some callow, impressionistic thoughts, like when and where Mr P(irandello) lived was in the same part of the world line as Hicks and Chazz at the Korzo fish market, if you draw a big enough circle.

Chazz might’ve taken in some plays during his clothes-buying tour in preparation for international intrigue - just because he’s a criminal/adventurer doesn’t preclude him from enjoying the fruits of culture.

That could be the wellspring from which his song bursts. Flows? I was thinking like "burst into song" but a wellspring is more likely to flow.

Cosi e first performance where & when? - I'll get to that eventually


Everyone’s heard of “Six Characters” which does a lot of experimentation. That used to be called “modern” but the term seems less apt now; maybe that's why some people came up with "post-modern" - but that sort of increases the vagueness; if your label is time-bound, it isn't proof against the passage of time; but "post-" something is open-ended — kind of like a "ray" in geometry (tell the truth, aren't "rays" kind of annoying? Or is it just me?)