The Great Aspinwall Hotel Fire

[Mark Kohut]

I would simply say that incipient fascism pervaded almost everything that
followed including the rise of talkies and beyond.



On Wed, May 6, 2026 at 9:47 AM Robin Landseadel via Pynchon-l <
pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

> The Great Aspinwall Hotel Fire
>
> Laura Kelber: Is the thesis that the talkies ushered in, or at least
> enabled,
> the rise of fascism? Just as literacy led to assassination during the
> Kirghiz
> Light episode in GR. Or is it a less direct: talkies = Depression = rising
> fascism? Anyway, something to think about on a re-read . . .
>
> Correlation is not causation, so they say, but in Pynchon’s books
> there’s a whole lotta correlation goin’ on:
>
> . . . Suspension of the 36-year-old firm of Pynchon & Co., one of the
> largest financial houses in the country, was announced by the New
> York Stock Exchange yesterday afternoon, following the firm's
> admission that it was unable to meet its engagements. In the
> extent of its operations, the firm is believed to be the largest,
> having Stock Exchange affiliations, ever to have suspended . . .
>
> EXCHANGE SUSPENDS PYNCHON & COMPANY; Action Follows Notice by Firm That It
> Is Unable to Meet Its Obligations. LOANS PUT AT $40,000,000 Concern, One of
> Largest, Lays Troubles to Drop in Stocks-- Hopes for Reorganization. Hope
> Suspension Is Temporary. EXCHANGE SUSPENDS PYNCHON & CO. Little Excitement
> in Wall Street. Headed Theatre Syndicate. Rumors of Aid Last Fall. - The
> New York Times
> https://www.nytimes.com/1931/04/25/archives/exchange-suspends-pynchon-company-action-follows-notice-by-firm.html
>
> The date of the NYT article is April 25, 1931. So is this:
>
> $1,000,000 FIRE RAZES THE ASPINWALL HOTEL; Lenox (Mass.) Hostelry,
> Patronized by Rockefeller and Depew, Is Destroyed - The New York Times
> https://www.nytimes.com/1931/04/26/archives/1000000-fire-razes-the-aspinwall-hotel-lenox-mass-hostelry.html?searchResultPosition=17
>
> Hotel Aspinwall, Lenox, Mass (1) - Lost New England
> https://lostnewengland.com/2016/02/hotel-aspinwall-lenox-mass-1/
>
> Assume, for the moment, that the author is pointing to the
> Great Aspinwall Hotel fire in Gravity’s Rainbow as a parallel
> to the downfall of Pynchon and Company. No chance of
> causation here but a clear correlation. And who knows?
> Maybe this sort of thing happens on the quantum level,
> spooky action at a distance and all that.
>
> In any case, the talkies did have a direct impact on the
> fortunes of Pynchon and Company. I really don’t want
> to read Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox again, it was
> bad enough the first time, also took up too much shelf space
> when I made the big move up north. But I know the
> specifics are in there. There’s a free online version for
> those who must:
>
> Upton Sinclair Presents William Fox : Upton Sinclair : Free Download,
> Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
> https://archive.org/details/uptonsinclairpre017746mbp
>
> Thessalie makes the connection between the rise of the
> Talkies and the Great Depression. There’s a specific type
> of oracle one will find in Pynchon’s books, a hot sibyl, one
> who you just “randomly” (ha, ha) met who knows you’re
> looking for a specific and secret part for an experimental
> rocket project and she knows how you can get that part
> and you’re also not an English reporter but I think you’re
> cute so I’ll help you.
>
> Thessalie’s that character in ST, though she’s known Hicks
> longer than Geli knew Tyrone and Thessalie ain’t in the
> mood for no foolin’ around.
>
> Gross economic inequality can lead to Fascism. I’ll have to
> cogitate more about the relation between cheese and Fascism.
>
> “Americans will eat anything orange”
>
> James Beard
>
>
> “I know there’s a pony in here somewhere.”
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>