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The Hallucinati
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Psmith
Jun 4, 2012, 1:39:51 PM6/4/12
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I like the name Hallucinati on page 925 of Against the Day. I still
have trouble keeping all the characters straight. What year have we
reached in the novel? Have the Chums of Chance aged? I suppose some
people have written on this novel to elucidate these types of
questions.
I still wonder whether Pynchon will publish another book.
have trouble keeping all the characters straight. What year have we
reached in the novel? Have the Chums of Chance aged? I suppose some
people have written on this novel to elucidate these types of
questions.
I still wonder whether Pynchon will publish another book.
RMJon23
Jun 4, 2012, 6:29:23 PM6/4/12
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I once thought so, but in my own idiosyncratic reading of Against the Day, I've come to suspect that the politics suggested by his friends in the 1950s - Catholic - has morphed into a xtian anarchism that bears a resemblance to the technology-has-its-own-imperatives-and-will-kill-us-all views of Jacques Ellul, The Unabomber, Bill Joy, McLuhan (if you give him a certain occult reading) and some of the early "the Net will save us" acolytes who now seem to have grave misgivings about GNR (not Guns and Roses but genetics+nanotech+robotics) and seem slowly backing off.
I don't think Pynch will join us in our Spectacle.
Here's what I WISH would happen: Pynch grants one long interview (with a few pics) to someone like Ruskoff, or Evgeny Mozgov (sp?) for Wired. That would be interesting. It would be funny to see him go 3 minutes on TV, on a completely idiotic show, like the one with the two old gals drinking in the morning, one of them Kathie Lee Gifford? The IRONY! What a mindfuck! All of the sudden ABC (or whatever that network is) would be inundated by high-flown literati who want to order copies of that 3 minute segment, to parse and analyze everything Pynchon says, the subtext, why did Kathie Lee ask him THAT? Was she fed these Qs?
Kathie Lee: Our next guest is a FAMOUS NOVELIST who - and the card here says he's never appeared on televsion before, is that right? (Laughs) I'm being told it's true...he must be shy or something. Anyway! (laughing, her co-star girlfriend drinking mai-tai and laughing too) we're pleased to have on Thomas Pynchon (she pronounces it PINE-chone)!
(The camera pans over to reveal Pynchon, already sitting next to the two dippy old drunk broads)
Kathie Lee: How are you this morning? Did I pronounce your name right?
Pynchon: I'm fine. The lights in here are...really bright. Yes, yes you pronounced it correctly.
Other gal: They say you write really big books that are hard to read. Doesn't that hurt your sales? How did you survive as a novelist?
Etc. It would be one of the hallmarks in the history of surrealism.
Psmith
Jun 4, 2012, 9:03:36 PM6/4/12
to
I suspect he will not come out of hiding. I suspect he has plans for
the possibility of his demise.
I remember when Pynchon spoke on "The Simpsons," lots of people
analyzed his accent on the Pynchon listserv. Your comments about when
he ought to appear remind me of this piece he wrote on "The Daily
Show": http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_dailyshow.html
.
I don't what, if anything, Pynchon believes.
I enjoyed your post. I've enjoyed this Against the Day reading
process, but I look forward to finishing it next month. I haven't had
any Pynchon dreams lately that I've remembered. When Vineland came
out I had at least two dreams about buying it, and a few years ago I
had dreams about rereading it. I would still like to better
understand why Leary loved Gravity's Rainbow so much.
the possibility of his demise.
I remember when Pynchon spoke on "The Simpsons," lots of people
analyzed his accent on the Pynchon listserv. Your comments about when
he ought to appear remind me of this piece he wrote on "The Daily
Show": http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_dailyshow.html
.
I don't what, if anything, Pynchon believes.
I enjoyed your post. I've enjoyed this Against the Day reading
process, but I look forward to finishing it next month. I haven't had
any Pynchon dreams lately that I've remembered. When Vineland came
out I had at least two dreams about buying it, and a few years ago I
had dreams about rereading it. I would still like to better
understand why Leary loved Gravity's Rainbow so much.
Bhavani
Jun 6, 2012, 1:25:07 PM6/6/12
to
Things go very well, indeed!
Some people like to stay out of the Public Eye to get things done; the
price they pay to do what they do. Maybe Pynchon is one of those?
I believe the reason Leary loved GR had something to do with set,
setting, and dosage. He was in a maximum security prison at the time
and likely didn't have a huge reading selection to choose from. I
haven't read the book but the title, Gravity's Rainbow, seems
appropriate for that situation.
I'm at p.922 in Against the Day and guess the year is somewhere around
1910-1912.
Some people like to stay out of the Public Eye to get things done; the
price they pay to do what they do. Maybe Pynchon is one of those?
I believe the reason Leary loved GR had something to do with set,
setting, and dosage. He was in a maximum security prison at the time
and likely didn't have a huge reading selection to choose from. I
haven't read the book but the title, Gravity's Rainbow, seems
appropriate for that situation.
I'm at p.922 in Against the Day and guess the year is somewhere around
1910-1912.
Psmith
Jun 6, 2012, 5:43:15 PM6/6/12
to
Glad to hear things go well. I just reached page 928. I think your
analysis of why Leary loved GR seems accurate. I find it interesting
that he continued to praise GR lavishly for the rest of his life. He
gushed about it in all (or nearly all) of the books he wrote after he
finished reading it.
analysis of why Leary loved GR seems accurate. I find it interesting
that he continued to praise GR lavishly for the rest of his life. He
gushed about it in all (or nearly all) of the books he wrote after he
finished reading it.
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