Gravity's Rainbow & Excess & Meaning & Character Flaws
Charlotte Allen
What's Pynchon's opinion of technology in Gravity's Rainbow?
"It means this War was never political at all, the politics was all theatre,
all just to keep people distracted...secretly, it was being dictated instead
by the needs of technology...by a conspiracy between human beings and techniques,
by something that needed the energy-burst of war, crying, 'Money be damned, the
very life of [insert name of Nation] is at stake,' but meaning, most likely,
dawn is nearly here, I need my night's blood, my funding, funding, ahh more, more...
The real crises were crises of allocation and priority, not among firms-it was
only staged to look that way-but among the different Technologies, Plastics,
Electronics, Aircraft, and their needs which are understood only by the ruling
elite..."
Hmmm... sounds like evil to me...
As to excess, perhaps the best authority is Pynchon himself, writing in the
intro to _Slow_Learner_:
"Another influence in 'Under The Rose,' too recent for me then to abuse to the
extent I have done since, is Surrealism... Having as yet virtually no access to
my dream life, I missed the main point of the movement, and became fascinated
instead with the simple idea that one could combine inside the same frame
elements not normally found together to produce illogical and startling effects.
What I had to learn later on was the necessity of managing this procedure with
some degree of care and skill: any old combination of details will not do...I was
to get even worse at this."
In my opinion, this flaw of excessive Surrealism still mars Gravity's Rainbow,
and is responsible for the harmonica in the toliet scene that has unfortunately
stopped so many readers before they realize what a remarkable work the book
really is.
Andre Dinn argues that Gravity's stylistic excesses are rooted in Hollywood rather
than in the literary culture of the 50's and 60's. Here's what Pynchon says:
"At the simplest level, it had to do with language. We were encouraged from
may directions--Kerouac and the Beat writers, the diction of Saul Bellow in
_The_Adventures_of_augie_March_, emerging voices like those of Herbert Gold and
Phillip ROth--to see how at least two very distinct kinds of English could be
allowed in fiction to coexist. Allowed! It was actually OK to write like this!
Who knew? The effect was exciting, liberating, strongly positive."
Though Pynchon refers to _On_the_Road_ as one of "the greatest American novels",
I find that what I call the excessive style of the 60's, especially as practiced
by Pynchon, has more in common with William Burroughs, who resurrected what
are essentially surrealistic techniques with his cut-ups and fold-ins. And though
I am sometimes annoyed by Surrealism and its excesses (undoubtedly due to a
massive overdose on it during my 20s), I can still appreciate its profound power
to jar me out of my ordinary modes of perception.
Why do I prefer _Vineland_ to GR? Because of what I see as the major flaw in GR,
which is its lack of any substantial character development. All the major (male)
characters in GR speak with the same voice, which is Pynchon's voice, and though
it's a wonderful voice, and well worth listening to, it does tend to get a bit
tiresome after 700 some pages. As a case in point, try (without looking at the
text of the novel) to identify the character who owns the interior monologue
about technology quoted at the beginning of this post. In _Vineland_, the
voices of Pynchon's characters are more developed, and distinct, and though
character may not be your idea of one of the fundamental aspects of the novel,
it is one of mine.
Charlotte Allen
Ted Samsel
: What's Pynchon's opinion of technology in Gravity's Rainbow?
: "It means this War was never political at all, the politics was all theatre,
: all just to keep people distracted...secretly, it was being dictated instead
: by the needs of technology...by a conspiracy between human beings and techniques,
: by something that needed the energy-burst of war, crying, 'Money be damned, the
: very life of [insert name of Nation] is at stake,' but meaning, most likely,
: dawn is nearly here, I need my night's blood, my funding, funding, ahh more, more...
Just like academia.. more funding...
: The real crises were crises of allocation and priority, not among firms-it was
: only staged to look that way-but among the different Technologies, Plastics,
: Electronics, Aircraft, and their needs which are understood only by the ruling
: elite..."
: Hmmm... sounds like evil to me...
Naw, just pure-D banality.....
: As to excess, perhaps the best authority is Pynchon himself, writing in the
: intro to _Slow_Learner_:
: "Another influence in 'Under The Rose,' too recent for me then to abuse to the
: extent I have done since, is Surrealism... Having as yet virtually no access to
: my dream life, I missed the main point of the movement, and became fascinated
: instead with the simple idea that one could combine inside the same frame
: elements not normally found together to produce illogical and startling effects.
: What I had to learn later on was the necessity of managing this procedure with
: some degree of care and skill: any old combination of details will not do...I was
: to get even worse at this."
: In my opinion, this flaw of excessive Surrealism still mars Gravity's Rainbow,
: and is responsible for the harmonica in the toliet scene that has unfortunately
: stopped so many readers before they realize what a remarkable work the book
: really is.
Is there such a thing as *excessive surrealism*? Excessive realism, yes.
But since surrealism is not really there, how can it be excessive?
: Andre Dinn argues that Gravity's stylistic excesses are rooted in Hollywood rather
: than in the literary culture of the 50's and 60's. Here's what Pynchon says:
: "At the simplest level, it had to do with language. We were encouraged from
: may directions--Kerouac and the Beat writers, the diction of Saul Bellow in
: _The_Adventures_of_augie_March_, emerging voices like those of Herbert Gold and
: Phillip ROth--to see how at least two very distinct kinds of English could be
: allowed in fiction to coexist. Allowed! It was actually OK to write like this!
: Who knew? The effect was exciting, liberating, strongly positive."
Beat them bongoes.
: Though Pynchon refers to _On_the_Road_ as one of "the greatest American novels",
: I find that what I call the excessive style of the 60's, especially as practiced
: by Pynchon, has more in common with William Burroughs, who resurrected what
: are essentially surrealistic techniques with his cut-ups and fold-ins. And though
: I am sometimes annoyed by Surrealism and its excesses (undoubtedly due to a
: massive overdose on it during my 20s), I can still appreciate its profound power
: to jar me out of my ordinary modes of perception.
: Why do I prefer _Vineland_ to GR? Because of what I see as the major flaw in GR,
: which is its lack of any substantial character development. All the major (male)
: characters in GR speak with the same voice, which is Pynchon's voice, and though
: it's a wonderful voice, and well worth listening to, it does tend to get a bit
: tiresome after 700 some pages. As a case in point, try (without looking at the
: text of the novel) to identify the character who owns the interior monologue
: about technology quoted at the beginning of this post. In _Vineland_, the
: voices of Pynchon's characters are more developed, and distinct, and though
: character may not be your idea of one of the fundamental aspects of the novel,
: it is one of mine.
Use your <cr> more judiciously, por favor, Carlotta!
--
Ted Samsel....tejas@infi.net.com/bh...@freenet-in-a.cwru.edu...
"driving a Hudson Hornet on the information superhighway"
Boxman
sense of place...the phntasmagoric scene with Him
Boxman
the banana plant drunk sailors rockets red ... Pynchon has and had a
great sense of creating a sense of place...AGREED that character
developent in GR was shallow Maybe it was because the WAR overwhelmed
and subjugated the individual to the bellicosity...whatever...I think
Charlotte D. Allen that he is a one of a kind writer that the world
would be worse off without....what think you...boxman @ the main.com
Andrew Dinn
[I have tried very hard not to talk about specific themes in
`Gravity's Rainbow' in this note, not because I don't want to have to
back up my arguments but because I don't want to put too many ideas
into people's head. I'm sorry if this is annoying but I think it is
better to leave people to puzzle out for themselves what is going on
in `Gravity's Rainbow'.].
: What's Pynchon's opinion of technology in Gravity's Rainbow?
: "It means this War was never political at all, the politics was all
: theatre, all just to keep people distracted...secretly, it was being
: dictated instead by the needs of technology...by a conspiracy
: between human beings and techniques, by something that needed the
: energy-burst of war, crying, 'Money be damned, the very life of
: [insert name of Nation] is at stake,' but meaning, most likely, dawn
: is nearly here, I need my night's blood, my funding, funding, ahh
: more, more... The real crises were crises of allocation and
: priority, not among firms - it was only staged to look that way -
: but among the different Technologies, Plastics, Electronics,
: Aircraft, and their needs which are understood only by the ruling
: elite..."
: Hmmm... sounds like evil to me...
You are taking this at face value as Pynchon's opinion. Dig deeper.
This is just one of the poles of the Paranoid Anti-Paranoid dichotomy.
Given Pynchon's professed interest in Excluded Middles your
excavations might just unearth a `Tertium Quid' somewhere between the
one and the zero.
: As to excess, perhaps the best authority is Pynchon himself, writing
: in the intro to _Slow_Learner_:
: "Another influence in 'Under The Rose,' too recent for me then to
: abuse to the extent I have done since, is Surrealism... Having as
: yet virtually no access to my dream life, I missed the main point of
: the movement, and became fascinated instead with the simple idea
: that one could combine inside the same frame elements not normally
: found together to produce illogical and startling effects. What I
: had to learn later on was the necessity of managing this procedure
: with some degree of care and skill: any old combination of details
: will not do...I was to get even worse at this."
: In my opinion, this flaw of excessive Surrealism still mars
: Gravity's Rainbow, and is responsible for the harmonica in the
: toliet scene that has unfortunately stopped so many readers before
: they realize what a remarkable work the book really is.
Well, as a general point, Pynchon is one of the worst authority's in
the world if you take him straight, no chaser, particularly when the
topic is Pynchon. Again, you should read between the lines. The most
important thing about the introduction to Slow Learner is what it
chooses to discuss and what it omits.
With reference to the passage you quote you should notice Pynchon's
implication that he later mastered the technique. He obviously did get
worse in `The Crying of Lot 49'. So he must have felt he got better in
`Gravity's Rainbow' (this is the only other candidate circa 1984 when
the `Slow Learner' introduction was produced). I concur in this view.
I'm glad you mention the harp down the toilet scene because I think
this is one of the places where Pynchon uses the technique of surreal
juxtaposition to his best ability. If you read the book and analyse it
carefully you realise how important this scene is. Many of the issues
the book deals with are introduced in this section although their
explanation (or in some cases their mere exposition) is distributed
through the rest of the book. In a sense the images used are
`classically surreal' in that they represent Slothrop's `dream
processes' throwing up ideas. However, they are a piece of artifice, a
writer's construction and, in reality, they are far from random,
dictated by hidden psychological mechanisms as the Surrealists would
have it. They are selected by Pynchon to present the reader with
particular insights and tie in to other themes in (or outside) the
novel. These things have a logic not all of their own, rather of
Pynchon's making.
And so what if lots of readers don't know what is going on and give
up? The fact that some people have simple expectations of books is no
decent criticism of its literary merit. Consider e.g. the 3rd section
of Ulysses where Stephen Daedalus is walking along the beach. How many
people reading it for the first time understand and analyse all the
complex threads of argument and connections to the rest of the novel
which underlie the basic narrative. Yet because it contains a
relatively direct narrative thread it does not put off many readers
(unlike say the Oxen of the Sun chapter). And maybe, later on, many
readers do come to grips with the underlying complexity.
Now instead, Pynchon goes straight in for this same level of
complexity without bothering to ensure that there is an easily grasped
narrative thread for the naive reader to follow. Is this a reason to
regard Pynchon's work as flawed or the critic? There are more
important things than simple readability by which a novel should be
judged.
: Andrew Dinn argues that Gravity's stylistic excesses are rooted in
: Hollywood rather than in the literary culture of the 50's and
: 60's. Here's what Pynchon says:
: "At the simplest level, it had to do with language. We were
: encouraged from may directions--Kerouac and the Beat writers, the
: diction of Saul Bellow in _The_Adventures_of_augie_March_, emerging
: voices like those of Herbert Gold and Phillip ROth--to see how at
: least two very distinct kinds of English could be allowed in fiction
: to coexist. Allowed! It was actually OK to write like this! Who
: knew? The effect was exciting, liberating, strongly positive."
: Though Pynchon refers to _On_the_Road_ as one of "the greatest
: American novels", I find that what I call the excessive style of the
: 60's, especially as practiced by Pynchon, has more in common with
: William Burroughs, who resurrected what are essentially surrealistic
: techniques with his cut-ups and fold-ins. And though I am sometimes
: annoyed by Surrealism and its excesses (undoubtedly due to a massive
: overdose on it during my 20s), I can still appreciate its profound
: power to jar me out of my ordinary modes of perception.
Well, it may be that Pynchon personally learned to use everyday
language from the Beats et al. But, one of the things Hollywood did
was reintroduce the voice of the common man to popular storytelling.
In a way it had to because telling stories in film requires the
characters to speak for themselves or to voice over. But compare US
films from the thirties and fourties with the stylised class-ridden
stuff produced in the UK (where even the maids speech is frightfully
proper) and you will see to what extent US film let the people speak
for themselves. Pynchon's `ear' and consequent ventriloquism were
established Hollywood techniques.
And again you are concentrating on what the `Slow Learner' intro does
talk about, not what it neglects to mention. The influence is not just
in language but in the `cutting', `incidental music', `choreography',
`animation'. These techniques are all present in `Gravity's Rainbow',
all borrowed from (Hollywood) film.
: Why do I prefer _Vineland_ to GR? Because of what I see as the major
: flaw in GR, which is its lack of any substantial character
: development. All the major (male) characters in GR speak with the
: same voice, which is Pynchon's voice, and though it's a wonderful
: voice, and well worth listening to, it does tend to get a bit
: tiresome after 700 some pages. As a case in point, try (without
: looking at the text of the novel) to identify the character who owns
: the interior monologue about technology quoted at the beginning of
: this post. In _Vineland_, the voices of Pynchon's characters are
: more developed, and distinct, and though character may not be your
: idea of one of the fundamental aspects of the novel, it is one of
: mine.
I'd guess Pointsman on account of both the need for `funding' and the
Paranoia. But prove me wrong. You may be right about there being only
one voice but it is schizophrenic in that it tells many, mutually
contradictory stories. One must consider why all these perspectives
fail to add up and what this failure adds up to.
One of the reasons there is little `character development' in
`Gravity's Rainbow' is that there really are hardly any characters to
begin with and what characters there are mostly disintegrate during
the course of the novel. It just is not a `character' novel in the
sense that, say, `Portrait of a Lady' is. Character, written character
in the novel, is an artifice dependent upon certain conventions.
(Character judged by psychlogists, social peers, those with different
social backgrounds, self, friends, lovers is equally an artifice based
on different ground rules). Needless to say `Gravity's Rainbow' rarely
conforms to normal novelistic conventions (who they?). Where it does
it is usually subsequently to controvert them.
So your criticism is rather like saying that a fish is no good because
it cannot fly. The real question is does one always want something
which flies rather than, say, swims? `Gravity's Rainbow' does contain
profund and moving insights into people and their motivation despite
having `no characters'. I suspect that there is room to learn as much
about people from the Pynchons of this world as there is from the
Henry Jameses. In some ways there is more to learn because the Henry
James show is on the Nth repeat of a well-established game show format
while Pynchon is still only on its third series.
Andrew Dinn
-----------
there is no map / and a compass / wouldn't help at all
Charlotte Allen
I agree with you about Pynchon's remarkable ability to create a sense of
place... the landscapes are what I like best about GR, but I don't
think that the lack of character development was intentional, I just think
Pynchon wasn't very good at it. Of course the world would be worse off without
GR and Pynchon, he's one of my favorites, but that doesn't mean he's a god
or that GR is a book without flaws.
Charlotte Allen
Allan Burns
>
>In some ways there is more to learn because the Henry
>James show is on the Nth repeat of a well-established game show format
>while Pynchon is still only on its third series.
Sir, you have wandered too near my fortification for your
saucy progress not to be, as it were, hindered at this point.
Please state what purpose your errand serves & we shall then
see whether your lute requires tuning.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Allan Burns
SubGenius
: I agree with you about Pynchon's remarkable ability to create a sense of
: place... the landscapes are what I like best about GR, but I don't
: think that the lack of character development was intentional, I just think
: Pynchon wasn't very good at it. Of course the world would be worse off
: without
: GR and Pynchon, he's one of my favorites, but that doesn't mean he's a god
: or that GR is a book without flaws.
+--------------------------------------SubG---------------------------------+
So you think that perhaps novels like _Gravity's Rainbow_ and _The Crying
of Lot 49_ ought to be chock full of character development?
`Well,' opinions Pynchon, `you'll notice how life in the modern mechanised
ethos is dehumanising and the compartmentalisation of the human spirit is
the result. Note that all these here characters contradict this thesis,
but anyway....'
Yours etc.,
SubGenius
Ted Samsel
: Charlotte Allen (cda...@watchtower.Corp.Sun.COM) wrote:
Mexican bandido to Fred C Dobbs:
"We don't need no steenking character development"
"No necesitamos alguno sugerencia hedionda del hono'r"
: Yours etc.,
: SubGenius
nicole danielle pecora
Morethan granted, boxman, Pynchon makes a place more thorough than YHWH himself-
'cept once he does You dont always want to. To wit, I defy you to ride the
first hundred pages of 'Vthat my only book, a four-day train excursion from
Calif. to NY, mine eyes preferred the desert sandscene.
PS: now if you want some goooood stuff from a disciple, try
"Going Native" by steven 'Pjr' Wright. Yum.
pps: Where's doyou suppose the Pynchman to be hiding out? Maybe
med-man.
society at-large unfit to mingle with? Waddidwed