Hi,
Here’s an experiment — I enjoy the banter, but I don’t want it to keep us from actually talking about the book. If we had threaded comments, we could prolly do both together, but in this one-big-stew approach, I’m not sure. So howzabout we use this entry as the bantery and chat thread… And then I’ll post another entry in a sec right above this one that folks can use for more book-related posts. We’ll see over the course o’ the week if this approach works.
(In the spirit of eternal warmth and generosity, chat and book comments both count toward mugness….)
Back on topic, here: does anyone else think that Jack Torrence’s breakdown mirrors the “insanity” that is the art of writing itself? Is any attempt to put “order” to the world, which I mean strictly in the Descartian sense, ultimately going to result in one wanting to butcher one’s own family?
Also, did anyone else notice that “REDRUM” backwards is “MURDER!”
Onward!
The C train is having big problems due to a fire at the switching station, somthing about a homeless man wanting to keep warm. The A train is running at about half capacity which means crowded trains for my commute to work. These past few days i’ve found myself closer to people than I have in quite some time. Anyway, the point… I’ve been looking over people’s shoulders at the books they bring onto the train. I find myself now rolling my eyes at sentances that seem to be missing the extra stuff. stupid pynchon, i’m going to find you and make you read ‘dick and jane’, see how you like that.
“The C train is having big problems due to a fire at the switching station, somthing about a homeless man wanting to keep warm.”
ain’t nothing like NY in January….
Did you ever notice, at company gatherings, that the ones with the sprinkles are always the last to go?
Youch! http://katied.blogspot.com/
pertinent to subway riders as well?–Man Reading Pynchon On Bus Takes Pains to Make Cover Visible
http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/index.html
(originally from the Onion, but I can’t get to the original link from here.)
Here’s a vote against splitting discussion in this way. Be a uniter, not a divider, Cecil!
“Be a uniter, not a divider”
You might be right ‘Mage — this approach could be more complicated than necessary. Certainly, threads are starting to multiply like cyclized benzylisoquinilines. Let’s reevaulate next Tuesday….
ah, but raptormage, your toleration of Jeff’s metadonut content in this thread proves the concept!
This link and quote came over the wires tonight on the Pynchon list under the heading “Slothrop in Iraq.” Thought it was eerie enough to be worth sharing….
“When you hear the explosion, that’s actually good,” Stevens said, pointing out that because sound travels relatively slowly, hearing the blast means you have survived it. “It means you’re still in the game.”
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/29/iraq.bombing.cpl.sevens.ap/index.html
The feller who found this item and sent it out to the list wrote:
“Explosions seem to follow this guy around. And is it just me or is it just a coincidence that this chap is *also* T.S.?”
Great post about hearing the explosion in Iraq, Cecil. My favorite part of the book so far (note — I’m behind, so this may not hold up when I’m back on track w/ you all) is still the variety of expressions of the terror of living with the fact that death might come without warning….
metathread note–see this comment right above my head? that would be nice to have near plastinated rib’s comments about the book on dead people that’s in the other thread. related–the fantasy that we can control death–dodging it before it happens and denying it after. just a thought…