I love the first encounter of Slothrop via the layers of detritus on his desk. For those of us who are writers, it's a technique that we can incorporate even if we lack the towering genius of Pynchon; introduce your character through a description of their objects.
I don't know if you guys like the podcast Death Is Just Around the Corner, by Michael S Judge (who his fans refer to as MSJ). One of the things he points out about Slothrop's Desk is the "dictionary of technical German." This is one of the only nods to the intense, savant-like intelligence of Tyrone Slothrop, to have such a sophisticated technical understanding of a brand-new technology in a second language. After Part I, the novel lives in the German-speaking world, and all of Slothrop's adventures would have been conducted in German. Readers, especially self-identifying males, love to identify themselves with Slothrop, but this is only possible because Slothrop's own self-image seems not to acknowledge his vast intelligence. I think it's reasonable for Pynchon himself to identify with Slothrop, but kind of arrogant for any of us normies to truly believe we see ourselves in him. Not only the intelligence, but his irresistible charm, his sexual appeal, and his wit/humor. I would give anything to hang out with him.... sigh...
Oh I love MSJ. I listen to every new episode and I've heard every old one.
GR has been my favorite book since before I found him, but it's because of him that I think I now "understand" it. Many of his ideas directly or indirectly influenced my theories on the novel, though at this point it's been so long that I can't remember which ones I should give him credit for other than the toilet bowl scene.
I've also used tons of lists in my writing because of Pynchon. I think lists are one of the most valuable tools to get across theme or idea.
Love those ideas on Slothrop. Like I've said before, he's one of the hardest aspects of the novel for me to analyze so I'm glad to have people like you along for this to help me get these parts right.
+1 on the MSJ luv. One of the most critical/principled minds in the world of online left punditry/edutainment, and a hell of a writer besides.
Re: Slothrop’s intelligence: a good reminder on a character who could easily be reduced to the archetype of “ideal drinking buddy” which he only some of the time embodies. This view is maybe where I depart from you both though as I wouldn’t consider GR my top favorite novel even though it’s maybe the one I’m most obsessed with. It’s disqualified for what I would consider one of its strengths as a work of art: I would hate to have to LIVE in it, for obvious reasons (although I suppose it could be argued that I already do!) Would much rather hang out with Queequeg than just about anybody in this book (except maybe Nora Dodson-Truck, but we’ll get to her later!)
The Firm really are evil: Bloat has to work on his lunch hour!
So I’ve fallen way way behind due to catching COVID and immediately afterward having to do a month-long mental health treatment, but I am still committed to this read-through!
Advice to first-time readers: don’t feel like you have to google everything, but know that the connections of even the seemingly-random stuff could fill up another book the same size as the original novel. (The Thayers were a Boston Brahmin family whose brand of health products were purchased by L’Oreal, a french cosmetics company which began as a front for nazi collaborators. The News of the World got Mick Jagger arrested and was almost bought by Ghislaine Maxwell’s dad.) Also, as Andrew writes, pay close attention to what you are told about Slothrop, what you know for sure and what you don’t, and what other characters think they know and how they know it. This line of inquiry proves deeply illuminating on re-reads. Spoilers: https://pynchonnotes.openlibhums.org/article/2867/galley/3258/download/
“Darlene” returns later to further complicate the Slothrop story, and the placement of “Alice, Dolores” in the list forecast certain, uh, “proclivities” that our protagonist ends up developing.
I always think of Slothrop’s map as an American flag and/or the state flag of the latent Raketenstadt- what could be a more perfect symbol?
I love the first encounter of Slothrop via the layers of detritus on his desk. For those of us who are writers, it's a technique that we can incorporate even if we lack the towering genius of Pynchon; introduce your character through a description of their objects.
I don't know if you guys like the podcast Death Is Just Around the Corner, by Michael S Judge (who his fans refer to as MSJ). One of the things he points out about Slothrop's Desk is the "dictionary of technical German." This is one of the only nods to the intense, savant-like intelligence of Tyrone Slothrop, to have such a sophisticated technical understanding of a brand-new technology in a second language. After Part I, the novel lives in the German-speaking world, and all of Slothrop's adventures would have been conducted in German. Readers, especially self-identifying males, love to identify themselves with Slothrop, but this is only possible because Slothrop's own self-image seems not to acknowledge his vast intelligence. I think it's reasonable for Pynchon himself to identify with Slothrop, but kind of arrogant for any of us normies to truly believe we see ourselves in him. Not only the intelligence, but his irresistible charm, his sexual appeal, and his wit/humor. I would give anything to hang out with him.... sigh...
Oh I love MSJ. I listen to every new episode and I've heard every old one.
GR has been my favorite book since before I found him, but it's because of him that I think I now "understand" it. Many of his ideas directly or indirectly influenced my theories on the novel, though at this point it's been so long that I can't remember which ones I should give him credit for other than the toilet bowl scene.
I've also used tons of lists in my writing because of Pynchon. I think lists are one of the most valuable tools to get across theme or idea.
Love those ideas on Slothrop. Like I've said before, he's one of the hardest aspects of the novel for me to analyze so I'm glad to have people like you along for this to help me get these parts right.
+1 on the MSJ luv. One of the most critical/principled minds in the world of online left punditry/edutainment, and a hell of a writer besides.
Re: Slothrop’s intelligence: a good reminder on a character who could easily be reduced to the archetype of “ideal drinking buddy” which he only some of the time embodies. This view is maybe where I depart from you both though as I wouldn’t consider GR my top favorite novel even though it’s maybe the one I’m most obsessed with. It’s disqualified for what I would consider one of its strengths as a work of art: I would hate to have to LIVE in it, for obvious reasons (although I suppose it could be argued that I already do!) Would much rather hang out with Queequeg than just about anybody in this book (except maybe Nora Dodson-Truck, but we’ll get to her later!)
The Firm really are evil: Bloat has to work on his lunch hour!
So I’ve fallen way way behind due to catching COVID and immediately afterward having to do a month-long mental health treatment, but I am still committed to this read-through!
Advice to first-time readers: don’t feel like you have to google everything, but know that the connections of even the seemingly-random stuff could fill up another book the same size as the original novel. (The Thayers were a Boston Brahmin family whose brand of health products were purchased by L’Oreal, a french cosmetics company which began as a front for nazi collaborators. The News of the World got Mick Jagger arrested and was almost bought by Ghislaine Maxwell’s dad.) Also, as Andrew writes, pay close attention to what you are told about Slothrop, what you know for sure and what you don’t, and what other characters think they know and how they know it. This line of inquiry proves deeply illuminating on re-reads. Spoilers: https://pynchonnotes.openlibhums.org/article/2867/galley/3258/download/
“Darlene” returns later to further complicate the Slothrop story, and the placement of “Alice, Dolores” in the list forecast certain, uh, “proclivities” that our protagonist ends up developing.
I always think of Slothrop’s map as an American flag and/or the state flag of the latent Raketenstadt- what could be a more perfect symbol?