Sunday, June 3. 2007
Day 34 - Completion
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Slothrop reacted in a reversed fashion, I forget what it was called. If I remember right (that was like 700 pages ago, it's kind of fuzzy), it was suggested that Slothrop was the second Little Albert, used in a series of Pavlovian experiments that produced his ability to detect the supersonic rockets. It could be that his search for the 00000 after the launch was another expression of this out-of-order manifestation of stimulus and response. While the hypothesis was that the stimulus in the experiments was a noise, I suspect that it was actually Imipolex-G. The description of his past suggests that people in his childhood would have access to it or a similar substance, thought I'm not sure what else this idea may open.
As for structure, I'm reminded of the Schwarzgerrat mandala that was often used to describe structures, and I wonder if that is the structure of the book is somehow connected to it. I'm not sure how that would work.
As for structure, I'm reminded of the Schwarzgerrat mandala that was often used to describe structures, and I wonder if that is the structure of the book is somehow connected to it. I'm not sure how that would work.
Oh, good pickup on the reversal of stimulus and response. I as well had completely forgotten about that. I think that later in the book, it's explained he remembers the smell of Imipolex G from his childhood. He was probably exposed to it as part of his conditioning. However, we're not told that all the German rockets contained Imipolex G. I don't think we can assume that all rockets did contain it because of all the reading we do about various characters working in secret on the 00000. His response must have gotten confused and applied to regular rockets as well.
Then if the stimulus is the launch of the 00000 and his response is the search for it, are they correctly in the reverse order? But then, wasn't his search started off by all the material he read at the casino? Was that before or after the launch? I'm not clear enough on the time line to figure this out.
Here's a thought that just occurred to me. Towards the end, we read about the launch of the 00001 but we never find out anything about it. Pynchon explicitly says this is the second in its series. What if that rocket also contains Imipolex G? Then, Slothrop's response of searching would occur before the stimulus of the launch of the rocket.
I vaguely remember the mandala too - it came up once as a symbol that the Schwartzcommando revered (I think that's the word I want to use), though Slothrop recognized it as a piece of the control structure to the rocket launch equipment. Then later didn't he end up drawing it on a bathroom stall wall? You're right, there could be a hint of the structure there. Again, I'm just not clear enough on anything to figure it out.
Then if the stimulus is the launch of the 00000 and his response is the search for it, are they correctly in the reverse order? But then, wasn't his search started off by all the material he read at the casino? Was that before or after the launch? I'm not clear enough on the time line to figure this out.
Here's a thought that just occurred to me. Towards the end, we read about the launch of the 00001 but we never find out anything about it. Pynchon explicitly says this is the second in its series. What if that rocket also contains Imipolex G? Then, Slothrop's response of searching would occur before the stimulus of the launch of the rocket.
I vaguely remember the mandala too - it came up once as a symbol that the Schwartzcommando revered (I think that's the word I want to use), though Slothrop recognized it as a piece of the control structure to the rocket launch equipment. Then later didn't he end up drawing it on a bathroom stall wall? You're right, there could be a hint of the structure there. Again, I'm just not clear enough on anything to figure it out.
How about you delve into the world of young adult literature. I figure you can get one book in before the final Harry Potter comes in. Or, you could try to fit in the entire series before then. I have several shelves full of ideas for additional reading material that even adults can enjoy. Just a thought.
I've thought about it, and I certainly have a lot of friends whose opinions I respect who have read them. It just always seemed to me like Lord Of The Rings Lite, and I can handle that book (along with much more hardcore things like The Silmarillion) so I don't need it simplified for me. All the hype doesn't make me want to read them either. But then maybe I am unfairly dismissing them. The series probably is quite enjoyable. I might just wait until after the last one is released and then some mega all-in-one edition is available.
Since I did not finish the death pact, does that mean I need to be killed?
What an awful book, it really was too artsy for me.
What an awful book, it really was too artsy for me.
Most people didn't finish, so it would require an awful lot of killing to do that. No, you just have to live with the shame of not finishing and the knowledge that you'll never get the references to it unless you one day sit down and finish what you started. By then, of course, you will have to start over. So you've really just wasted time.
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