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Fw: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3406 PALE FIRE
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From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 12:00 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3406
>
> pynchon-l-digest Monday, July 14 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3406
>
>
> Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 00:04:04 -0500
> From: "Tim Strzechowski" <dedalus204@comcast.net>
> Subject: VLVL2 and NPPF: Humor
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> - ------=_NextPart_000_018D_01C3499B.6FE1BF90
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> charset="iso-8859-1"
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>
> Just a thought here:
> =20
> One of the most striking similarities between Vineland and Pale Fire =
> derives from each author's development of humor in his text. For a =
> moment, let's focus *just* on the PF "Foreward" and on VL Chapter One.
>
> In Pale Fire, part of the humor is developed in the descriptions of the =
> physical artifact of the manuscript itself. Kinbote is lovingly =
> meticulous in his description of the manuscript, but that manuscript is =
> nothing more than a stack of index cards, bound by a rubber band, and =
> stored in a manilla envelope. Yet Kinbote details the way in which =
> Shade "reserved the pink upper line for headings [...] and used the =
> fourteen light-blue lines for writing out [...] the text of his poem." =
> The rubber band with which the cards are bound Kinbote "religiously" =
> replaces after examining "their precious contents," and the stack =
> (consisting of some dozen thinner index cards as well) all "clipped =
> together" and replaced in its manilla envelope.
>
> Nabokov's humor here is much more subtle (perhaps academic?) than =
> Pynchon's in that he develops humor through the incongruity of equating =
> minute and devoted scholarly research as well as aesthetic creation with =
> the physical artifacts associated with common household or office use. =
> Shade's poem lacks the tradition of typewritten manuscript, and =
> certainly lacks the romanticism of Kerouacian scrolls; it's *just* a =
> stack of index cards with a rubber band. Yet the humor develops in part =
> not only through this mildly absurd medium of composition, but also from =
> the absurdity of the commentator's devotion to his manuscript (bordering =
> on relic worship).
>
> Pynchon, of course, relies on incongruities as well, but his description =
> of Zoyd in the opening chapter of Vineland relies heavily on slapstick =
> and farce, used in broader strokes. Zoyd in a dress, wielding a ladies' =
> chainsaw, standing aghast in the Log Jam with all the homoerotic and New =
> Age undertones, establishes its humor by placing the protagonist in a =
> farcical and shocking situation (and the use of irony too, in part, =
> since Zoyd is attempting to "shock" the community with an act that has =
> become so predictable as now to be "rescheduled"). But the =
> incongruities here seem much more in-your-face, much more "Three =
> Stooges" (though I am not dismissing Pynchon's humor as less effective, =
> especially since the farcical incongruities in Chapter One -- man in =
> drag, sexual suggestiveness, physical comedy, etc. -- could just as =
> easily be found in a Shakespearean comedy -- Falstaff in Merry Wives =
> comes immediately to mind).
>
> In essence, there is a subtlety to the use of incongruity as a means of =
> achieving humor in Pale Fire, a subtlety that is not achieved through =
> the same means in Vineland. Both writers use incongruity to achieve =
> humor, but each writer manipulates his language and narrative =
> circumstances differently to achieve that humor.
>
>
>
>> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3406
> ********************************
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to waste@waste.org
> with "unsubscribe pynchon-l-digest" in the message body.
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 12:00 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3406
>
> pynchon-l-digest Monday, July 14 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3406
>
>
> Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 00:04:04 -0500
> From: "Tim Strzechowski" <dedalus204@comcast.net>
> Subject: VLVL2 and NPPF: Humor
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> - ------=_NextPart_000_018D_01C3499B.6FE1BF90
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> Just a thought here:
> =20
> One of the most striking similarities between Vineland and Pale Fire =
> derives from each author's development of humor in his text. For a =
> moment, let's focus *just* on the PF "Foreward" and on VL Chapter One.
>
> In Pale Fire, part of the humor is developed in the descriptions of the =
> physical artifact of the manuscript itself. Kinbote is lovingly =
> meticulous in his description of the manuscript, but that manuscript is =
> nothing more than a stack of index cards, bound by a rubber band, and =
> stored in a manilla envelope. Yet Kinbote details the way in which =
> Shade "reserved the pink upper line for headings [...] and used the =
> fourteen light-blue lines for writing out [...] the text of his poem." =
> The rubber band with which the cards are bound Kinbote "religiously" =
> replaces after examining "their precious contents," and the stack =
> (consisting of some dozen thinner index cards as well) all "clipped =
> together" and replaced in its manilla envelope.
>
> Nabokov's humor here is much more subtle (perhaps academic?) than =
> Pynchon's in that he develops humor through the incongruity of equating =
> minute and devoted scholarly research as well as aesthetic creation with =
> the physical artifacts associated with common household or office use. =
> Shade's poem lacks the tradition of typewritten manuscript, and =
> certainly lacks the romanticism of Kerouacian scrolls; it's *just* a =
> stack of index cards with a rubber band. Yet the humor develops in part =
> not only through this mildly absurd medium of composition, but also from =
> the absurdity of the commentator's devotion to his manuscript (bordering =
> on relic worship).
>
> Pynchon, of course, relies on incongruities as well, but his description =
> of Zoyd in the opening chapter of Vineland relies heavily on slapstick =
> and farce, used in broader strokes. Zoyd in a dress, wielding a ladies' =
> chainsaw, standing aghast in the Log Jam with all the homoerotic and New =
> Age undertones, establishes its humor by placing the protagonist in a =
> farcical and shocking situation (and the use of irony too, in part, =
> since Zoyd is attempting to "shock" the community with an act that has =
> become so predictable as now to be "rescheduled"). But the =
> incongruities here seem much more in-your-face, much more "Three =
> Stooges" (though I am not dismissing Pynchon's humor as less effective, =
> especially since the farcical incongruities in Chapter One -- man in =
> drag, sexual suggestiveness, physical comedy, etc. -- could just as =
> easily be found in a Shakespearean comedy -- Falstaff in Merry Wives =
> comes immediately to mind).
>
> In essence, there is a subtlety to the use of incongruity as a means of =
> achieving humor in Pale Fire, a subtlety that is not achieved through =
> the same means in Vineland. Both writers use incongruity to achieve =
> humor, but each writer manipulates his language and narrative =
> circumstances differently to achieve that humor.
>
>
>
>> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3406
> ********************************
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to waste@waste.org
> with "unsubscribe pynchon-l-digest" in the message body.