Thursday, April 29, 2010  Thomas Pynchon's "Against the Day":
Book Review  It's set a hundred years ago but not much has
changed. "This big parade of modern inventions, all spirited
march tunes, public going ooh and aah, but someplace lurking
just out of sight is always some lawyer or accountant, beating
that 2/4 like clockwork and runnin the show." (33)
Investigating Anarchists in Chicago, Lew's "down in the
deadfalls where the desperate malcontents convened, fingerless
slaughterhouse veterans, irregulars in the army of sorrow,
prophesiers who had seen America as it might be in visions
America's wardens could not tolerate." (51) This novel fills
with unease, unrest, and privation.  Modern chemistry replaces
alchemy as capitalism "really gets going," true, as Merle says.
But, Webb suggests: "Maybe 'capitalism' decided it didn't need
the old magic anymore." He goes on: "Why bother? Had their own
magic, doin just fine, thanks, instead of turning lead into
gold, they could take poor people's sweat and turn it i