I’m re-reading Gravity’s Rainbow (Pynchon now on Kindle by the way). Finished V. Finished Crying of Lot 49. Tried to pick up Vineland which I loved. Wanted the difficult, mad, beautiful language. Back to Gravity’s Angel. For fans I post a song I knew before I read the book. It is Laurie Anderson’s Gravity’s Angel. Honestly, she’s not for everyone. Maybe not for most. But if you dig experimental music and complex lyrics give it a shot. The album Mister Heartbreak from which the track comes is fun too. Again fun for some. It has William Burroughs on Sharkey’s Night. I quoted it at my Cal graduation. That is below too. Shorter.
Where’s the law? Not sure. As Burroughs intones, “And sharkey says: hey, kemosabe! long time no see. he says: hey sport. you connect the dots. you pick up the pieces.” OK for a bit more, as I have said here before, life beyond the law matters. And it turns out that knowing life beyond the law might make you a better lawyer. That, by the way, is why empathy for a judge is important and a good thing. If you can’t walk in someone else’s shoes, at least read more, listen to more, watch more. Great writing, great communication opens the door to the world beyond yours and mine. At least those are the dots I connect. The pieces I pick up.
Deven, As you may know, I am a Pynchon fan. I think I barraged you with quotes from his books a few years back. SSP: check out the symposium on Pynchon and law in the Oklahoma City Law Review from 1997. His last three are among the best, particularly Mason & Dixon and Against the Day. Inherent Vice has some musings about uncertainty and the Arpanet that might feed into his forthcoming book Bleeding Edge, about Silicon Alley and the months before 9/11.
Ah Shubha. I figured you might respond. I do indeed recall our Pynchon chat. And I plan on getting to the rest. Somehow going back to Gravity’s Rainbow made sense to me right now. But it is great that more awaits.
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