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By ERIC WAGNER
Special guest blogger
Mucho Maas, a character from Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49, gets mentioned on page 307. “Absquatulation” on page 308 means, “leave abruptly.”
I feel grateful to get the chance to reread this book. In tracing the history of the US from the blacklist scandal to Nixon to Reagan, it helps me understand how we got Trump and the world of 2025. I don’t have a clear idea of where we will go in 2026 and beyond though.
I like how this chapter foreshadows the ending of the book, and it makes me wonder why Pynchon called the novel Vineland. Also, do you consider Vineland science fiction? Certainly I’ve never seen it in the science fiction section of a bookstore, but the story does have a number of science fiction elements, from a UFO to thanatoids to other possible non-human intelligences.
14 comments:
Mucho Maas, in part, seems a caricature of the late and crazy Phil Spector who also sometimes wore bizarre outfits in the recording studio and took his fair share of drugs and alcohol.
I would classify Vineland as on the edge of Science Fiction which suits Pynchon well. Edges or borders appear part of his preferred territory as, for example, Bleeding Edge. In this book he valorizes the surf which only exists at the edge or border between sea and land. Not to mention a whole epic novel about drawing a border: Mason & Dixon.
Bigfoot, another SF element, makes two appearances on p. 319 & 320. As I read that yesterday I saw a notification on my phone about a Bigfoot video. Either an interesting synch or my phone knows what I'm reading and spits it out to the algorithm.
My client yesterday saw One Battle After Another in SF over the weekend and said it's possibly the best movie he's ever seen. He said he couldn't stop thinking about it and called it prescient for reflecting current events. Apparently work on the film began 8 years ago. He is a documentary filmmaker who moonlights as a musician. He's only read one Pynchon book, The Crying of Lot 49 but now wants to read Vineland even after I told him the film is only loosely based on it.
On his way up to Vineland with Prairie Zoyd stops at a commune in the "Sacramento Delta country" apparently near Beale Air Force base. He mentions SAC - Strategic Air Command which seems a pun as locals often refer to Sacramento as "Sac." Some of One Battle After Another filmed in Sac. Other locations included: Arcata and Eureka up in Vineland territory, L.A. and the desert so I'm told.
I love this set up where TP creates this very immersive, relatable, apparent main character, Zoyd Wheeler, then takes him away for like 200 pages, and then interjects him back into the story just as all the dangling plot threads are coalescing into a wild grand finale "schmoz finish."
I found these last two chapters the equivalent of being shot out of a literary cannon.
(Pun not intended, but let's pretend it was!)
I wouldn't argue against Vineland as Science Fiction, it certainly has those elements, but I might lean towards Psy-Fi rather than Sci-Fi. A concept I picked up from Leary, but don't remember the bit in its entirety. (And search engines suck for this kind of stuff now!) Basically Psychological Fiction.
The world of Vineland seems to enhance and make explicit the primacy of consciousness. Which to me doesn't exclude Science-Fiction as a genre, but the driving force of the world doesn't seem to be speculative technology, but rather speculative psychology. How thought and observation and emotion circulate between subject and object, or subject/object no obstruction! (total synergetic organism) Maybe!
I saw One Battle After Another on Saturday night, and it was, as expected, a total blast!
On one level it is Vineland exactly, at least in archetypal spirit, but on other levels it is something entirely new and different, and of these times instead of those times.
Very very highly recommend seeing it in a theatre.
As I told the OG: I would say that the mainstream just got a very authentic and potent dose of the Pynchonesque.
Thank you for creating this group and the conditions within which I got to enjoy this 1-2 punch of creative stimulus!
I'm now more than primed for Shadow Ticket to arrive next week and complete the trifecta :)))
I've long wondered about where Pynchon might've gotten the title "Vineland" from. I've seen it connected to Vinland, the Viking settlement in North America from millennia ago. There's also a town called Vineland in New Jersey, which Pynchon might've been familiar with as he grew up in Long Island.
Unrelated to anything, but it's a fact I discovered recently and so I'll share it here: Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel "The House of the Seven Gables" (1851) depicts the story of the Pyncheon family of Massachusetts. These were the author Thomas Pynchon's ancestors, and the Rev. Thomas Ruggles Pynchon (great-grand-uncle of the author) wrote a letter to Hawthorne accusing him of abusing the Pynchon name.
More here:
https://biblioklept.org/2022/01/03/thomas-pynchon-writes-to-nathaniel-hawthorne/
I do consider it sf, but my definition of sf is loose as hell.
The memory of the acid trip where Mucho and Zoyd realized they never were going to die (bottom of p. 313) parallels RAW writing of the same experience in Cosmic Trigger I.
The Sam Cooke song they listen to (p. 314), "the sermon one they new and felt their hearts comforted by" (p. 314) seems most likely "A Change Is Gonna Come". He wrote it as a response to "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan.
I liked this chapter a lot, sort of connecting the past and present timelines of the book. The end of the 60s, the Flower People being driven to underground exile by a conservative and authoritarian government. There’s something sad about it, the end of an idealistic era, but also a pragmatic attitude towards it. The Revolution didn’t happen (and definitely had not been televised), but we’ll cry later because right now there’s a “groovy baby” that needs her diapers changed.
PQ, thank you for bringing up Vinland, I should have picked up on that earlier on. ‘Vinland’ was by the way discovered by Leif Erikson, a name familiar to Illuminatus! readers. Although only tangential, this seem to me a TP-RAW connection. I am now learning from Wikipedia that Wisconsin has a Leif Eirikson Day on October 9th, something to celebrate right after the publication of Shadow Ticket, and shortly before Crowleymass.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that I was starting to see “‘Vineland’ as the revolutionary spirit of the 60s ideals, that needs being kept alive and passed on in order to fight off, one battle after another, the Christian Capitalist Faith.”
I think this chapter confirms my suspicion. The vikings were already in search of a land to settle in and live a peaceful life, and had found both Iceland and Greenland to have pretty harsh living conditions (they did stay in Iceland though, and Reykjavik features a Leif statue atop a downtown hill).
Later on, the American colonies fought to free themselves from British imperialism. Escaping fascism appears a trend in North American history.
One ‘SC’ in this chapter is indeed “Shelter Cove” (p. 305). Another one accounts for the nearby “strange ‘lost’ town of Shade Creek” (p. 320), where the Thanatoids live, perhaps a kind of Qliphotic counterpart.
The fictional Vineland haven is said to have a “Shangri-La Sauna” (p. 321), Shangri-La being the name of a mythical peaceful and harmonious place.
There’s also a reference to The Sound of Music on p. 312: “like do-re-mi, man, Julie Andrews? up in those Alps?” In the film, the Nazis come showing their ugly fascist faces, cutting short the happy sing-alongs of Julie & friends, who then need to escape.
Heck, even Bigfoot lore would have it as a creature that always attempts to escape civilization by retreating further into the woods! Almost as if it had undergone ninjette training, learning to remain invisible by hiding in the shadows. Not to mention its hairy look, similar to the one often associated with hippies.
Interestingly, the book came out in 1990, and that decade did see a resurgence of sort of the 60’s spirit, with the difference of being much more technology-oriented than the original hippies were. Ironically, much like many hippies turned bland cocked-out yuppies during the Reagan years, many cyber-ravers from the 90s have now become insane Silicon Valley billionaires. Vineland, like the ideas that RAW promoted, might nowadays prove an important flame to maintain and torch to carry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSRqaZGsPw
When this book came out, I simply processed the name as "Vinland," as in America. I didn't occur to me til much later that there might be multiple meanings there.
Spookah, I agree with all your points. I also consider Leif Erikson a RAW - Pynch connection. Thanks for the video link. I mastered a tribute album for Gil Scot-Heron called "Evolutionary Minded: Furthering the Legacy of Gil Scott-Heron."
I forgot to post the link for the Sam Cooke sermon Zoyd and Mucho heard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?https://youtu.be/wEBlaMOmKV4?si=w9zJnuzJedvJHMg7
Zoyd meets a beautiful young woman named Trillium when he arrives with baby Prairie at Mucho's SF mansion. She identifies the baby as a Taurus (p.308) – a fixed Earth sign. Trillium gets her name from the flower which has 3 petals and 3 leaves hence the name. This obviously suggests Binah, the Mom archetype. Some indigenous cultures consider it a sacred female herb and use it medicinally in childbirth. Trillium flowers have both male and female reproductive organs. I'm also reminded of Trillian from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Universe.
Indigenous people get mentioned on p. 317. He brings up early photographs they're in which reflects a genealogy of captured images related to all the Tube stuff, the 24fps anarchist film group and the film that Hector wants to make. This scene makes explicit a primary theme: ". . . the massed and breathing redwoods, alive forever, while the light in these pictures could be seen even today in the light of Vineland, the rainy indifference with which it fell on surfaces, the call to attend to territories of the spirit . . . for what else could the antique emulsions have been revealing?" (emphasis added).
Pynchon even goes into the genealogy of the family dog (p.319).
You've heard of shaggy dog stories? The beginning of this chapter has a shaggy marijuana story. Brock Vond sets Zoyd up that could put him away for years. For some reason, he lets Zoyd off probably so he can raise Prairie. Does that not show some inkling of humanity on his part?
Another possible nod to Frank Zappa when mentioning recording artists Mucho almost signed (p. 309). One of them, Wild Man Fischer, Zappa did sign to his label.
Same page: "Count, Count! Lay some dope on us." In an esoteric school that uses Qabalah (Gematria and Notarikon), the word "count" can often indicate a pun giving an instruction to pay attention to it. The double or triple emphasis Pynchon gives "count" here, to me, indicates a strong suggestion the active reader try this. When I saw this, I stopped and analyzed the next sentence: "Lay some dope on us". Notarikon: the first 3 initials = LSD; the whole sentence adds to 170 = "The Wand; (David's) Staff"
In the Tarot the suit of Wands connects with Fire. Fire best describes what LSD does to the nervous system magically speaking. David's staff refers to a line in Psalm 23 which, of course gets used to cope with death. LSD can give a temporary death of the ego. If the dosage feels a little too strong during the peak, Psalm 23 might be one tool to help get through that, if so inclined and able to remember it.
The Gematria of "dope" = 159 = "Surpassing Whiteness
[Vide 934]
Point"
The mystical symbolism appears obvious. Vide translates as "see" so going to 934 in Sepher Sephiroth elaborates though you have to translate it from Latin.
LSD seems one way to work in that direction. Or maybe I'm drug addled and full of it. Count Drugula indeed. Analyzing "Drugula" = Drug + you + la. La = 31 = "Not". So "Count Drugula" suggests not taking drugs while the sentence following seems maybe a cautious yes if one knows what to do with it. This struggle between yes and no reveals Pynchon as a Sufi teacher.
Sorry for my verbosity. I had my first cup of black tea today in months and shortly I literally felt like I was tripping. I had to keep myself together for the session feeling very stoned. Then I got shocking news that a friend and colleague unexpectedly died today. We had multiple ongoing projects and always worked in the studio I was at today. I feel sure that brought upon the psychedelic space.
Sorry for your loss, Oz.
Best wishes for you and your departed colleague <3<3<3
I really like the Vineland = Vinland = America interpretation.
I live about half an hour from Vineland, NJ, and drive around and through it quite frequently.
My main association for the title is probably the most obvious one, just literally a land of vines.
A terrain that is so full of tangled connections that it becomes difficult to traverse.
I worked as a land surveyor for a number of years. We would often be the first ones sent to undeveloped land to mark out property corners so the excavators knew where to dig.
The land would literally be full of vines, or brush, as it is more commonly known.
I'd put up my extendable prism pole and the field chief would take a reading and say, "back 200 feet."
And I would then have to take a machete and brush ax and clear 200 feet of vines to get another reading.
Sometimes reading the book felt like that. Certainly sometimes life feels like that.
Too many connections, too many obstacles, too many entanglements, but then, with enough persistence, a clearing!
I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Oz.
The Sam Cooke song has the lines:
“It's been too hard living
But I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there
Beyond the sky”
Safe journey to your friend, Oz.
When Trillium asks if Prairie is a Taurus, Zoyd is “too astonished to recall the date”, so some ambiguities remain, although I suspect he might be surprised because Trillium is indeed correct. Besides, ‘Prairie’ as a name seems very earthy to me. And as Zoyd’s daughter, after all his misfortunes she becomes his grounding factor in life.
If pressed to make a guess, I’d say Prairie was probably born between May 1st and the 10th, when the Moon is in Taurus. There’s been countless references to the Moon in the book and with its constant waning and waxing, “change is the Moon’s primary characteristic” (here quoting Lon Milo DuQuette), hence Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come. In the Thoth tarot, this period corresponds to the Six of Disks, Success.
Prairie could be seen as the material manifestation of the spirit of the 60s, being a literal product of these times, and a reminder that positive changes can still be possibe down the line. She has already obtained knowledge of the Universal Binding Ingredient.
The Pynchon wiki also points out that Trillium pops up again in Inherent Vice.
I had missed the bit about “the call to attend to territories of the spirit”, thank you. But just above, I picked up on “the stands of redwood with their perfect trunks and cloudy foliage, too high, too red to be literal trees.” If the trees are to be taken metaphorically, then they could for instance be Trees of Life, or family trees as you mention.
The way I understood Brock Vond’s letting Zoyd keep custody of Prairie was that he wanted Frenesi but couldn’t be bothered raising a child? In any case, he does indeed let Zoyd go free.
The Wild Man Fischer album I find worth a listen. It connects to many aspects of Vineland, such as mental illness, astrology, working for the narcs, and we hear some Trillium-like hippie chick on the recording. The cover art even features a Tube in the background.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWC_Scvdgw8
Thank-you for your condolences Bobby, Tom and Spookah. I also appreciate the link to the Fischer album which I plan to check out.
I first heard "A Change is Gonna Come" when singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson visited his friend E.J. Gold for Xmas '93. When he arrived he went straight into Gold's recording studio where we had a band ready for him to improvise with. I was rolling tape. "Kansas City" was the first song he came up with, "A Change is Gonna Come" the second. I didn't find out until years later that it was a Sam Cooke song. The lines you quoted describe Harry perfectly at that time. He had cleaned up but his health was in rough shape and he didn't want to die. He made that crystal clear when he and Gold were talking later in the week. Harry died two weeks after returning home.
I like all the interpretations as to why Pynchon may have chosen the name Vineland. When I was driving up to Les Claypool's house in the hills above Occidental, Ca to record Primus in 2000 I would pass several small vineyards with rows upon rows of grapes growing on vines.. I remembered that when coming across Vineland for the first time; that title made me think of wine. Wine has both alchemical and Christian symbolism. Alchemy and Christian imagery both appear in the book albeit satirically in the latter case.
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