ellauri067.html on line 270: Traversing a wide range of trivia, Gravity´s Rainbow transgresses boundaries between high and low culture, between literary propriety and profanity, between boredom and porn, and between popular science and speculative metaphysics.
ellauri069.html on line 479: Imagine a story that combines Ulysses, Catch-22, The Canterbury tales, Under the Volcano, On the Road and many others. First, there is a huge cast of characters and most times, it is unclear who’s speaking and to whom. A second challenge is getting into the context of the book. The novel demands a vast knowledge of history, geography, music, literature, science, mathematics and occult. Apart from this the book also explicitly deals with profanity, racism, violence, pedophilia, coprophilia and seemingly infinite number of sex scenes. That being said, Pynchon doesn’t throw them arbitrarily and each one of them have a purpose. The main plot itself is set at the end of World War 2 and Europe is in chaos. As new countries and alliances are being formed, so too are new perspectives within the characters. Mental state being broken down, people making poor choices and actions being justified and helps us see how people tend to live destructively. As if there complexities weren’t enough, Pynchon includes a “postmodern” aspect of the book that leaves the first-time reader confused. Pynchon’s voice is seen through this aspect and a sense of paranoia creeps throughout the book and everything is questioned.
ellauri074.html on line 669: A Tale of a Tub. Written for the Universal Improvement of Mankind. was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, arguably his most difficult satire and perhaps his most masterly. William Wotton wrote that the Tale had made a game of "God and Religion, Truth and Moral Honesty, Learning and Industry" to show "at the bottom Jonathan´s contemptible Opinion of every Thing which is called Christianity." The work continued to be regarded as an attack on religion well into the nineteenth century. The overarching parody is of enthusiasm, pride, and credulity. It was widely misunderstood, especially by Queen Anne herself who purposely mistook its purpose for profanity. It effectively disbarred its author from proper preferment in the Church of England, but is considered one of Swift´s best allegories, even by himself.
ellauri263.html on line 693: classism, no duplicity, no alienation, no profanity, no flippancy, social tolerance, equality, verbality, participatory democracy, accountability, conviviality, male vasectomy, ristiinsuihkiminen, graceful distancing, positive attitude toward the ‘toggle-switch’ mode of decision-making, whatever that may be.
ellauri302.html on line 156: You must have reverence for a Scroll of the Law. Great reverence, — precisely as if a noted Rabbi were under your roof. In the house where it resides no profanity must be uttered. It must dwell amidst purity. (Speaks to Sarah, looking toward her hut not directly at her) Wherever a Holy Scroll is sheltered, there no woman must remove the wig from her head... (Sarah thrusts her hair more securely under her wig.) Nor must she touch the Scroll with her bare... hands. As a reward, no evil overtakes the home that shelters a Scroll. Such a home will always be prosperous and guarded against all misfortune. (To the Scribe.) What do you imagine? — That he doesn't know all this? They're Jews, after all... (Sarah nods affirmatively.)
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