Don DeLillo's Underworld Chapter by Chapter

This week my American Literature and Culture class ("Significant Connections: Making Sense in Postmodern American Literature") begins reading Don DeLillo's mega novel Underworld.

From each class from Sept. 28 through Oct. 28, students will present short responses to the daily readings. Two people will be assigned to cover each chapter of the novel. Each person will write a short response about the chapter that he or she has been assigned and will post this response on the Blackboard course website. Responses will be due (posted on the Blackboad) the day before their section is covered in class.

To help students decide which chapters they want to sign up for, I've posted the following chapter-by-chapter breakdown of Underworld.

PROLOGUE: THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH (pp. 9–60)

PART 1—LONG TALL SALLY: SPRING–SUMMER 1992 (pp. 61–134)
Ch. 1 (pp. 63–84)
Ch. 2 (pp. 85–90)
Ch. 3 (pp. 91–100)
Ch. 4 (pp. 101–7)
Ch. 5 (pp. 108–17)
Ch. 6 (pp. 118–22)
Ch. 7 (pp. 123–34)

MANX MARTIN 1 (pp. 137–50)

PART 2—ELEGY FOR LEFT HAND ALONE: MID-1980S–EARLY 1990s (pp. 153–272)
Ch. 1 (pp. 155–60)
Ch. 2 (pp. 161–6)
Ch. 3 (pp. 167–86)
Ch. 4 (pp. 187–93)
Ch. 5 (pp. 194–209)
Ch. 6 (pp. 210–21)
Ch. 7 (pp. 222–36)
Ch. 8 (pp. 237–51)
Ch. 9 (pp. 252–61)
Ch. 10 (pp. 262–72)

PART 3—THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING: SPRING 1978 (pp. 273–345)
Ch. 1 (pp. 275–304)
Ch. 2 (pp. 305–324)
Ch. 3 (pp. 325–45)

MANX MARTIN 2 (pp. 349–66)

PART 4—COCKSUCKER BLUES: SUMMER 1974 (pp. 369–498)
Ch. 1 (pp. 373–400)
Ch. 2 (pp. 401–22)
Ch. 3 (pp. 423–45)
Ch. 4 (pp. 446–68)
Ch. 5 (pp. 469–98)

PART 5—BETTER THINGS FOR BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY: SELECTED FRAGMENTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN THE 1950s AND 1960s (pp. 499–638)
Ch. 1 (pp. 501–12)
Ch. 2 (pp. 513–635
Ch. 3 (pp. 536–54)
Ch. 4 (pp. 555–79)
Ch. 5 (pp. 580–95)
Ch. 6 (pp. 596–616)
Ch. 7 (pp. 617–37)

MANX MARTIN 3 (pp. 641–56)

PART 6—ARRANGEMENT IN GRAY AND BLACK: FALL 1951–SUMMER 1952 (pp. 659–781)
Ch. 1 (pp. 661–83)
Ch. 2 (pp. 684–95)
Ch. 3 (pp. 696–710)
Ch. 4 (pp. 711–29)
Ch. 5 (pp. 730–42)
Ch. 6 (pp. 743–52)
Ch. 7 (pp. 753–70)
Ch. 8 (pp. 771–81)

EPILOGUE: DAS KAPITAL (783–827)

Bereuter's Opposition to Iraq Ignored by Conservative Media

As a native Nebraskan who has always been frustrated and slightly baffled by the fact that the majority of Cornhuskers vote Republican, I was pleased to learn that US Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Nebraska, a senior Republican member of the House International Relations Committee, spoke out against the war of Iraq. His decision to break ranks with the GOP chickenhawks suggests that not all Republicans are willing to be puppets of Cheney and co. and is a sign that political independence.

As John Nichols reports in The Nation:

US Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Nebraska, the vice chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and one of the senior Republican members of the House International Relations Committee, announced after a thorough review of the information available to him that he had come to the conclusion that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq was unjustified. "I've reached the conclusion, retrospectively, now that the inadequate intelligence and faulty conclusions are being revealed, that all things being considered, it was a mistake to launch that military action," explained Bereuter, who added that, "knowing what I know about the reliance on tenuous or insufficiently corroborted intelligence used to conclude that Saddam maintained a substantial WMD (Wepaons of mass destruction) arsenal, I believe that launching the pre-emptive military action was not justified."

Infuriatingly, Bereuter's remarks and his reasons for concluding that the pre-emptive militrary strike on Iraq was a mistake have been largely ignored by the mass meda, which continues to assist Karl Rove by focusing attention on the lies propagated by the so-called "Swift Vote Veterans for Truth," . Once again, the conservative media bury a real news story in favor of sensationalistic, discredited propaganda.

I'm curious about how Nebraskans, particularly those who back Bush, feel about Bereuter's conclusion regarding Iraq and the nasty campaign being run by Bush/Cheney. Any reports from readers in Nebraska are welcome.

Greedy GOP Tries to Steal Cash's Legacy

Further proof that Republicans believe they are entitled to own everything, including the legacy of the dead. First it was Sinatra signing on the big screen after Rudy Giuliani's self-serving and smug speech at the GOP National Convention. Now it's a Johnny Cash 'tribute' being staged so as to suggest that the Man in Black would endorse the Republican platform. Fortunately, singer Rosanne Cash, Johnny's daughter, issued a statement insisting that the event should "NOT be seen as a show of support for the Repubican agenda." Outraged fans, many of whom were responding to the manifesto posted at www.defendjohhnycash.org, bum-rushed the event, held at Sotheby's, to remind the Republicans that Johnny championed precisely those people whom most Republicans couldn't care less about, that is, the poor, prisoners, etc. See John Nichols's article "The Man in Black Bloc."

Bordando el Manto Terrestre

Word to students in my American Literature and American Culture course: Follow this link to Remedios Varo's painting Bordando el Manto Terrestre. Viewing the image of Varo's painting should help you to understand better why Oedipa is so moved by the painting and to answer the following questions from your study guide to Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49.

Focus on: art, affect and knowledge
6a. Reread the passage recalling Oedipa’s visit to an exhibition of Remedios Varo's paintings aloud several times (10–12). Pynchon writes, “Oedipa, perverse, had stood in front of the painting and cried” (11). First, briefly contextualize this sentence. That is, explain how, when, where and with whom Oedipa came to view Varo’s painting.

b. Then, refer to specific lines and phrases from the text to answer the following questions: Why was Oedipa moved to tears by viewing the Remedios Varo painting “Bordando el Manto Terrestre”? Why might the narrator have described Oedipa and/or her response as “perverse”? What knowledge is revealed to Oedipa “because of [the] painting”? Be as specific as possible, and address some of the significant details that Pynchon’s ornate narration provides. For example, you might remark upon the fact that Oedipa could “see the world refracted through those tears” (11 italics mine) and speculate on why she feels such a strong connection to the painting of the imprisoned girls. Try to find a reproduction of this painting in an art book or on the Internet.

See You In Hell?

Kierkegaard referred to it as the aesthetic mode of existence, and here's where it could get me, according to the Dante's Inferno Test...

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	High
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Moderate

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test