Is It O.K. to Be a Luddite? by Thomas Pynchon : Luddite. It sounds like an element doesn’t it? Basically, a Luddite is someone who opposes technology. Pynchon tackles the subject with his usual gusto:
Except maybe for Brainy Smurf, it’s hard to imagine anybody these days wanting to be called a literary intellectual, though it doesn’t sound so bad if you broaden the labeling to, say, “people who read and think.” Being called a Luddite is another matter. It brings up questions such as, Is there something about reading and thinking that would cause or predispose a person to turn Luddite? Is It O.K. to be a Luddite? And come to think of it, what is a Luddite, anyway?
Pynchon goes into the history of Luddites, from the Ned Lud, straight through to Frankenstein and Star Wars references – oh, and lets not forget that all important folk hero, the Badass. Theres something about scholarly discussion of the Badass that I just find compelling. Anyway, if anyone wants to give themselves a headache, check out Pynchon’s acclaimed classic Gravity’s Rainbow (and for people who want to lessen the strength of said headache, you can buy a 345 page book containing the Sources and Contexts for Pynchon’s Novel). Actually, from what I’ve read of it (which is, admittedly, not much), its quite good. [via wood s lot]