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The Linking Feature: Degenerative Systems in Pynchon and Spengler

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Written at a time when the orderly operations of the American business system appeared to have been laid waste by the most destructive of germs, these lines from Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) afford access to the related visions of civilization's decay presented by Pynchon in Gravity's Rainbow (1973) and Oswald Spengler in The Decline of the West (1918–1923). My investigation of Pynchon's Spenglerian vision considers the nature of West's battle and asks whether it is worthwhile or even possible.

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How to Cite: H. Dalsgaard, I. (1999) “The Linking Feature: Degenerative Systems in Pynchon and Spengler”, Pynchon Notes.(0). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/pn.121