The Title

 If I had read this book previously (and some of you might be thinking, "Isn't this the type of project that should only be attempted on a—at the very least—second reading? And shouldn't the person doing this kind of critical reading of a Thomas Pynchon novel also be intimately familiar with his books written prior to this one instead of just having read the first few pages of Vineland twenty-three years ago, The Crying of Lot 49 only once twenty-five years ago, Mason & Dixon twenty-three years ago, and Gravity's Rainbow, twice in a row, one month ago? Shouldn't you have some—I don't know—credentials?!), I might understand what the title of the book means. It's not as complicated as Gravity's Rainbow (which isn't really all that complicated after you read the book. I mean, it's the arc of the rocket and also maybe something about God's promise to never send another flood to destroy mankind? That's part of it, right?) but not quite as simple as Mason & Dixon (it's the names of the main characters! Also it reminds you of the Mason/Dixon line. And that makes you think of borders. And if you know the only thing anybody knows about Mason & Dixon's line, it might make you think of slavery too. And that will probably make you think of modern race relations and past race relations and imperialism and justice and getting boners in South Africa while attempting to view the transit of Venus. But mostly you'll probably just think, "That was them two guys what explored the Louisiana Purchase, right?").

I don't mean to suggest I don't understand the words in the title! I know that against means either in opposition to or adjacent to. So right there you've got a bit of a quandary! Is Pynchon suggesting we're battling the day, maybe like Don Quixote attacking windmills, or are we just casually leaning on it like a stack of clean laundry knocked over by the cat to lean helter-skelter against the wall without quite falling over?

I'm really beginning to regret not starting this project only on the second reading! Just imagine all of the great insights I'd have about the title if I knew what the stupid book was about! You'd be slapping that like and subscribe button like a Goddamned maniac! And by "maniac," I mean supernatural serial killer and not condemned lunatic because I'm not an unfeeling bastard who uses disease and mental illness simply for dramatic effect! That's the style of way better writers than me!

Should I say something about the concept of "day" or do you think we're all probably on the same page there? Nothing special about the day, right? It's just that thing that happens when it's not night. You know? It's the part of the Earth's rotation which you spend eating doughnuts while watching game shows or smoking pot while ditching class. Pshaw! We all know what the day is! And I've got to say, after the way I've just described it . . . who would want to be against it?!

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Postscript: A few ways to interpret the phrase "against the day" which I can't believe I didn't think about before. One might be the contemplation of mortality and how we have a limited time to get things done; we race "against the day," to finish what we must while light remains. Metaphorically, this works in a number of ways. We race against our finite time to complete what we think might be our purpose before darkness and death engulf us. We struggle to make due or make things better while goodness and light still overpower the darkness and selfishness of those who would end our agency and freedom. The day is a limit on our endeavours. It becomes an opponent which we must struggle against to scrape meaning from our time.
    "Against the day" is also a phrase that comes up in The Bible and since every in Western Literature is ultimately referencing The Bible, that's probably important. Usually it's used in such a way that we must "prepare against the day" that something awful or aweful will happen. Prepare yourselves against the day of salvation or the day of judgment. Prepare yourself against the day of invasion or acceptance. People in The Bible are always preparing for something yet to come! So "against the day" might just be a way of expressing a need for preparation for whatever is coming. Perhaps to prepare against the day of God being dead. Or perhaps to prepare against the day of the V-2 and atomic bombs.
    I'd probably have a better idea if I'd read the book once through before writing these entries!