"Pynchon likes the idea of talking to, listening to, or otherwise communing with animals."

…from the Pynchon-L email discussion:

Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:22:16 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: kelber@mindspring.com
Subject: Re: Parrots in Pynchon

Pynchon likes the idea of talking to, listening to, or otherwise communing with animals. The talking sewer rat in V; William Slothrop and his pigs, Slothrop in the pig suit, the boy with the pet lemming in GR, talking dogs (in English or dog-speak) in M&D and ATD. Parrots afford him the opportunity to present talking animals in, if anything, a slightly more realistic, less magical form.

Laura