Nothing Happening = Boring

When Oedipa rents an Impala and drives to San Narciso a very elaborated description of the city is employed. The description has sort of like a mocking tone which clearly starts by the name "San Narciso". This is a paradox because being a narcissist involves thinking that you are great but it is mentioned that "Nothing was happening" (p. 13). When nothing happens, it usually lacks of fun or it simply is boring, to find a general rule, it lacks of interest.

San Narciso was described like if it was a "compilation" of house, buildings or other types of constructions united by pure coincidence, apparently like the rest of the region it is located. Pynchon says, "But if there was any vital difference between it and the rest of Southern California, it was invisible on first glance" (p. 14). This previous passage evokes the feeling in the reader that there is a difference between San Narciso and the rest of Southern California because the author considers it. The last two words of the passage give more of an enigmatic and confusing image of the city because if the difference isn´t seen on first glance, it means that it requires more insight and this is backed up later when Oedipa is looking downwards to the city and it reminds her of the first printed circuit she saw when she opened a transistor radio (http://cl49.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_2). I like the suggested metaphor because a printed circuit is something that is apparently organized but no one understands how it is organized.