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Fw: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3506 Pale Fire
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----- Original Message -----
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 12:42 PM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3506
>
> pynchon-l-digest Tuesday, August 26 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3506
>
>
>
> NPPF Nabokov mention
> Re: NPPF Nabokov mention
> RE: NPPF hiatus?
> RE: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
> re: VLVL(4)(a) Chapter Summary
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
> VLVL(4) vocabulary
> NPPF Comm2: Balthasar
> VLVL(4) Blues reference
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary (irregular lives)
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:10:07 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: NPPF Nabokov mention
>
> For a British Novelist, Tornadoes in August
> By Sarah Lyall, August 26, 2003
>
> In a recent article in The Daily Telegraph titled "Someone Needs to Have a
> Word With Amis," the British novelist Tibor Fischer described furtively
> reading an advance copy of Martin Amis's forthcoming novel, "Yellow Dog,"
on
> the subway and worrying that strangers would assume incorrectly that he
was
> enjoying himself.
> He wasn't.
> " `Yellow Dog' isn't bad as in not very good or slightly disappointing,"
Mr.
> Fischer wrote. "It's not-knowing-where-to-look bad." Shimmering with fury
at
> what he portrayed as betrayal by a literary hero he once idolized to the
> point of memorizing passages from his work, Mr. Fischer added that reading
> the book was "like your favorite uncle being caught in a school
playground,
> masturbating."
> (...)
> "Yellow Dog," a satire that takes on, among other things, the pornography
> industry, British royalty and the tabloid press, is either an
embarrassment
> or a masterpiece, depending on which critics you listen to; whether they
> have rivalrous relationships with Mr. Amis; and whether they admire his
> pungent, lacerating prose.
> (...)
> Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, who gave
> "Yellow Dog" a glowing review in The Observer of London on Sunday, said
that
> given Mr. Amis's fictional and other musings on the subject of envy,
perhaps
> Mr. Fischer meant his remarks to be a part of an elaborate literary
in-joke,
> like that in Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Pale Fire."
>
> In the hall-of-mirrors narrative of "Pale Fire," an increasingly insane
> editor comments in increasingly eccentric terms about the posthumous poem
of
> a recently deceased fictional American poet. (In this scenario, Mr.
Fischer
> would be playing the part of the insane editor.)
>
> "You read this and say, `Is this someone who's read "Pale Fire" and is
> adding themselves, as a shared joke, in Amis's ongoing interest in envy?'
"
> Mr. Douglas-Fairhurst said. "Or is it that he hasn't read `Pale Fire' - or
> not closely enough - and is unaware that he's suffering from the same sort
> of envy that Amis has been able to dissect and examine so brilliantly?"
> (...)
> The book is not without flaws, Mr. Carey said in an interview, but is
still
> "a great comic extravagance" comparable to the works of Jonathan Swift.
> "People take, and did take, exception to Swift's depiction of the human
race
> in the same way," he said. "It's enormously crude and ugly, but it's meant
> to be, because it's satirizing crudeness and ugliness."
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/26/books/26AMIS.html?8hpib=&pagewanted=print&
> position
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:53:30 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Nabokov mention
>
> "Actually, your first reaction on reading a novel as mind-tinglingly good
as
> Yellow Dog is not so much admiration as a kind of grateful despair. Mostly
> this is because, like all great writers, he seems to have guessed what you
> thought about the world, and then expressed it far better than you ever
> could."
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,6121,1028231,00.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 08:48:00 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: RE: NPPF hiatus?
>
> > On Behalf Of Don Corathers
> >
> > We are becalmed, captain. The NPPF seems to have slipped into an
> > undeclared
> > late August recess. There's been one reply to the notes I posted last
> > night,
> > and there were scant few to Jasper's substitute hosting of the first
piece
> > of the Commentary. (Which I lost to a server idiosyncrasy, by the way,
and
> > I'd be grateful if somebody would either repost Jasper's notes or
forward
> > them to me offlist.)
> >
> > So okay, unless I hear an outcry from the house, which doesn't seem very
> > likely at this point, I'm going to hold off posting notes on the rest of
> > my
> > section until there are more (some?) PF readers present. Say, after
Labor
> > Day? All right?
> >
> > Don
> >
>
> Dog days of summer have given us an irresolute compass, Mr. Corathers?
I'm
> content to wait on the next section until after you've completed yours (or
> until someone cries, "Whale!") -- push everything back a week then?
>
> I tried to forward you my notes on Saturday, but I guess they too were
lost.
> Here they are in the archives, everything I posted for the first
commentary
> section:
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.17: aka Jack Degree
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84688
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.17: aka Ravus, Ravenstone, and d'Argus
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84687
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.17: Gradus ad Parnassum
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84689
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.12: Angus MacDiarmid
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84718
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84764
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part one)
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84766
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84779
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84780
>
> Jasper
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:23:19 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: RE: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> >
> > "Dear Jesus, do something" is a plea for relief from CK's obsession with
> > young males.
>
> Trying to explicate your meaning here: Kinbote centers in on the
> "dreamy-eyed youngster," with the vicious circle made by the tethered
plane
> (something like a chart plotter drawn over the map of Wordsmith U) forming
> endlessly around him. Is Kinbote's focus really just on sexual relief,
and
> all his efforts some sort of sublimation of that urge?
>
> I would agree that K has an obsession with young males. He tries to make
it
> seem as though his desire gets satisfied, but these claims may be
undermined
> in the text: Bob leaves for a woman, the gardener is impotent (or worse,
> hetero), Emerald is hetero and apparently spiteful toward K's advances,
etc,
> and part of the Zemblan fantasy is that he gets laid there (a lot). But
he
> installs two ping-pong tables, presumably to support the overflow
attracted
> by the first -- or does he just have great expectations?
>
> JasFid
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:21:09 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: re: VLVL(4)(a) Chapter Summary
>
> There's always time for a canned summary. Here's Mssrs. Diebold
> and Goodwin's version.
>
> "Lotsa action in this chapter. [....]
>
> http://www.mindspring.com/~shadow88/chapter4.htm
>
> Perhaps you should spend more time getting the story right.
> This canned summary is full of mistakes. Do people read the book or
> what?
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:30:37 EDT
> From: Elainemmbell@aol.com
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --part1_1e3.ef1182f.2c7cbafd_boundary
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
> In a message dated 8/23/2003 11:16:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> paul.mackin@verizon.net writes:
>
> > "a bird knocking itself out":
>
> also, this phrase is colloquial for "trying really hard" (without success
> usually implied, as in, "Go ahead, knock yourself out") Maybe implication
of
> hopelessness of task--either the task of poetry or the task of
interpreting
> poetry, or of Shade/Kinbote's life itself?
> Elaine M.M. Bell, Writer
> (860) 523-9225
>
> - --part1_1e3.ef1182f.2c7cbafd_boundary
> Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF"
FACE=
> =3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0">In a message dated 8/23/2003 11:16:11 PM Eastern
Dayli=
> ght Time, paul.mackin@verizon.net writes:<BR>
> <BR>
> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=3DCITE style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid;
MARGIN-LEFT=
> : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">"a bird knocking itself out":
<=
> /BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
> <BR>
> also, this phrase is colloquial for "trying really hard" (without success
us=
> ually implied, as in, "Go ahead, knock yourself out") Maybe
implicatio=
> n of hopelessness of task--either the task of poetry or the task of
interpre=
> ting poetry, or of Shade/Kinbote's life itself? <BR>
> </FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#008080" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
SIZE=3D2=
> FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Verdana" LANG=3D"0">Elaine M.M. Bell,
Writer<B=
> R>
> (860) 523-9225</FONT></HTML>
>
> - --part1_1e3.ef1182f.2c7cbafd_boundary--
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:58:34 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> We should go back to arguing about which book we should discuss next.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 07:24:42 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> I agree with this suggestion. Both you and Jasper have posted great notes
that
> deserve more than the silence of this half-absent audience. I just
returned
> from ten days away from computers or even TV, and didn't bring PF with me
(I'm
> halfway through "Absalom, Absalom"), so I'll aim to re-focus on PF for a
> re-start after Labor Day.
>
> That said, I do think a part of the problem stalling discussion is that we
all
> have now read the poem and Commentary at least once and we all know some
of the
> basic theories of narration/"authorship" (including wild and indeterminate
> Keithian postulates), and at this point we are left with sifting through
reams
> of data, mirror-images, shadows and hints, but no synthesis seems in
sight. So
> we can play with all these bits and pieces, but I know that I at least
feel
> somewhat at a loss for direction...
>
> See you next week
>
> David Morris
>
>
> - --- Don Corathers <gumbo@fuse.net> wrote:
> > We are becalmed, captain. The NPPF seems to have slipped into an
undeclared
> late August recess. There's been one reply to the notes I posted last
night,
> and there were scant few to Jasper's substitute hosting of the first piece
of
> the Commentary. (Which I lost to a server idiosyncrasy, by the way, and
I'd be
> grateful if somebody would either repost Jasper's notes or forward them to
me
> offlist.)
> >
> > So okay, unless I hear an outcry from the house, which doesn't seem very
> likely at this point, I'm going to hold off posting notes on the rest of
my
> section until there are more (some?) PF readers present. Say, after Labor
Day?
> All right?
> >
> > Don
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 07:30:43 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> - --- Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > We should go back to arguing about which book we should discuss next.
>
> Or about what authors are or are not welcome to bring to this list for
> discussion.
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 17:23:23 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> Hi David,
>
> I absolutely agree that these great notes really deserve some more
> attention. I'm still reading through the notes on the Commentary,
re-reading
> passages, checking things I don't understand in the translation. I haven't
> been able to do so much PF the last weeks (due to work, other books and
> private problems).
>
> Otto
>
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Morris" <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> To: "Don Corathers" <gumbo@fuse.net>; <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 4:24 PM
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
> >
> > I agree with this suggestion. Both you and Jasper have posted great
notes
> that
> > deserve more than the silence of this half-absent audience. I just
> returned
> > from ten days away from computers or even TV, and didn't bring PF with
me
> (I'm
> > halfway through "Absalom, Absalom"), so I'll aim to re-focus on PF for a
> > re-start after Labor Day.
> >
> > That said, I do think a part of the problem stalling discussion is that
we
> all
> > have now read the poem and Commentary at least once and we all know some
> of the
> > basic theories of narration/"authorship" (including wild and
indeterminate
> > Keithian postulates), and at this point we are left with sifting through
> reams
> > of data, mirror-images, shadows and hints, but no synthesis seems in
> sight. So
> > we can play with all these bits and pieces, but I know that I at least
> feel
> > somewhat at a loss for direction...
> >
> > See you next week
> >
> > David Morris
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 08:24:57 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
>
> > "Dear Jesus, do something" is a plea for relief from CK's obsession with
> > young males.
>
> >>>Trying to explicate your meaning here: <<<
>
> I was plagiarizing the author:
>
> In Miss Berberov's excellent article on _Pale Fire_ I find a couple of
> minute mistakes: Kinbote begs "dear Jesus" to relieve him of his fondness
> for faunlets, not to cure his headache, as she implies; and Professor
Pnin,
> whose presence in that novel Miss Berberov overlooks, *does* appear in
> person (note to line 949, _Pale Fire_), with his dog. (_Strong Opinions_,
> p.290/Vintage pb)
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 17:28:47 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
>
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jbor" <jbor@bigpond.com>
> To: <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 12:36 AM
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
>
>
> > on 23/8/03 4:56 AM, Jasper Fidget wrote:
> >
> > > "I have no desire to twist and batter an unambiguous /apparatus
> > > criticus/ into the monstrous semblance of a novel."
> > >
> > > apparatus criticus: "A collection of material, as variant readings and
> > > other palaeographical and critical matter, for the textual study of a
> > > document." (OED)
> > >
> > > VN seems to be commenting on his current project itself through the
> > > irony of Kinbote's assertion.
> >
> > I agree. And the bit just before this is interesting too, Kinbote noting
> > how Shade "did not bring up ... ridiculous stories about the terrifying
> > shadows that Judge Goldsworth's gown threw across the underworld,
> > or about this or that beast lying in prison and positively dying of
> > *raghdirst* (thirst for revenge) -- crass banalities circulated by the
> > scurrilous and the heartless
> > -- by all those for whom romance, remoteness, sealskin-lined scarlet
> > skies, the darkening dunes of a fabulous kingdom, simply do not exist."
> >
> > Kinbote here seems to be responding to the suggestion that it was Jack
> > Grey seeking revenge on Judge Goldsmith who was Shade's slayer,
> > suggestions which would refute his own tale of Jakob Gradus,
> > would-be assassin tracking down the Zemblan king.
> > While it demonstrates an awareness on Kinbote's part of
> > alternative explanations to the one he's pitching in the Commentary
> > (and the
> > fact that these explanations have been made), and a defensive attitude
> > towards same, it also reveals Kinbote's absolute self-centredness. He
> > displays no concern for the fact that Shade was murdered (by whoever),
> > only
> > that Shade ("my sweet old friend") was being thoughtful towards him,
> > Kinbote, in never mentioning the stories about those criminals who had
> > been
> > sentenced by Judge Goldsworth, such as Jack Grey, who were out for
> > revenge.
> > But there's also a flaw in Kinbote's logic, because Shade not bringing
up
> > those particular stories couldn't have been out of consideration for
> > Kinbote, because the plot to kill someone (whether it was Grey's or
> > Gradus's) was not revealed until *after* Shade was shot.
> >
>
> I pretty much agree to the above. Kinbote is unreliable, inconsistent and
> his logic has flaws. He's a storyteller of an old-fashioned style claiming
> to tell the truth, but passed by modern literature (_Ulysses_) that has
made
> the *ordinary* man to be the hero which once only kings or princes (or
> disguised princes and kings, _Oedipus Rex_) could be.
>
> > There is, I think, also a touch of Nabokov the imaginative artist,
Nabokov
> > the exile from pre-Revolutionary Russia, in this wistful prИcis of "a
> > fabulous kingdom" lost.
> >
> > best
> >
>
> Yes, but in this he's mocking himself a little bit, knowing that in
> pre-Revolutionary Russia the poor weren't getting a little bit richer
> and the rich weren't getting a little bit poorer like in that fairytale
> he calls Kinbote's Law (Notes to Line 12).
>
> Otto
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:39:06 -0400
> From: Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com>
> Subject: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar shingles.
>
> Toby
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
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> Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:47:23 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: NPPF Comm2: Balthasar
>
> > [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On Behalf Of Don Corathers
> >
>
> >
> > Finally, we meet Balthasar, the gardener, Prince of Loam.
> >
>
> Balthasar, Prince of Loam! Let's see...
>
> Again the theme of east moving west:
>
> Balthasar is the Hellenized name of one of the three Magi in the Christian
> New Testament who arrive from the East following a star and seeking "the
> newborn king of the Jews" (Matthew 2:1). The others are Melchior and
Gaspar
> (or possibly Caspar -- or Jaspar?). They weren't originally kings
(depicted
> in early Christian stories as Persians -- probably due to geography), but
> were probably exalted by Europeans seeking to dramatize the coming of
> nations to honor the king of all kings. One was made African, one Asian
or
> Arabian, one European. From what I gather (from the links below -- pretty
> fascinating reading actually), Balthasar is the Asian or Arabian one who
> brings frankincense.
>
> As saints:
> http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm
>
> As Zoroastrians:
> http://www.sullivan-county.com/z/3magi.htm
>
> Rudolf Steiner going off on it:
> http://wn.elib.com/Steiner/Lectures/Christmas/19041230p01.html
>
> ***
>
> Also Belshazzar /bEl"Saz@/ : The King of Babylon who 'made a great
> feast..and drank wine before the thousand' (Daniel 5:1).
>
> Here's a good commentary on Daniel 5:
> http://www.ccel.org/c/calvin/comment3/comm_vol24/htm/xi.htm
>
> These guys have the following interesting pronunciation: Bale-shats-TSAR
> http://calvarychapel.com/cheyenne/Library/27-Daniel/Daniel0501.html
>
> ***
>
> A very large wine bottle, usually holding the quantity of sixteen regular
> bottles. (OED)
>
> ***
>
> In Shakespeare:
>
> Balthasar is the name of one of Romeo's servants in _Romeo and Juliet_.
In
> 2.4, Romeo says, "I warrant thee, my man's as true as steel" probably in
> reference to Balthasar. In 5.1 Balthasar delivers the terrible news to
> Romeo: "Then she is well, and nothing can be ill: / Her body sleeps in
> Capel's monument, / And her immortal part with angels lives" (5.1.17-19).
> In 5.3, at Juliet's grave, Romeo wants to off himself, and sends Balthasar
> away with a sealed letter for his father (a suicide note more or less),
but
> Balthasar says in aside, "For all this same, I'll hide me hereabout: / His
> looks I fear, and his intents I doubt" (5.3.43-44), believing Romeo is
> suicidal. Lurking around in the churchyard, Balthasar meets Friar
Lawrence
> and tells him Romeo is at Juliet's grave. Lawrence wants Balthasar to
> accompany him into the vault, but Balthasar declines, saying he's afraid
of
> Romeo after disobeying him. Lawrence will go inside alone, and Balthasar
> says, "As I did sleep under this yew-tree here, / I dreamt my master and
> another fought, / And that my master slew him." Yeah that's right, he
says
> "yew-tree."
>
> Also in Shakespeare, Balthazar is a merchant in the _Comedy of Errors_,
> Balthazar is a servant to Portia in _The Merchant of Venice_, and
Balthasar
> is the musician in _Much Ado About Nothing_ who sings the Hey nonny nonny
> song: "Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more...":
>
> http://www.geocities.com/miss_julep/balthasarssong.html
>
> ***
>
> In royal history and art:
>
> The son of King Felipe IV of Spain and Isabella of France. Diego
VelАzquez
> has several paintings of Don Balthasar Carlos (Carlos a Spanish variant
for
> Charles), as a youngster around six years old. Carlos (b. 1629) died at
age
> 17, never becoming the king these images of him seem to promise.
>
> A portrait of Carlos:
> http://cgfa.floridaimaging.com/velazque/p-velazqu4.htm
>
> Carlos as a hunter:
> http://cgfa.floridaimaging.com/velazque/p-velazq15.htm
>
> Carlos hanging out with a dwarf:
> http://cgfa.floridaimaging.com/velazque/p-velazq44.htm
>
> ***
>
> In gardening:
>
> Loam
> A. noun.
> 1. Clay, clayey earth, mud.
>
> 2. Clay moistened with water so as to form a paste that can be moulded
into
> shape; spec. a mixture of moistened clay, sand, chopped straw, etc., used
in
> making bricks, plastering walls, grafting, etc. ME.
>
> 3. Earth, soil. arch. ME.
>
> 4. (A) very fertile soil composed chiefly of clay, sand, and humus;
Geology
> (a) friable mixture of sand, silt, clay, and usually humus. M17.
> red loam: see RED adjective.
> (OED)
>
>
> - -Jaspar the Magi
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:51:36 -0400
> From: Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com>
> Subject: VLVL(4) Blues reference
>
> On page 43 Zoyd calls the TV-Detox place and hears music playing in the
> background: "Little Charlie and the Nightcats singing 'TV Crazy.'"
>
> TV Crazy was the first song on the first album from Little Charlie and
> the Nightcats, but it was not released until 1987. Since the action of
> Vineland at this point is 1984, there's a slight, dare we say,
> anachronism here.
>
> This band is a California blues group that would definitely been in heavy
> rotation on the blues show that Pynchon listened to while writing
> Vineland.
>
> A couple of years ago, Charlie and his band played in my city. A friend
> of mine, who happened to be rereading Vineland at the time, went up to
> Charlie during the break and barely got the word "Pynchon" out of his
> mouth before Little Charlie said very quickly with a tight-lipped grin,
> "yeah, yeah...page 43...I never read the book." He definitely gave the
> impression that he was asked about Vineland TOO many times over the
> years.
>
> Toby
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:05:48 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary (irregular lives)
>
> Toby G Levy wrote:
> >
> > A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> > Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> > pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar
shingles.
>
>
>
> My guess is that a doper's idea of Imbrication is not a regular
> overlapping but rather an "irregular" overlapping of edges.
>
> Kinda like everything else in Vineland.
>
> Contrary to rule, accepted order, or general practice: irregular hiring
> practices. 2. Not conforming to legality, moral law, or social
> convention: an irregular marriage. 3. Not straight, uniform, or
> symmetrical: irregular facial features. 4. Of uneven rate, occurrence,
> or duration: an irregular heartbeat. 5. Deviating from a type;
> atypical.6. Botany. Having differing floral parts, as of a zygomorphic
> or asymmetrical flower. 7. Falling below the manufacturer's standard or
> usual specifications; imperfect. 8. Grammar. Departing from the usual
> pattern of inflection, derivation, or word formation, as the present
> forms of the verb be or the plural noun children. 9. Not belonging to a
> permanent, organized military force: irregular troops.
> 1. One, such as an item of merchandise, that is irregular. 2. A soldier,
> such as a guerrilla, who is not a member of a regular military force.
>
> Cedar shake, if you have ever worked with it you know, is about the best
> material god ever made. It's lasts and lasts and it looks great. It's
> not difficult to install but it does take a bit of skill. If you are
> inexperienced you won't want to drink or smoke anything while you're
> snapping your lines (you'll want a chalk line and a level).
>
> The entire chapter reads like a cartoon. Zoyd's or Trent's Camper has a
> stovepipe and a cedar roof. A familiar cartoon hillbilly ride. What P
> describes is a mansarded roof and I wonder why he didn't use the term
> being as he went through the trouble to learn a bit about roofing and
> carpentry to write this book. And cars too.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:10:27 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Mark Wright AIA <mwaia@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> Howdy
> One sense of the word in the ShorterOED indicates that the shingles may
> cover the camper shell in some sort of ornamental pattern rather than
> in the shaggy random rustic way I'd always imagined. Compare a doper's
> possibly obsessive patterning of the camper shingles to the doper's
> haircutting in the 'Byron the Bulb' passage in GR. Perhaps the shingle
> pattern was a diagonal, "handed" one, in which case it would slope up
> on one side and down on the opposite side. This would introduce a sort
> of spiralizing tendency to the aerodynamical trim characteristics of
> said vehicle (in addition to simple drag) contributing to the peculiar
> difficulties Zoyd experiences in cornering.
> Live and learn!
> Mark
>
> - --- Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com> wrote:
> > A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> > Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> > pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar
> > shingles.
> >
> > Toby
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________
> > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:15:18 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --- Jasper Fidget <jasper@hatguild.org> wrote:
> > pg 73
> > "a bird knocking itself out": Kinbote assumes the bird has not died,
although
> this is not stated explicitly in the poem.
> > "We can visualize John Shade in his early boyhood": Kinbote assumes that
> Shade is a boy when the event with the bird takes place, although --
again --
> this is not explicit.
>
> Kinbote's surmises above are contradictory. First he says "knocked out."
But
> then he envisions a young Shade experiencing his first "eschatalogical
shock,"
> which to my mind would mean a first awareness of death. It is
interesting
> that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the slain waxwing to be
Shade's
> childhood, and there is some (but inconclusive) evidence for this take
since
> the poem -all Cantos together- have a roughly chronological development.
I
> think a good question to tru to answer is WHEN was Shade "the shadow of
the
> waxwing slain?"
>
> David Morris
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 13:43:17 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> > > pg 73
> > > "a bird knocking itself out": Kinbote assumes the bird has not died,
although
> > this is not stated explicitly in the poem.
> > > "We can visualize John Shade in his early boyhood": Kinbote assumes
that
> > Shade is a boy when the event with the bird takes place, although --
again --
> > this is not explicit.
> >
> > Kinbote's surmises above are contradictory. First he says "knocked
out." But
> > then he envisions a young Shade experiencing his first "eschatalogical
shock,"
> > which to my mind would mean a first awareness of death. It is
interesting
> > that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the slain waxwing to be
Shade's
> > childhood, and there is some (but inconclusive) evidence for this take
since
> > the poem -all Cantos together- have a roughly chronological development.
I
> > think a good question to tru to answer is WHEN was Shade "the shadow of
the
> > waxwing slain?"
>
>
> I don't see the contradiction.
>
> I read the poem as a Romantic poem. So the poet starts off talking about
> his childhood.
> In my opinion, one of those Norton Anthologies of Romantic Poetry is the
> best source for this poem.
>
> His first eschatological shock comes when, as a boy, nature and man's
> creation out of nature, collide.
>
> There was a time when meadow grove and stream
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 13:46:20 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> > In my opinion, one of those Norton Anthologies of Romantic Poetry is the
> > best source for this poem.
>
> Oh yeah, don't know if this has been noted, but N was not qualified to
> teach British & Irish Romantic Poetry.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 14:01:21 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> Hello Mark,
>
> Just a carpenter, you know, ain't about to argue with a architect but I
> can read a materials list and it says Cedar Shake, not shingle. Big
> difference there. And given that these are shakes and not shingles a
> doper's idea of imbrication would be irregular enough to top over a
> small truck.
>
> Mark Wright AIA wrote:
> >
> > Howdy
> > One sense of the word in the ShorterOED indicates that the shingles may
> > cover the camper shell in some sort of ornamental pattern rather than
> > in the shaggy random rustic way I'd always imagined. Compare a doper's
> > possibly obsessive patterning of the camper shingles to the doper's
> > haircutting in the 'Byron the Bulb' passage in GR. Perhaps the shingle
> > pattern was a diagonal, "handed" one, in which case it would slope up
> > on one side and down on the opposite side. This would introduce a sort
> > of spiralizing tendency to the aerodynamical trim characteristics of
> > said vehicle (in addition to simple drag) contributing to the peculiar
> > difficulties Zoyd experiences in cornering.
> > Live and learn!
> > Mark
> >
> > --- Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com> wrote:
> > > A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> > > Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> > > pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar
> > > shingles.
> > >
> > > Toby
> > >
> > > ________________________________________________________________
> > > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> > > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> > > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:44:05 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> >>> It is interesting that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the
slain
> waxwing to be Shade's childhood <<<
>
> Given his fondness for faunlets, it is not surprising that he is imagining
> Shade as such.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:46:55 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> >>> I think a good question to try to answer is WHEN was Shade "the shadow
> of the
> waxwing slain?" <<<
>
> The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no longer the 'TSOTWS.' When
> did he cease being such, and why?
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 15:15:16 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> s~Z wrote:
> >
> > >>> It is interesting that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the
slain
> > waxwing to be Shade's childhood <<<
> >
> > Given his fondness for faunlets, it is not surprising that he is
imagining
> > Shade as such.
>
> A reasonable assumption/imagining if we don't ignore the poem.
> Canto I talks about infancy, childhood, early age, growing into boyhood,
> becoming a lad of eleven years, going to school, praying, eschatological
> shock, being raised by Aunt Maud, loss of belief or faith, turning this
> loss and his unfinishedness and the like--illness, awkwardness, pain--
> into sublime dreams and poems.
>
> What matter if I live it all once more?
> Endure that toil of growing up;
> The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
> Of boyhood changing into man;
> The unfinished man and his pain
> Brought face to face with his own
> clumsiness [...]
>
> The Pynchon Nabokov Connection:
>
> http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0203/articles/delasanta.html
>
> And, as the commentary proves, the eschatological is political:
>
> http://www.rc.umd.edu/reviews/ryan.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:22:29 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Malignd <malignd@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> <<The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no
> longer the 'TSOTWS.' When did he cease being such, and
> why?>>
>
> Pre- and post- Shade's near-death experience would
> seem the most obvious guess.
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:36:44 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --- s~Z <keithsz@concentric.net> wrote:
> > >>> I think a good question to try to answer is WHEN was Shade "the
shadow of
> the waxwing slain?" <<<
> >
> > The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no longer the 'TSOTWS.'
When did
> he cease being such, and why?
>
> OK:
>
> 1. When did he BECOME "TSOTWS" (assuming he was not ever so)?
> 2. When did he CEASE BEING "TSOTWS?"
>
> DM
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:37:50 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> >>>A reasonable assumption/imagining if we don't ignore the poem. <<<
>
> To make assumptions based on 'not ignoring'
> the poem when interpreting Kinbote's reading
> of the poem, we have to ignore the fact that,
> most of the time, Kinbote is not 'not ignoring
> the poem.'
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:39:59 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --- Malignd <malignd@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > <<The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no longer the 'TSOTWS.'
When
> did he cease being such, and why?>>
> >
> > Pre- and post- Shade's near-death experience would seem the most obvious
> guess.
>
> Yes, but which near-death (or post-death) experience, the ones which
happened
> regulary every afternoon during his childhood summer, or the one as an
adult?
>
> David Morris
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:42:15 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Dave Monroe <monrovius@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> See ...
>
> http://m-w.com/mw/art/imbricat.htm
>
> Main Entry: im╥bri╥cate
> Pronunciation: 'im-bri-k&t
> Function: adjective
> Etymology: Late Latin imbricatus, past participle of
> imbricare to cover with pantiles, from Latin imbric-,
> imbrex pantile, from imbr-, imber rain; akin to Greek
> ombros rain
> Date: circa 1610
> : lying lapped over each other in regular order
> <imbricate scales>
>
> Main Entry: pan╥tile
> Pronunciation: 'pan-"tIl
> Function: noun
> Etymology: pan
> Date: 1640
> 1 : a roofing tile whose cross section is an ogee
> curve
> 2 : a roofing tile of which the cross section is an
> arc of a circle and which is laid with alternate
> convex and concave surfaces uppermost
> - - pan╥tiled /-"tIld/ adjective
>
> Main Entry: im╥bri╥cate
> Pronunciation: 'im-br&-"kAt
> Function: transitive verb
> Inflected Form(s): -cat╥ed; -cat╥ing
> Date: 1784
> : OVERLAP; especially : to overlap like roof tiles
>
> Main Entry: im╥bri╥ca╥tion
> Pronunciation: "im-br&-'kA-sh&n
> Function: noun
> Date: 1713
> 1 : an overlapping of edges (as of tiles or scales)
> 2 : a decoration or pattern showing imbrication
>
> http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
>
> imbricate
>
> SYLLABICATION: im╥bri╥cate
> PRONUNCIATION: mbr-kt
> ADJECTIVE: Having regularly arranged, overlapping
> edges, as roof tiles or fish scales.
> VERB: Inflected forms: im╥bri╥cat╥ed, im╥bri╥cat╥ing,
> im╥bri╥cates
>
> TRANSITIVE VERB: To overlap in a regular pattern.
> INTRANSITIVE VERB: To be arranged with regular
> overlapping edges.
> ETYMOLOGY: Latin imbrictus, covered with roof tiles,
> from imbrex, imbric-, roof tile, from imber, imbr-,
> rain.
> OTHER FORMS: imbri╥cation ≈NOUN
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/61/40/I0044000.html
>
> p. 35 "imbrication" An overlapping, like leaves, or
> certain geological strata.
>
> http://www.mindspring.com/~shadow88/chapter4.htm
>
> Just realized the grammar is similar to that in the
> Lotion notes: "Times Square is being vacated and
> jackhammered into somebody's idea of an update."
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9810&msg=32231&sort=date
>
> http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_lotion.html
>
> God knows how Lotion managed to cajole acclaimed
> post-modern author Thomas Pynchon to write the liner
> notes for the band's new album, Nobody's Cool let
> alone how their music inspired him to write such
> literary blather as, "beneath the austerities of
> twelvetone music may lurk some shameless piece of
> Baroque polyphony." But the "how" isn't really
> important. What's more significant is "why."
>
> Like Pynchon, Lotion thrive on artsy pretension....
>
> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1440326/20010223/lotion.jhtml
>
> "shakes"
>
> Entry Word: shake
> Function: noun
>
> [...]
>
> 2 shakes plural
> Synonyms JITTERS, ||all-overs, dither, heebie-jeebies,
> ||jimjams, ||jimmies, jumps, shivers, whim-whams,
> willies
>
> http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus
>
> Pensiero, Pfc. Eddie
> 640-41; [Italian: "thought, idea"]; company barber;
> "connoisseur of shivers" - Name probably derived from
> The Duke's aria from Act Three of the Giuseppe Verdi's
> opera Rigoletto - 'La Donna И Mobile" ("Woman is
> Fickle"). The opening verse:
>
> La donna И mobile
> qual piuma al vento,
> muta d' accento - e di pensiero.
>
> Woman is fickle,
> a feather to the wind,
> no orator or thinker.
>
> http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/alpha/p-q.html
>
> V640.30 Eddie Pensiero
> The name is actually an old pun, taken from "La Donna
> e Mobile," the most famous aria in Verdi▓s Rigoletto.
> The main verse reads:
>
> La donna e mobile
> Quai piuma al vento,
> Muta d▓accento
> E di pensiero.
>
> English:
>
> Woman is fickle
> As a feather in the wind,
> She changes her tune
> And her thoughts.
>
> http://www.english.mankato.msus.edu/larsson/gr4.html
>
> 640-655. In Thuringia, at night, Pfc. Eddie Pensiero,
> "amphetimine enthusiast" and expert reader of shivers,
> is giving a haircut to his colonel....
>
> http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/rainbow.htm
>
> Eddie Penseroso [sic], an amphetamine enthusiast, is
> the company barber, his haircuts taking hours, and
> often days, and thus being instantly recognizable in
> the Zone. He is to work on a Colonel from Kenosha,
> with Slothropian blues harp music in the background
> and a well-travelled light-bulb hanging above his
> head. The Colonel worries about the detonation of a
> bomb as powerful as Krakatoa. It turns out that the
> light-bulb is the same identical Osram bulb that Franz
> PЖkler used to sleep next to in his bunk at
> Nordhausen. Every n-thousandth light bulb is gonna be
> perfect, all the delta-q's piling up just right, so
> this bulb is immortal! It is Byron the Bulb, and his
> story is told....
>
> http://www.themodernword.com/gr/Book4.htm
>
> http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_grsumm.html
>
> Episode 64 (1001-1026) (640-655)
> Private Eddie Pensiero soll einem Colonel aus Kenosha,
> Wisconsin, die Haare schneiden.
>
> http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/gr64.htm
>
> - --- Mark Wright AIA <mwaia@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Howdy
> > One sense of the word in the ShorterOED indicates
> > that the shingles may cover the camper shell in some
> > sort of ornamental pattern rather than in the shaggy
> > random rustic way I'd always imagined. Compare a
> > doper's possibly obsessive patterning of the camper
> > shingles to the doper's haircutting in the 'Byron
> > the Bulb' passage in GR....
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3506
> ********************************
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to waste@waste.org
> with "unsubscribe pynchon-l-digest" in the message body.
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 12:42 PM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3506
>
> pynchon-l-digest Tuesday, August 26 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3506
>
>
>
> NPPF Nabokov mention
> Re: NPPF Nabokov mention
> RE: NPPF hiatus?
> RE: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
> re: VLVL(4)(a) Chapter Summary
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF hiatus?
> Re: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
> VLVL(4) vocabulary
> NPPF Comm2: Balthasar
> VLVL(4) Blues reference
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary (irregular lives)
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:10:07 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: NPPF Nabokov mention
>
> For a British Novelist, Tornadoes in August
> By Sarah Lyall, August 26, 2003
>
> In a recent article in The Daily Telegraph titled "Someone Needs to Have a
> Word With Amis," the British novelist Tibor Fischer described furtively
> reading an advance copy of Martin Amis's forthcoming novel, "Yellow Dog,"
on
> the subway and worrying that strangers would assume incorrectly that he
was
> enjoying himself.
> He wasn't.
> " `Yellow Dog' isn't bad as in not very good or slightly disappointing,"
Mr.
> Fischer wrote. "It's not-knowing-where-to-look bad." Shimmering with fury
at
> what he portrayed as betrayal by a literary hero he once idolized to the
> point of memorizing passages from his work, Mr. Fischer added that reading
> the book was "like your favorite uncle being caught in a school
playground,
> masturbating."
> (...)
> "Yellow Dog," a satire that takes on, among other things, the pornography
> industry, British royalty and the tabloid press, is either an
embarrassment
> or a masterpiece, depending on which critics you listen to; whether they
> have rivalrous relationships with Mr. Amis; and whether they admire his
> pungent, lacerating prose.
> (...)
> Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, who gave
> "Yellow Dog" a glowing review in The Observer of London on Sunday, said
that
> given Mr. Amis's fictional and other musings on the subject of envy,
perhaps
> Mr. Fischer meant his remarks to be a part of an elaborate literary
in-joke,
> like that in Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Pale Fire."
>
> In the hall-of-mirrors narrative of "Pale Fire," an increasingly insane
> editor comments in increasingly eccentric terms about the posthumous poem
of
> a recently deceased fictional American poet. (In this scenario, Mr.
Fischer
> would be playing the part of the insane editor.)
>
> "You read this and say, `Is this someone who's read "Pale Fire" and is
> adding themselves, as a shared joke, in Amis's ongoing interest in envy?'
"
> Mr. Douglas-Fairhurst said. "Or is it that he hasn't read `Pale Fire' - or
> not closely enough - and is unaware that he's suffering from the same sort
> of envy that Amis has been able to dissect and examine so brilliantly?"
> (...)
> The book is not without flaws, Mr. Carey said in an interview, but is
still
> "a great comic extravagance" comparable to the works of Jonathan Swift.
> "People take, and did take, exception to Swift's depiction of the human
race
> in the same way," he said. "It's enormously crude and ugly, but it's meant
> to be, because it's satirizing crudeness and ugliness."
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/26/books/26AMIS.html?8hpib=&pagewanted=print&
> position
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:53:30 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Nabokov mention
>
> "Actually, your first reaction on reading a novel as mind-tinglingly good
as
> Yellow Dog is not so much admiration as a kind of grateful despair. Mostly
> this is because, like all great writers, he seems to have guessed what you
> thought about the world, and then expressed it far better than you ever
> could."
> http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/generalfiction/0,6121,1028231,00.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 08:48:00 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: RE: NPPF hiatus?
>
> > On Behalf Of Don Corathers
> >
> > We are becalmed, captain. The NPPF seems to have slipped into an
> > undeclared
> > late August recess. There's been one reply to the notes I posted last
> > night,
> > and there were scant few to Jasper's substitute hosting of the first
piece
> > of the Commentary. (Which I lost to a server idiosyncrasy, by the way,
and
> > I'd be grateful if somebody would either repost Jasper's notes or
forward
> > them to me offlist.)
> >
> > So okay, unless I hear an outcry from the house, which doesn't seem very
> > likely at this point, I'm going to hold off posting notes on the rest of
> > my
> > section until there are more (some?) PF readers present. Say, after
Labor
> > Day? All right?
> >
> > Don
> >
>
> Dog days of summer have given us an irresolute compass, Mr. Corathers?
I'm
> content to wait on the next section until after you've completed yours (or
> until someone cries, "Whale!") -- push everything back a week then?
>
> I tried to forward you my notes on Saturday, but I guess they too were
lost.
> Here they are in the archives, everything I posted for the first
commentary
> section:
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.17: aka Jack Degree
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84688
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.17: aka Ravus, Ravenstone, and d'Argus
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84687
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.17: Gradus ad Parnassum
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84689
>
> Subject: NPPF: C.12: Angus MacDiarmid
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84718
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84764
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part one)
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84766
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84779
>
> Subject: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
> http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0308&msg=84780
>
> Jasper
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:23:19 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: RE: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> >
> > "Dear Jesus, do something" is a plea for relief from CK's obsession with
> > young males.
>
> Trying to explicate your meaning here: Kinbote centers in on the
> "dreamy-eyed youngster," with the vicious circle made by the tethered
plane
> (something like a chart plotter drawn over the map of Wordsmith U) forming
> endlessly around him. Is Kinbote's focus really just on sexual relief,
and
> all his efforts some sort of sublimation of that urge?
>
> I would agree that K has an obsession with young males. He tries to make
it
> seem as though his desire gets satisfied, but these claims may be
undermined
> in the text: Bob leaves for a woman, the gardener is impotent (or worse,
> hetero), Emerald is hetero and apparently spiteful toward K's advances,
etc,
> and part of the Zemblan fantasy is that he gets laid there (a lot). But
he
> installs two ping-pong tables, presumably to support the overflow
attracted
> by the first -- or does he just have great expectations?
>
> JasFid
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:21:09 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: re: VLVL(4)(a) Chapter Summary
>
> There's always time for a canned summary. Here's Mssrs. Diebold
> and Goodwin's version.
>
> "Lotsa action in this chapter. [....]
>
> http://www.mindspring.com/~shadow88/chapter4.htm
>
> Perhaps you should spend more time getting the story right.
> This canned summary is full of mistakes. Do people read the book or
> what?
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:30:37 EDT
> From: Elainemmbell@aol.com
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --part1_1e3.ef1182f.2c7cbafd_boundary
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
> In a message dated 8/23/2003 11:16:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> paul.mackin@verizon.net writes:
>
> > "a bird knocking itself out":
>
> also, this phrase is colloquial for "trying really hard" (without success
> usually implied, as in, "Go ahead, knock yourself out") Maybe implication
of
> hopelessness of task--either the task of poetry or the task of
interpreting
> poetry, or of Shade/Kinbote's life itself?
> Elaine M.M. Bell, Writer
> (860) 523-9225
>
> - --part1_1e3.ef1182f.2c7cbafd_boundary
> Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=3D2 FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF"
FACE=
> =3D"Arial" LANG=3D"0">In a message dated 8/23/2003 11:16:11 PM Eastern
Dayli=
> ght Time, paul.mackin@verizon.net writes:<BR>
> <BR>
> <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=3DCITE style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid;
MARGIN-LEFT=
> : 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">"a bird knocking itself out":
<=
> /BLOCKQUOTE><BR>
> <BR>
> also, this phrase is colloquial for "trying really hard" (without success
us=
> ually implied, as in, "Go ahead, knock yourself out") Maybe
implicatio=
> n of hopelessness of task--either the task of poetry or the task of
interpre=
> ting poetry, or of Shade/Kinbote's life itself? <BR>
> </FONT><FONT COLOR=3D"#008080" style=3D"BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
SIZE=3D2=
> FAMILY=3D"SANSSERIF" FACE=3D"Verdana" LANG=3D"0">Elaine M.M. Bell,
Writer<B=
> R>
> (860) 523-9225</FONT></HTML>
>
> - --part1_1e3.ef1182f.2c7cbafd_boundary--
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 09:58:34 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> We should go back to arguing about which book we should discuss next.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 07:24:42 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> I agree with this suggestion. Both you and Jasper have posted great notes
that
> deserve more than the silence of this half-absent audience. I just
returned
> from ten days away from computers or even TV, and didn't bring PF with me
(I'm
> halfway through "Absalom, Absalom"), so I'll aim to re-focus on PF for a
> re-start after Labor Day.
>
> That said, I do think a part of the problem stalling discussion is that we
all
> have now read the poem and Commentary at least once and we all know some
of the
> basic theories of narration/"authorship" (including wild and indeterminate
> Keithian postulates), and at this point we are left with sifting through
reams
> of data, mirror-images, shadows and hints, but no synthesis seems in
sight. So
> we can play with all these bits and pieces, but I know that I at least
feel
> somewhat at a loss for direction...
>
> See you next week
>
> David Morris
>
>
> - --- Don Corathers <gumbo@fuse.net> wrote:
> > We are becalmed, captain. The NPPF seems to have slipped into an
undeclared
> late August recess. There's been one reply to the notes I posted last
night,
> and there were scant few to Jasper's substitute hosting of the first piece
of
> the Commentary. (Which I lost to a server idiosyncrasy, by the way, and
I'd be
> grateful if somebody would either repost Jasper's notes or forward them to
me
> offlist.)
> >
> > So okay, unless I hear an outcry from the house, which doesn't seem very
> likely at this point, I'm going to hold off posting notes on the rest of
my
> section until there are more (some?) PF readers present. Say, after Labor
Day?
> All right?
> >
> > Don
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 07:30:43 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> - --- Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > We should go back to arguing about which book we should discuss next.
>
> Or about what authors are or are not welcome to bring to this list for
> discussion.
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 17:23:23 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
>
> Hi David,
>
> I absolutely agree that these great notes really deserve some more
> attention. I'm still reading through the notes on the Commentary,
re-reading
> passages, checking things I don't understand in the translation. I haven't
> been able to do so much PF the last weeks (due to work, other books and
> private problems).
>
> Otto
>
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Morris" <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> To: "Don Corathers" <gumbo@fuse.net>; <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 4:24 PM
> Subject: Re: NPPF hiatus?
> >
> > I agree with this suggestion. Both you and Jasper have posted great
notes
> that
> > deserve more than the silence of this half-absent audience. I just
> returned
> > from ten days away from computers or even TV, and didn't bring PF with
me
> (I'm
> > halfway through "Absalom, Absalom"), so I'll aim to re-focus on PF for a
> > re-start after Labor Day.
> >
> > That said, I do think a part of the problem stalling discussion is that
we
> all
> > have now read the poem and Commentary at least once and we all know some
> of the
> > basic theories of narration/"authorship" (including wild and
indeterminate
> > Keithian postulates), and at this point we are left with sifting through
> reams
> > of data, mirror-images, shadows and hints, but no synthesis seems in
> sight. So
> > we can play with all these bits and pieces, but I know that I at least
> feel
> > somewhat at a loss for direction...
> >
> > See you next week
> >
> > David Morris
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 08:24:57 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Re: Notes C.47-48 (part three)
>
> > "Dear Jesus, do something" is a plea for relief from CK's obsession with
> > young males.
>
> >>>Trying to explicate your meaning here: <<<
>
> I was plagiarizing the author:
>
> In Miss Berberov's excellent article on _Pale Fire_ I find a couple of
> minute mistakes: Kinbote begs "dear Jesus" to relieve him of his fondness
> for faunlets, not to cure his headache, as she implies; and Professor
Pnin,
> whose presence in that novel Miss Berberov overlooks, *does* appear in
> person (note to line 949, _Pale Fire_), with his dog. (_Strong Opinions_,
> p.290/Vintage pb)
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 17:28:47 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
>
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jbor" <jbor@bigpond.com>
> To: <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 12:36 AM
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.47-48 (part two)
>
>
> > on 23/8/03 4:56 AM, Jasper Fidget wrote:
> >
> > > "I have no desire to twist and batter an unambiguous /apparatus
> > > criticus/ into the monstrous semblance of a novel."
> > >
> > > apparatus criticus: "A collection of material, as variant readings and
> > > other palaeographical and critical matter, for the textual study of a
> > > document." (OED)
> > >
> > > VN seems to be commenting on his current project itself through the
> > > irony of Kinbote's assertion.
> >
> > I agree. And the bit just before this is interesting too, Kinbote noting
> > how Shade "did not bring up ... ridiculous stories about the terrifying
> > shadows that Judge Goldsworth's gown threw across the underworld,
> > or about this or that beast lying in prison and positively dying of
> > *raghdirst* (thirst for revenge) -- crass banalities circulated by the
> > scurrilous and the heartless
> > -- by all those for whom romance, remoteness, sealskin-lined scarlet
> > skies, the darkening dunes of a fabulous kingdom, simply do not exist."
> >
> > Kinbote here seems to be responding to the suggestion that it was Jack
> > Grey seeking revenge on Judge Goldsmith who was Shade's slayer,
> > suggestions which would refute his own tale of Jakob Gradus,
> > would-be assassin tracking down the Zemblan king.
> > While it demonstrates an awareness on Kinbote's part of
> > alternative explanations to the one he's pitching in the Commentary
> > (and the
> > fact that these explanations have been made), and a defensive attitude
> > towards same, it also reveals Kinbote's absolute self-centredness. He
> > displays no concern for the fact that Shade was murdered (by whoever),
> > only
> > that Shade ("my sweet old friend") was being thoughtful towards him,
> > Kinbote, in never mentioning the stories about those criminals who had
> > been
> > sentenced by Judge Goldsworth, such as Jack Grey, who were out for
> > revenge.
> > But there's also a flaw in Kinbote's logic, because Shade not bringing
up
> > those particular stories couldn't have been out of consideration for
> > Kinbote, because the plot to kill someone (whether it was Grey's or
> > Gradus's) was not revealed until *after* Shade was shot.
> >
>
> I pretty much agree to the above. Kinbote is unreliable, inconsistent and
> his logic has flaws. He's a storyteller of an old-fashioned style claiming
> to tell the truth, but passed by modern literature (_Ulysses_) that has
made
> the *ordinary* man to be the hero which once only kings or princes (or
> disguised princes and kings, _Oedipus Rex_) could be.
>
> > There is, I think, also a touch of Nabokov the imaginative artist,
Nabokov
> > the exile from pre-Revolutionary Russia, in this wistful prИcis of "a
> > fabulous kingdom" lost.
> >
> > best
> >
>
> Yes, but in this he's mocking himself a little bit, knowing that in
> pre-Revolutionary Russia the poor weren't getting a little bit richer
> and the rich weren't getting a little bit poorer like in that fairytale
> he calls Kinbote's Law (Notes to Line 12).
>
> Otto
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:39:06 -0400
> From: Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com>
> Subject: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar shingles.
>
> Toby
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:47:23 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: NPPF Comm2: Balthasar
>
> > [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On Behalf Of Don Corathers
> >
>
> >
> > Finally, we meet Balthasar, the gardener, Prince of Loam.
> >
>
> Balthasar, Prince of Loam! Let's see...
>
> Again the theme of east moving west:
>
> Balthasar is the Hellenized name of one of the three Magi in the Christian
> New Testament who arrive from the East following a star and seeking "the
> newborn king of the Jews" (Matthew 2:1). The others are Melchior and
Gaspar
> (or possibly Caspar -- or Jaspar?). They weren't originally kings
(depicted
> in early Christian stories as Persians -- probably due to geography), but
> were probably exalted by Europeans seeking to dramatize the coming of
> nations to honor the king of all kings. One was made African, one Asian
or
> Arabian, one European. From what I gather (from the links below -- pretty
> fascinating reading actually), Balthasar is the Asian or Arabian one who
> brings frankincense.
>
> As saints:
> http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09527a.htm
>
> As Zoroastrians:
> http://www.sullivan-county.com/z/3magi.htm
>
> Rudolf Steiner going off on it:
> http://wn.elib.com/Steiner/Lectures/Christmas/19041230p01.html
>
> ***
>
> Also Belshazzar /bEl"Saz@/ : The King of Babylon who 'made a great
> feast..and drank wine before the thousand' (Daniel 5:1).
>
> Here's a good commentary on Daniel 5:
> http://www.ccel.org/c/calvin/comment3/comm_vol24/htm/xi.htm
>
> These guys have the following interesting pronunciation: Bale-shats-TSAR
> http://calvarychapel.com/cheyenne/Library/27-Daniel/Daniel0501.html
>
> ***
>
> A very large wine bottle, usually holding the quantity of sixteen regular
> bottles. (OED)
>
> ***
>
> In Shakespeare:
>
> Balthasar is the name of one of Romeo's servants in _Romeo and Juliet_.
In
> 2.4, Romeo says, "I warrant thee, my man's as true as steel" probably in
> reference to Balthasar. In 5.1 Balthasar delivers the terrible news to
> Romeo: "Then she is well, and nothing can be ill: / Her body sleeps in
> Capel's monument, / And her immortal part with angels lives" (5.1.17-19).
> In 5.3, at Juliet's grave, Romeo wants to off himself, and sends Balthasar
> away with a sealed letter for his father (a suicide note more or less),
but
> Balthasar says in aside, "For all this same, I'll hide me hereabout: / His
> looks I fear, and his intents I doubt" (5.3.43-44), believing Romeo is
> suicidal. Lurking around in the churchyard, Balthasar meets Friar
Lawrence
> and tells him Romeo is at Juliet's grave. Lawrence wants Balthasar to
> accompany him into the vault, but Balthasar declines, saying he's afraid
of
> Romeo after disobeying him. Lawrence will go inside alone, and Balthasar
> says, "As I did sleep under this yew-tree here, / I dreamt my master and
> another fought, / And that my master slew him." Yeah that's right, he
says
> "yew-tree."
>
> Also in Shakespeare, Balthazar is a merchant in the _Comedy of Errors_,
> Balthazar is a servant to Portia in _The Merchant of Venice_, and
Balthasar
> is the musician in _Much Ado About Nothing_ who sings the Hey nonny nonny
> song: "Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more...":
>
> http://www.geocities.com/miss_julep/balthasarssong.html
>
> ***
>
> In royal history and art:
>
> The son of King Felipe IV of Spain and Isabella of France. Diego
VelАzquez
> has several paintings of Don Balthasar Carlos (Carlos a Spanish variant
for
> Charles), as a youngster around six years old. Carlos (b. 1629) died at
age
> 17, never becoming the king these images of him seem to promise.
>
> A portrait of Carlos:
> http://cgfa.floridaimaging.com/velazque/p-velazqu4.htm
>
> Carlos as a hunter:
> http://cgfa.floridaimaging.com/velazque/p-velazq15.htm
>
> Carlos hanging out with a dwarf:
> http://cgfa.floridaimaging.com/velazque/p-velazq44.htm
>
> ***
>
> In gardening:
>
> Loam
> A. noun.
> 1. Clay, clayey earth, mud.
>
> 2. Clay moistened with water so as to form a paste that can be moulded
into
> shape; spec. a mixture of moistened clay, sand, chopped straw, etc., used
in
> making bricks, plastering walls, grafting, etc. ME.
>
> 3. Earth, soil. arch. ME.
>
> 4. (A) very fertile soil composed chiefly of clay, sand, and humus;
Geology
> (a) friable mixture of sand, silt, clay, and usually humus. M17.
> red loam: see RED adjective.
> (OED)
>
>
> - -Jaspar the Magi
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:51:36 -0400
> From: Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com>
> Subject: VLVL(4) Blues reference
>
> On page 43 Zoyd calls the TV-Detox place and hears music playing in the
> background: "Little Charlie and the Nightcats singing 'TV Crazy.'"
>
> TV Crazy was the first song on the first album from Little Charlie and
> the Nightcats, but it was not released until 1987. Since the action of
> Vineland at this point is 1984, there's a slight, dare we say,
> anachronism here.
>
> This band is a California blues group that would definitely been in heavy
> rotation on the blues show that Pynchon listened to while writing
> Vineland.
>
> A couple of years ago, Charlie and his band played in my city. A friend
> of mine, who happened to be rereading Vineland at the time, went up to
> Charlie during the break and barely got the word "Pynchon" out of his
> mouth before Little Charlie said very quickly with a tight-lipped grin,
> "yeah, yeah...page 43...I never read the book." He definitely gave the
> impression that he was asked about Vineland TOO many times over the
> years.
>
> Toby
>
> ________________________________________________________________
> The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:05:48 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary (irregular lives)
>
> Toby G Levy wrote:
> >
> > A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> > Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> > pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar
shingles.
>
>
>
> My guess is that a doper's idea of Imbrication is not a regular
> overlapping but rather an "irregular" overlapping of edges.
>
> Kinda like everything else in Vineland.
>
> Contrary to rule, accepted order, or general practice: irregular hiring
> practices. 2. Not conforming to legality, moral law, or social
> convention: an irregular marriage. 3. Not straight, uniform, or
> symmetrical: irregular facial features. 4. Of uneven rate, occurrence,
> or duration: an irregular heartbeat. 5. Deviating from a type;
> atypical.6. Botany. Having differing floral parts, as of a zygomorphic
> or asymmetrical flower. 7. Falling below the manufacturer's standard or
> usual specifications; imperfect. 8. Grammar. Departing from the usual
> pattern of inflection, derivation, or word formation, as the present
> forms of the verb be or the plural noun children. 9. Not belonging to a
> permanent, organized military force: irregular troops.
> 1. One, such as an item of merchandise, that is irregular. 2. A soldier,
> such as a guerrilla, who is not a member of a regular military force.
>
> Cedar shake, if you have ever worked with it you know, is about the best
> material god ever made. It's lasts and lasts and it looks great. It's
> not difficult to install but it does take a bit of skill. If you are
> inexperienced you won't want to drink or smoke anything while you're
> snapping your lines (you'll want a chalk line and a level).
>
> The entire chapter reads like a cartoon. Zoyd's or Trent's Camper has a
> stovepipe and a cedar roof. A familiar cartoon hillbilly ride. What P
> describes is a mansarded roof and I wonder why he didn't use the term
> being as he went through the trouble to learn a bit about roofing and
> carpentry to write this book. And cars too.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:10:27 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Mark Wright AIA <mwaia@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> Howdy
> One sense of the word in the ShorterOED indicates that the shingles may
> cover the camper shell in some sort of ornamental pattern rather than
> in the shaggy random rustic way I'd always imagined. Compare a doper's
> possibly obsessive patterning of the camper shingles to the doper's
> haircutting in the 'Byron the Bulb' passage in GR. Perhaps the shingle
> pattern was a diagonal, "handed" one, in which case it would slope up
> on one side and down on the opposite side. This would introduce a sort
> of spiralizing tendency to the aerodynamical trim characteristics of
> said vehicle (in addition to simple drag) contributing to the peculiar
> difficulties Zoyd experiences in cornering.
> Live and learn!
> Mark
>
> - --- Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com> wrote:
> > A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> > Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> > pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar
> > shingles.
> >
> > Toby
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________
> > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>
>
> __________________________________
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:15:18 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --- Jasper Fidget <jasper@hatguild.org> wrote:
> > pg 73
> > "a bird knocking itself out": Kinbote assumes the bird has not died,
although
> this is not stated explicitly in the poem.
> > "We can visualize John Shade in his early boyhood": Kinbote assumes that
> Shade is a boy when the event with the bird takes place, although --
again --
> this is not explicit.
>
> Kinbote's surmises above are contradictory. First he says "knocked out."
But
> then he envisions a young Shade experiencing his first "eschatalogical
shock,"
> which to my mind would mean a first awareness of death. It is
interesting
> that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the slain waxwing to be
Shade's
> childhood, and there is some (but inconclusive) evidence for this take
since
> the poem -all Cantos together- have a roughly chronological development.
I
> think a good question to tru to answer is WHEN was Shade "the shadow of
the
> waxwing slain?"
>
> David Morris
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 13:43:17 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> > > pg 73
> > > "a bird knocking itself out": Kinbote assumes the bird has not died,
although
> > this is not stated explicitly in the poem.
> > > "We can visualize John Shade in his early boyhood": Kinbote assumes
that
> > Shade is a boy when the event with the bird takes place, although --
again --
> > this is not explicit.
> >
> > Kinbote's surmises above are contradictory. First he says "knocked
out." But
> > then he envisions a young Shade experiencing his first "eschatalogical
shock,"
> > which to my mind would mean a first awareness of death. It is
interesting
> > that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the slain waxwing to be
Shade's
> > childhood, and there is some (but inconclusive) evidence for this take
since
> > the poem -all Cantos together- have a roughly chronological development.
I
> > think a good question to tru to answer is WHEN was Shade "the shadow of
the
> > waxwing slain?"
>
>
> I don't see the contradiction.
>
> I read the poem as a Romantic poem. So the poet starts off talking about
> his childhood.
> In my opinion, one of those Norton Anthologies of Romantic Poetry is the
> best source for this poem.
>
> His first eschatological shock comes when, as a boy, nature and man's
> creation out of nature, collide.
>
> There was a time when meadow grove and stream
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 13:46:20 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> > In my opinion, one of those Norton Anthologies of Romantic Poetry is the
> > best source for this poem.
>
> Oh yeah, don't know if this has been noted, but N was not qualified to
> teach British & Irish Romantic Poetry.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 14:01:21 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> Hello Mark,
>
> Just a carpenter, you know, ain't about to argue with a architect but I
> can read a materials list and it says Cedar Shake, not shingle. Big
> difference there. And given that these are shakes and not shingles a
> doper's idea of imbrication would be irregular enough to top over a
> small truck.
>
> Mark Wright AIA wrote:
> >
> > Howdy
> > One sense of the word in the ShorterOED indicates that the shingles may
> > cover the camper shell in some sort of ornamental pattern rather than
> > in the shaggy random rustic way I'd always imagined. Compare a doper's
> > possibly obsessive patterning of the camper shingles to the doper's
> > haircutting in the 'Byron the Bulb' passage in GR. Perhaps the shingle
> > pattern was a diagonal, "handed" one, in which case it would slope up
> > on one side and down on the opposite side. This would introduce a sort
> > of spiralizing tendency to the aerodynamical trim characteristics of
> > said vehicle (in addition to simple drag) contributing to the peculiar
> > difficulties Zoyd experiences in cornering.
> > Live and learn!
> > Mark
> >
> > --- Toby G Levy <tobylevy@juno.com> wrote:
> > > A neat word on p35: imbrication. a regular overlapping of edges.
> > > Pynchon uses this to describe the camper shell placed on top pf the
> > > pickup truck he wqas driving. The shell was covered with cedar
> > > shingles.
> > >
> > > Toby
> > >
> > > ________________________________________________________________
> > > The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
> > > Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
> > > Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> > http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:44:05 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> >>> It is interesting that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the
slain
> waxwing to be Shade's childhood <<<
>
> Given his fondness for faunlets, it is not surprising that he is imagining
> Shade as such.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:46:55 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> >>> I think a good question to try to answer is WHEN was Shade "the shadow
> of the
> waxwing slain?" <<<
>
> The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no longer the 'TSOTWS.' When
> did he cease being such, and why?
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 15:15:16 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> s~Z wrote:
> >
> > >>> It is interesting that Kinbote would assume the time frame of the
slain
> > waxwing to be Shade's childhood <<<
> >
> > Given his fondness for faunlets, it is not surprising that he is
imagining
> > Shade as such.
>
> A reasonable assumption/imagining if we don't ignore the poem.
> Canto I talks about infancy, childhood, early age, growing into boyhood,
> becoming a lad of eleven years, going to school, praying, eschatological
> shock, being raised by Aunt Maud, loss of belief or faith, turning this
> loss and his unfinishedness and the like--illness, awkwardness, pain--
> into sublime dreams and poems.
>
> What matter if I live it all once more?
> Endure that toil of growing up;
> The ignominy of boyhood; the distress
> Of boyhood changing into man;
> The unfinished man and his pain
> Brought face to face with his own
> clumsiness [...]
>
> The Pynchon Nabokov Connection:
>
> http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0203/articles/delasanta.html
>
> And, as the commentary proves, the eschatological is political:
>
> http://www.rc.umd.edu/reviews/ryan.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:22:29 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Malignd <malignd@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> <<The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no
> longer the 'TSOTWS.' When did he cease being such, and
> why?>>
>
> Pre- and post- Shade's near-death experience would
> seem the most obvious guess.
>
>
> __________________________________
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:36:44 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --- s~Z <keithsz@concentric.net> wrote:
> > >>> I think a good question to try to answer is WHEN was Shade "the
shadow of
> the waxwing slain?" <<<
> >
> > The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no longer the 'TSOTWS.'
When did
> he cease being such, and why?
>
> OK:
>
> 1. When did he BECOME "TSOTWS" (assuming he was not ever so)?
> 2. When did he CEASE BEING "TSOTWS?"
>
> DM
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
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>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:37:50 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> >>>A reasonable assumption/imagining if we don't ignore the poem. <<<
>
> To make assumptions based on 'not ignoring'
> the poem when interpreting Kinbote's reading
> of the poem, we have to ignore the fact that,
> most of the time, Kinbote is not 'not ignoring
> the poem.'
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:39:59 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF: Notes C.1-4 - C.42
>
> - --- Malignd <malignd@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > <<The use of the term 'was' implies that he is no longer the 'TSOTWS.'
When
> did he cease being such, and why?>>
> >
> > Pre- and post- Shade's near-death experience would seem the most obvious
> guess.
>
> Yes, but which near-death (or post-death) experience, the ones which
happened
> regulary every afternoon during his childhood summer, or the one as an
adult?
>
> David Morris
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 12:42:15 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Dave Monroe <monrovius@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: VLVL(4) vocabulary
>
> See ...
>
> http://m-w.com/mw/art/imbricat.htm
>
> Main Entry: im╥bri╥cate
> Pronunciation: 'im-bri-k&t
> Function: adjective
> Etymology: Late Latin imbricatus, past participle of
> imbricare to cover with pantiles, from Latin imbric-,
> imbrex pantile, from imbr-, imber rain; akin to Greek
> ombros rain
> Date: circa 1610
> : lying lapped over each other in regular order
> <imbricate scales>
>
> Main Entry: pan╥tile
> Pronunciation: 'pan-"tIl
> Function: noun
> Etymology: pan
> Date: 1640
> 1 : a roofing tile whose cross section is an ogee
> curve
> 2 : a roofing tile of which the cross section is an
> arc of a circle and which is laid with alternate
> convex and concave surfaces uppermost
> - - pan╥tiled /-"tIld/ adjective
>
> Main Entry: im╥bri╥cate
> Pronunciation: 'im-br&-"kAt
> Function: transitive verb
> Inflected Form(s): -cat╥ed; -cat╥ing
> Date: 1784
> : OVERLAP; especially : to overlap like roof tiles
>
> Main Entry: im╥bri╥ca╥tion
> Pronunciation: "im-br&-'kA-sh&n
> Function: noun
> Date: 1713
> 1 : an overlapping of edges (as of tiles or scales)
> 2 : a decoration or pattern showing imbrication
>
> http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary
>
> imbricate
>
> SYLLABICATION: im╥bri╥cate
> PRONUNCIATION: mbr-kt
> ADJECTIVE: Having regularly arranged, overlapping
> edges, as roof tiles or fish scales.
> VERB: Inflected forms: im╥bri╥cat╥ed, im╥bri╥cat╥ing,
> im╥bri╥cates
>
> TRANSITIVE VERB: To overlap in a regular pattern.
> INTRANSITIVE VERB: To be arranged with regular
> overlapping edges.
> ETYMOLOGY: Latin imbrictus, covered with roof tiles,
> from imbrex, imbric-, roof tile, from imber, imbr-,
> rain.
> OTHER FORMS: imbri╥cation ≈NOUN
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/61/40/I0044000.html
>
> p. 35 "imbrication" An overlapping, like leaves, or
> certain geological strata.
>
> http://www.mindspring.com/~shadow88/chapter4.htm
>
> Just realized the grammar is similar to that in the
> Lotion notes: "Times Square is being vacated and
> jackhammered into somebody's idea of an update."
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9810&msg=32231&sort=date
>
> http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_essays_lotion.html
>
> God knows how Lotion managed to cajole acclaimed
> post-modern author Thomas Pynchon to write the liner
> notes for the band's new album, Nobody's Cool let
> alone how their music inspired him to write such
> literary blather as, "beneath the austerities of
> twelvetone music may lurk some shameless piece of
> Baroque polyphony." But the "how" isn't really
> important. What's more significant is "why."
>
> Like Pynchon, Lotion thrive on artsy pretension....
>
> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1440326/20010223/lotion.jhtml
>
> "shakes"
>
> Entry Word: shake
> Function: noun
>
> [...]
>
> 2 shakes plural
> Synonyms JITTERS, ||all-overs, dither, heebie-jeebies,
> ||jimjams, ||jimmies, jumps, shivers, whim-whams,
> willies
>
> http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/thesaurus
>
> Pensiero, Pfc. Eddie
> 640-41; [Italian: "thought, idea"]; company barber;
> "connoisseur of shivers" - Name probably derived from
> The Duke's aria from Act Three of the Giuseppe Verdi's
> opera Rigoletto - 'La Donna И Mobile" ("Woman is
> Fickle"). The opening verse:
>
> La donna И mobile
> qual piuma al vento,
> muta d' accento - e di pensiero.
>
> Woman is fickle,
> a feather to the wind,
> no orator or thinker.
>
> http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/alpha/p-q.html
>
> V640.30 Eddie Pensiero
> The name is actually an old pun, taken from "La Donna
> e Mobile," the most famous aria in Verdi▓s Rigoletto.
> The main verse reads:
>
> La donna e mobile
> Quai piuma al vento,
> Muta d▓accento
> E di pensiero.
>
> English:
>
> Woman is fickle
> As a feather in the wind,
> She changes her tune
> And her thoughts.
>
> http://www.english.mankato.msus.edu/larsson/gr4.html
>
> 640-655. In Thuringia, at night, Pfc. Eddie Pensiero,
> "amphetimine enthusiast" and expert reader of shivers,
> is giving a haircut to his colonel....
>
> http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/rainbow.htm
>
> Eddie Penseroso [sic], an amphetamine enthusiast, is
> the company barber, his haircuts taking hours, and
> often days, and thus being instantly recognizable in
> the Zone. He is to work on a Colonel from Kenosha,
> with Slothropian blues harp music in the background
> and a well-travelled light-bulb hanging above his
> head. The Colonel worries about the detonation of a
> bomb as powerful as Krakatoa. It turns out that the
> light-bulb is the same identical Osram bulb that Franz
> PЖkler used to sleep next to in his bunk at
> Nordhausen. Every n-thousandth light bulb is gonna be
> perfect, all the delta-q's piling up just right, so
> this bulb is immortal! It is Byron the Bulb, and his
> story is told....
>
> http://www.themodernword.com/gr/Book4.htm
>
> http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_grsumm.html
>
> Episode 64 (1001-1026) (640-655)
> Private Eddie Pensiero soll einem Colonel aus Kenosha,
> Wisconsin, die Haare schneiden.
>
> http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/gr64.htm
>
> - --- Mark Wright AIA <mwaia@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Howdy
> > One sense of the word in the ShorterOED indicates
> > that the shingles may cover the camper shell in some
> > sort of ornamental pattern rather than in the shaggy
> > random rustic way I'd always imagined. Compare a
> > doper's possibly obsessive patterning of the camper
> > shingles to the doper's haircutting in the 'Byron
> > the Bulb' passage in GR....
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3506
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