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From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2003 12:00 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3540
>
> pynchon-l-digest Tuesday, September 9 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3540
>
>
>
> NPPF Comm3: Mirrors
> VLVL2 Host List -- Part 2
> NPPF Comm3: Beauchamp and Campbell
> NPPF Comm3: Handsome Hal
> NPPF Comm3: Birch
> NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (1)
> NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (2)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 22:13:51 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Mirrors
>
> References to mirrors and doubled pairs occur with great frequency prior
to
> Charles' escape in C.130: "the swimming pool" that Charles spies upon with
> his field glasses (119), the two men playing tennis (119), Iris Acht's
> "broad bare shoulders" (122), the chamber door "flanked by two banished
> engravings" (122), Charles stripped by his "former valet's valet" (122)
and
> given "two morocco bed slippers" (122), the two tutors playing chess (126)
> mirrored by the two soldiers playing cards (122) near a lantern around
which
> "a batlike moth blindly flapped" (123) (the moth another mirror object
> linked to Gradus transformed into a bat on p. 133).
>
> What's the deal with all the twins and mirrors?
>
> In much of VN's fiction, the mirror indicates a solipsistic condition from
> which the protagonist seeks escape. Mirrors serve to convey the borders
of
> time, memory (a distorted mirror), and exile. Both Shade and Kinbote
mirror
> themselves in their texts, as they mirror one another, and Kinbote in
> particular is surrounded by mirrors that reflect the condition of soul,
his
> incapacity to see beyond himself into the lives of others.
>
> In his Introduction to the 1970 Random House edition to _Lolita_, Alfred
> Appel Jr notes, "Nabokov's are emotional and spiritual exiles, turned back
> upon themselves, trapped by their obsessive memories and desires in a
> solipsistic 'prison of mirrors' where they cannot distinguish the glass
from
> themselves."
>
> While Charles is trapped in his fairy tale castle, Kinbote is trapped in
his
> solipsistic prison of mirrors, each of them seeking some means of escape.
> For the Charles, it lies through the secret passage: his route to the
Royal
> theater; for Kinbote, it lies through John Shade's poem: his route to
> Zembla. For both of them, the liberating destination is art. (And so
also
> an explanation for all the literary characters and artistic allusions that
> pop up in Kinbote's fantasy.)
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 21:52:39 -0500
> From: "Tim Strzechowski" <dedalus204@comcast.net>
> Subject: VLVL2 Host List -- Part 2
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> - ------=_NextPart_000_000F_01C37653.857B4F80
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> Although the current hosting schedule is filled until the start of =
> November, now might be a good time to start considering another round of =
> hosting slots for the next (and last) section of Vineland (especially if =
> you're like me and need lots of TIME to put your stuff together).
>
> One question: Do we take some time off for a Holiday Hiatus to =
> accommodate listers who are traveling, and resume around the start of =
> January? Or do we continue in increments of fortnights through the =
> holidays? What is standard practice on the List in these situations? =
> What do you think?
>
> Regardless, assuming we continue every two weeks:
>
>
> Nov. 17: pp. 153 - 191 --
>
>
> Dec. 1: pp. 192 - 203 -- Tim Strzechowski
>
>
> Dec. 15: pp. 204 - 217 --
>
>
> Dec. 29: pp. 218 - 238 --
>
>
> January 12: pp. 239 - 267 --
>
>
> January 26: pp. 268 - 293 --
>
>
> Feb. 9: pp. 294 - 322 --
>
>
> Feb. 23: pp. 323 - 342 --
>
>
> March 8: pp. 343 - 362 --
>
>
> March 22: pp. 363 - 385 --
>
>
> If we decide to adjust the schedule for a "Holiday Hiatus," only the =
> dates will change. If you selected a particular chapter, that will not =
> be affected and I'll post a modified host list. Let me know your =
> thoughts.
>
> Respectfully,=20
>
> Tim S.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 22:57:04 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Beauchamp and Campbell
>
> p. 126
> "Monsieur Beauchamp had sat down for a game of chess at the bedside of Mr.
> Campbell"
>
> Lord Beauchamp: English titles can be inscrutable at times, but this seems
> to be one of Henry Seymour's (1612-1686), a Royalist supporter and close
> personal attendant of Charles II during the Civil War and afterwards in
> exile. He bore the prince's last personal message to his father before
the
> King was beheaded.
>
> May also be Edward Seymore, Thomas Seymore, or William Seymore, but I'm
too
> confused to investigate further.
>
> http://www.geocities.com/percyfamilyhistory/whathap.html
> http://51.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SE/SEYMOUR_HORATIO.htm
>
> Lady Anne Campbell was the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle, leader of
the
> Scots at the time Charles II returned there in preparation to face
Cromwell.
> Argyle proposed that Charles marry Anne, and Charles -- in need of
Scottish
> support for the Royalist cause -- pretended to agree. (He actually had
> little intention of doing so, since on the one hand he a multitude of
> mistresses (and reputedly over 350 illegitimate children!), and on the
other
> hand was too much the diplomat to use his marriage on Scotland --
ultimately
> he would wed Catherine of Braganza of France). After the defeat by
Cromwell
> and Charles' subsequent escape to France, the wedding was called off,
> purportedly leaving Lady Anne devastated.
>
> http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sketches/stgiles.htm
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:01:19 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Handsome Hal
>
> p. 128
> "a rather handsome but incredibly stupid Extremist", "Hal (if that was his
> name)" (128), "the solemn and corpulent guard" (129), "handsome Hal"
(131),
> "The fat guard led the King back to his room and turned him over to
handsome
> Hal" (131).
>
> A Bizarro Prince Hal, Henry V of England, accompanied by his friend Sir
John
> Falstaff from Shakespeare's Henry plays. Bizarro because Hal, while
> charismatic, was not a particularly handsome man (he was scarred in the
face
> by an arrow at the Battle of Shrewsbury at the age of 16) (Kinbote must be
> thinking of Lawrence Olivier), and was anything but stupid; and Falstaff,
> while corpulent, is not even slightly solemn. (Zembla, land of
> reflections.) Hal must be disguised as a soldier here, as he does in
> Shakespeare's Henry V.
>
> For more evidence, see p. 132 where Hal wants to go join his companions
and
> Charles says, "Good night, bad boy" -- in Henry IV, Hal is a bit of a
> delinquent who spends too much time hanging out at the Boar's Head tavern
to
> the displeasure of his father the king).
>
> That Charles is Hal's prisoner is perhaps interesting given the number of
> prisoners Shakespeare's Henry V orders executed. Also perhaps interesting
> is the contrast between what we know about King Charles and the way
> Shakespeare presents King Henry V (a kind of model for a great king).
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England
> http://www.shakespeare.com/FirstFolio/1_KING_HENRY_IV/index.html
> http://www.shakespeare.com/FirstFolio/2_KING_HENRY_IV/index.html
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:05:58 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Birch
>
> p. 126
> "the avenue of birches"
>
> Reminiscent of the avenue of Shakespeare's trees at WU (p. 99, etc).
> Birches are common to both New England and Russia.
>
> Birch
> Betulaceae
>
> Betula sp.(most used:
> Yellow Birch - B. alleghaniensis or B. lutea;
> Sweet/Black Birch - B. lenta;
> Canoe Birch - B. papyritea;
> European White Birch - B. alba).
>
> In the Celtic oghram alphabet the Birch is Beth - B, and the symbol of the
> Bardic school, called by the folk names Beithe, Bereza, Berke, Beth,
> Bouleau, Lady of the Woods, Birth, and constituting the month Dec 24th to
> Jan 20th according to Graves.
>
> It is the tree of guidance and orientation, providing light in the
darkness
> and direction in the unknown, "birch" meaning "bright" or "shining" in
> Indo-European and Sanskrit, possibly from the Anglo-Saxon "beorgan"
meaning
> "to protect or shelter."
>
> Considered feminine and associated with the planet Venus and the element
> water to the Celts; and with the god Thor to the Norse; it is the "Tree of
> Birth" and the "Pioneer Tree," the tree that one plants first in order to
> bring about the birth of the forest. It represents new starts, new
> journeys, its whiteness symbolizing cleanliness and determination in
> overcoming difficulties.
>
> Superstitions include exorcism -- the use of bound birch twigs to strike
> people or animals possessed by evil spirits; in Britain it was used to
> strike criminals in order to purify them of their misdeeds and sins; and
in
> Russia one would hang a stem of it tied with a red ribbon to rid
themselves
> of the evil eye.
>
> Birch is the wood favored by witches for the fashioning of brooms. May
> poles and Beltane fires in Britain used birch. Birch beer is brewed from
> the branches. Its charcoal was used in the formulation of gun powder.
>
> One of the Roman "three pillars of wisdom" (with Oak and Yew)
>
> http://www.treelore.com/treelore/archives/00000002.html
> http://www.treelore.com/treelore/archives/00000002.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:43:25 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (1)
>
> p. 118
> "[I am] a tricky wrestler"
> Kinbote reminding his reader not to understand him too quickly. Anybody
up
> for some Zemblan calisthenics?
>
> p. 118
> "As children playing in a castle find
> In some old closet full of toys, behind
> The animals and masks, a sliding door
> [four words heavily crossed out] a secret corridor--"
>
> Probably Kinbote's most glaringly fake "variant" to the poem, relating as
it
> does directly to the Zembla story to follow. Was Kinbote just unable to
> think of anything for the fourth line, or is there some secret passage
here
> that a reader might discover...?
>
> p. 118
> "The index card on which the variant has been preserved is dated July 4"
>
> July 4 is the American Independence Day on which independence from England
> is celebrated.
>
> p 118
> "Mrs. Shade sat quietly enjoying a video drama."
>
> Kinbote again tries to trivialize Sybil, this time just before relating
the
> story of Charles' daring escape (part four of the glorious "adventures of
> Charles Xavier, last King of Zembla"). While Sybil goes in for drama,
> Kinbote is all about Romance.
>
> p. 119
> "Solus Rex"
>
> Kinbote informs us that Charles is "the only black piece in what a
composer
> of chess problems might term a king-in-the-corner waiter of the _solus
rex_
> type." (pp 118-119). A return of the chess-problem motif recalls the
scene
> in C.47-80 where Kinbote works out the problem of attacking Shade's home.
> This time the black king must devise a means of escape from his castle (a
> chess position in which the king and a rook transpose -- the rook is Odon,
> who will soon move off to the Royal Theater). The "composer" of this
> problem is both Nabokov himself, who thought of chess problems as a means
> for working out plot, but also perhaps KinBotkin, who may think of them as
a
> means for inventing it. Charles Xavier is the king alone in his empty
> corner of the board; another name for this kind of position is "mating
> scenario" -- he has only to be mated for the game to end. (see Fleur de
> Fyler.)
>
> _Solus Rex_ was the title of the original prototype for _Pale Fire_
written
> 1939-40, the first chapter of which is called "Ultima Thule".
>
> http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/iultima.htm
> http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/wultima.htm
>
> p. 119
> "tainted gold"
>
> Perhaps implies the money (reportedly 40 to 50 million gold marks) Lenin
was
> supposed to have acquired from the German government in order to finance
the
> Russian Revolution (supposedly deposited into Stockholm banks and moved
> through the Bank of Siberia in Petrograd), in return for which Lenin
signed
> the Brest-Litovsk treaty taking Russia out of World War I and opening up
the
> Spring Offensive of 1918.
>
> [Other theories concerning the financing of the Bolsheviks do exist, but
> they reek of anti-Semitism]
>
> p. 119
> "robot troops that a powerful police state from its vantage ground a few
sea
> miles away was pouring into the Zemblan Revolution"
>
> Several anti-monarchical revolutions are evoked by the state of Onhava in
> this passage. The "powerful police state" reflects Soviet Russia, but the
> anti-Karlists also reflect the Spanish "Carlist" civil wars of the 1830s
> (also implied by the Basque tennis coach).
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:45:18 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (2)
>
> p. 119
> "he was caged in his rose-stone palace"
>
> Kinbote describes Charles Xavier -- himself in the reflection of memory,
> invention, and art -- as "caged", this time once again "in his rose-stone
> palace", and "with the help of field glasses" (paralleling his spying upon
> John Shade), "he could make out youths diving into the swimming pool of a
> fairy tale sport club." (p 119). References to stories and fairy tales
> begin showing up frequently, both explicitly and in camouflage.
>
> "Rose" occurring elsewhere: "Rose Court" (88), "the queen's rosewood
writing
> desk" (256)
>
> May suggest the English War of the Roses (~1845-1885), an English civil
war
> of succession between the House of Lancaster and the House of York (the
> former's badge a red rose, the latter's a white rose), a consequence of
the
> overthrowing of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, in
1399
> (Henry IV, succeeded by Henry V, Shakespeare's Prince Hal).
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses
>
> p. 119
> "Stone-faced, square-shouldered /komizars/ enforced strict discipline
among
> the troops"
>
> In English: "commissar," "a: a Communist party official assigned to a
> military unit to teach party principles and policies and to ensure party
> loyalty; b: one that attempts to control public opinion or its expression"
> (MW11).
>
> p. 119
> "Puritan prudence had sealed up the wine cellars"
>
> Suggests the English civil war (1642-1650) between the Puritans and
> Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell (also "Roundheads") and the
> Anglicans and Royalists on the side of King Charles I and his son Charles
II
> (also "Cavaliers"). The "Puritans" of this period, largely Calvinist
> Protestants, wished to "purify" the Church of England of all Catholic
> influences (viewing the Bible as the sole authority for liturgy, ceremony,
> and practice). A rift had been growing between the Puritans and the
> Anglicans by the time Charles I (1600-1649) ascended to the throne in
1625,
> and Charles managed to anger the Puritans by first marrying Henrietta
Maria,
> a French Catholic Princess, and then appointing William Laud as Archbishop
> of Canterbury in 1633; and he didn't please the Parliamentarians by
> dissolving Parliament three times over the course of 1625-1629 and
insisting
> upon the Divine Right of Kings. Open war began in 1642 and resulted in
the
> beheading of both Archbishop Laud in 1645 and King Charles I in 1649.
>
> Note that Gradus is described as puritanical.
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War
> http://8.1911encyclopedia.org/L/LA/LAUD_WILLIAM.htm
> http://www.bartleby.com/65/cr/CromwellO.html
>
> p. 119
> "those dreadful days in the polluted palace!"
>
> We've learned that the soldiers are behaving with strict discipline, the
> wine cellars have been sealed up, the maids servants have been removed,
and
> the ladies in waiting have all gone -- this is what Charles considers
> polluted?
>
> p. 120
> "Blawick"
> The only Zemblan town with an English name, described in the Index as "a
> pleasant seaside resort on the Western Coast of Zembla, casino, golf
course,
> sea food, boats for hire" -- see also Note to 149.
>
> This is where Charles plans to make his departure from Zembla once he gets
> the opportunity, so it mirrors Brighton, England in at least two senses:
its
> geographical features are similar, and it's the town from which Charles II
> escaped England for his exile in 1651 after his defeat at Worcester.
>
> p. 123
> "specimens of Varangian boyhood"
>
> "Any of the Scandinavian rovers who in the 9th and 10th cents. overran
parts
> of Russia and reached Constantinople; a member of the Varangian Guard"
(OED)
>
> p. 123
> "faunlet" - the masculine of "nymphet"
>
> Jasper Fidget
> [More to follow when I recoup my spare time]
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3540
> ********************************
>
> 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, September 09, 2003 12:00 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3540
>
> pynchon-l-digest Tuesday, September 9 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3540
>
>
>
> NPPF Comm3: Mirrors
> VLVL2 Host List -- Part 2
> NPPF Comm3: Beauchamp and Campbell
> NPPF Comm3: Handsome Hal
> NPPF Comm3: Birch
> NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (1)
> NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (2)
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 22:13:51 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Mirrors
>
> References to mirrors and doubled pairs occur with great frequency prior
to
> Charles' escape in C.130: "the swimming pool" that Charles spies upon with
> his field glasses (119), the two men playing tennis (119), Iris Acht's
> "broad bare shoulders" (122), the chamber door "flanked by two banished
> engravings" (122), Charles stripped by his "former valet's valet" (122)
and
> given "two morocco bed slippers" (122), the two tutors playing chess (126)
> mirrored by the two soldiers playing cards (122) near a lantern around
which
> "a batlike moth blindly flapped" (123) (the moth another mirror object
> linked to Gradus transformed into a bat on p. 133).
>
> What's the deal with all the twins and mirrors?
>
> In much of VN's fiction, the mirror indicates a solipsistic condition from
> which the protagonist seeks escape. Mirrors serve to convey the borders
of
> time, memory (a distorted mirror), and exile. Both Shade and Kinbote
mirror
> themselves in their texts, as they mirror one another, and Kinbote in
> particular is surrounded by mirrors that reflect the condition of soul,
his
> incapacity to see beyond himself into the lives of others.
>
> In his Introduction to the 1970 Random House edition to _Lolita_, Alfred
> Appel Jr notes, "Nabokov's are emotional and spiritual exiles, turned back
> upon themselves, trapped by their obsessive memories and desires in a
> solipsistic 'prison of mirrors' where they cannot distinguish the glass
from
> themselves."
>
> While Charles is trapped in his fairy tale castle, Kinbote is trapped in
his
> solipsistic prison of mirrors, each of them seeking some means of escape.
> For the Charles, it lies through the secret passage: his route to the
Royal
> theater; for Kinbote, it lies through John Shade's poem: his route to
> Zembla. For both of them, the liberating destination is art. (And so
also
> an explanation for all the literary characters and artistic allusions that
> pop up in Kinbote's fantasy.)
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 21:52:39 -0500
> From: "Tim Strzechowski" <dedalus204@comcast.net>
> Subject: VLVL2 Host List -- Part 2
>
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> - ------=_NextPart_000_000F_01C37653.857B4F80
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> Although the current hosting schedule is filled until the start of =
> November, now might be a good time to start considering another round of =
> hosting slots for the next (and last) section of Vineland (especially if =
> you're like me and need lots of TIME to put your stuff together).
>
> One question: Do we take some time off for a Holiday Hiatus to =
> accommodate listers who are traveling, and resume around the start of =
> January? Or do we continue in increments of fortnights through the =
> holidays? What is standard practice on the List in these situations? =
> What do you think?
>
> Regardless, assuming we continue every two weeks:
>
>
> Nov. 17: pp. 153 - 191 --
>
>
> Dec. 1: pp. 192 - 203 -- Tim Strzechowski
>
>
> Dec. 15: pp. 204 - 217 --
>
>
> Dec. 29: pp. 218 - 238 --
>
>
> January 12: pp. 239 - 267 --
>
>
> January 26: pp. 268 - 293 --
>
>
> Feb. 9: pp. 294 - 322 --
>
>
> Feb. 23: pp. 323 - 342 --
>
>
> March 8: pp. 343 - 362 --
>
>
> March 22: pp. 363 - 385 --
>
>
> If we decide to adjust the schedule for a "Holiday Hiatus," only the =
> dates will change. If you selected a particular chapter, that will not =
> be affected and I'll post a modified host list. Let me know your =
> thoughts.
>
> Respectfully,=20
>
> Tim S.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 22:57:04 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Beauchamp and Campbell
>
> p. 126
> "Monsieur Beauchamp had sat down for a game of chess at the bedside of Mr.
> Campbell"
>
> Lord Beauchamp: English titles can be inscrutable at times, but this seems
> to be one of Henry Seymour's (1612-1686), a Royalist supporter and close
> personal attendant of Charles II during the Civil War and afterwards in
> exile. He bore the prince's last personal message to his father before
the
> King was beheaded.
>
> May also be Edward Seymore, Thomas Seymore, or William Seymore, but I'm
too
> confused to investigate further.
>
> http://www.geocities.com/percyfamilyhistory/whathap.html
> http://51.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SE/SEYMOUR_HORATIO.htm
>
> Lady Anne Campbell was the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle, leader of
the
> Scots at the time Charles II returned there in preparation to face
Cromwell.
> Argyle proposed that Charles marry Anne, and Charles -- in need of
Scottish
> support for the Royalist cause -- pretended to agree. (He actually had
> little intention of doing so, since on the one hand he a multitude of
> mistresses (and reputedly over 350 illegitimate children!), and on the
other
> hand was too much the diplomat to use his marriage on Scotland --
ultimately
> he would wed Catherine of Braganza of France). After the defeat by
Cromwell
> and Charles' subsequent escape to France, the wedding was called off,
> purportedly leaving Lady Anne devastated.
>
> http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sketches/stgiles.htm
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:01:19 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Handsome Hal
>
> p. 128
> "a rather handsome but incredibly stupid Extremist", "Hal (if that was his
> name)" (128), "the solemn and corpulent guard" (129), "handsome Hal"
(131),
> "The fat guard led the King back to his room and turned him over to
handsome
> Hal" (131).
>
> A Bizarro Prince Hal, Henry V of England, accompanied by his friend Sir
John
> Falstaff from Shakespeare's Henry plays. Bizarro because Hal, while
> charismatic, was not a particularly handsome man (he was scarred in the
face
> by an arrow at the Battle of Shrewsbury at the age of 16) (Kinbote must be
> thinking of Lawrence Olivier), and was anything but stupid; and Falstaff,
> while corpulent, is not even slightly solemn. (Zembla, land of
> reflections.) Hal must be disguised as a soldier here, as he does in
> Shakespeare's Henry V.
>
> For more evidence, see p. 132 where Hal wants to go join his companions
and
> Charles says, "Good night, bad boy" -- in Henry IV, Hal is a bit of a
> delinquent who spends too much time hanging out at the Boar's Head tavern
to
> the displeasure of his father the king).
>
> That Charles is Hal's prisoner is perhaps interesting given the number of
> prisoners Shakespeare's Henry V orders executed. Also perhaps interesting
> is the contrast between what we know about King Charles and the way
> Shakespeare presents King Henry V (a kind of model for a great king).
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England
> http://www.shakespeare.com/FirstFolio/1_KING_HENRY_IV/index.html
> http://www.shakespeare.com/FirstFolio/2_KING_HENRY_IV/index.html
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:05:58 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Birch
>
> p. 126
> "the avenue of birches"
>
> Reminiscent of the avenue of Shakespeare's trees at WU (p. 99, etc).
> Birches are common to both New England and Russia.
>
> Birch
> Betulaceae
>
> Betula sp.(most used:
> Yellow Birch - B. alleghaniensis or B. lutea;
> Sweet/Black Birch - B. lenta;
> Canoe Birch - B. papyritea;
> European White Birch - B. alba).
>
> In the Celtic oghram alphabet the Birch is Beth - B, and the symbol of the
> Bardic school, called by the folk names Beithe, Bereza, Berke, Beth,
> Bouleau, Lady of the Woods, Birth, and constituting the month Dec 24th to
> Jan 20th according to Graves.
>
> It is the tree of guidance and orientation, providing light in the
darkness
> and direction in the unknown, "birch" meaning "bright" or "shining" in
> Indo-European and Sanskrit, possibly from the Anglo-Saxon "beorgan"
meaning
> "to protect or shelter."
>
> Considered feminine and associated with the planet Venus and the element
> water to the Celts; and with the god Thor to the Norse; it is the "Tree of
> Birth" and the "Pioneer Tree," the tree that one plants first in order to
> bring about the birth of the forest. It represents new starts, new
> journeys, its whiteness symbolizing cleanliness and determination in
> overcoming difficulties.
>
> Superstitions include exorcism -- the use of bound birch twigs to strike
> people or animals possessed by evil spirits; in Britain it was used to
> strike criminals in order to purify them of their misdeeds and sins; and
in
> Russia one would hang a stem of it tied with a red ribbon to rid
themselves
> of the evil eye.
>
> Birch is the wood favored by witches for the fashioning of brooms. May
> poles and Beltane fires in Britain used birch. Birch beer is brewed from
> the branches. Its charcoal was used in the formulation of gun powder.
>
> One of the Roman "three pillars of wisdom" (with Oak and Yew)
>
> http://www.treelore.com/treelore/archives/00000002.html
> http://www.treelore.com/treelore/archives/00000002.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:43:25 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (1)
>
> p. 118
> "[I am] a tricky wrestler"
> Kinbote reminding his reader not to understand him too quickly. Anybody
up
> for some Zemblan calisthenics?
>
> p. 118
> "As children playing in a castle find
> In some old closet full of toys, behind
> The animals and masks, a sliding door
> [four words heavily crossed out] a secret corridor--"
>
> Probably Kinbote's most glaringly fake "variant" to the poem, relating as
it
> does directly to the Zembla story to follow. Was Kinbote just unable to
> think of anything for the fourth line, or is there some secret passage
here
> that a reader might discover...?
>
> p. 118
> "The index card on which the variant has been preserved is dated July 4"
>
> July 4 is the American Independence Day on which independence from England
> is celebrated.
>
> p 118
> "Mrs. Shade sat quietly enjoying a video drama."
>
> Kinbote again tries to trivialize Sybil, this time just before relating
the
> story of Charles' daring escape (part four of the glorious "adventures of
> Charles Xavier, last King of Zembla"). While Sybil goes in for drama,
> Kinbote is all about Romance.
>
> p. 119
> "Solus Rex"
>
> Kinbote informs us that Charles is "the only black piece in what a
composer
> of chess problems might term a king-in-the-corner waiter of the _solus
rex_
> type." (pp 118-119). A return of the chess-problem motif recalls the
scene
> in C.47-80 where Kinbote works out the problem of attacking Shade's home.
> This time the black king must devise a means of escape from his castle (a
> chess position in which the king and a rook transpose -- the rook is Odon,
> who will soon move off to the Royal Theater). The "composer" of this
> problem is both Nabokov himself, who thought of chess problems as a means
> for working out plot, but also perhaps KinBotkin, who may think of them as
a
> means for inventing it. Charles Xavier is the king alone in his empty
> corner of the board; another name for this kind of position is "mating
> scenario" -- he has only to be mated for the game to end. (see Fleur de
> Fyler.)
>
> _Solus Rex_ was the title of the original prototype for _Pale Fire_
written
> 1939-40, the first chapter of which is called "Ultima Thule".
>
> http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/iultima.htm
> http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/wultima.htm
>
> p. 119
> "tainted gold"
>
> Perhaps implies the money (reportedly 40 to 50 million gold marks) Lenin
was
> supposed to have acquired from the German government in order to finance
the
> Russian Revolution (supposedly deposited into Stockholm banks and moved
> through the Bank of Siberia in Petrograd), in return for which Lenin
signed
> the Brest-Litovsk treaty taking Russia out of World War I and opening up
the
> Spring Offensive of 1918.
>
> [Other theories concerning the financing of the Bolsheviks do exist, but
> they reek of anti-Semitism]
>
> p. 119
> "robot troops that a powerful police state from its vantage ground a few
sea
> miles away was pouring into the Zemblan Revolution"
>
> Several anti-monarchical revolutions are evoked by the state of Onhava in
> this passage. The "powerful police state" reflects Soviet Russia, but the
> anti-Karlists also reflect the Spanish "Carlist" civil wars of the 1830s
> (also implied by the Basque tennis coach).
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 23:45:18 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: NPPF Comm3: Misc notes (2)
>
> p. 119
> "he was caged in his rose-stone palace"
>
> Kinbote describes Charles Xavier -- himself in the reflection of memory,
> invention, and art -- as "caged", this time once again "in his rose-stone
> palace", and "with the help of field glasses" (paralleling his spying upon
> John Shade), "he could make out youths diving into the swimming pool of a
> fairy tale sport club." (p 119). References to stories and fairy tales
> begin showing up frequently, both explicitly and in camouflage.
>
> "Rose" occurring elsewhere: "Rose Court" (88), "the queen's rosewood
writing
> desk" (256)
>
> May suggest the English War of the Roses (~1845-1885), an English civil
war
> of succession between the House of Lancaster and the House of York (the
> former's badge a red rose, the latter's a white rose), a consequence of
the
> overthrowing of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, in
1399
> (Henry IV, succeeded by Henry V, Shakespeare's Prince Hal).
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses
>
> p. 119
> "Stone-faced, square-shouldered /komizars/ enforced strict discipline
among
> the troops"
>
> In English: "commissar," "a: a Communist party official assigned to a
> military unit to teach party principles and policies and to ensure party
> loyalty; b: one that attempts to control public opinion or its expression"
> (MW11).
>
> p. 119
> "Puritan prudence had sealed up the wine cellars"
>
> Suggests the English civil war (1642-1650) between the Puritans and
> Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell (also "Roundheads") and the
> Anglicans and Royalists on the side of King Charles I and his son Charles
II
> (also "Cavaliers"). The "Puritans" of this period, largely Calvinist
> Protestants, wished to "purify" the Church of England of all Catholic
> influences (viewing the Bible as the sole authority for liturgy, ceremony,
> and practice). A rift had been growing between the Puritans and the
> Anglicans by the time Charles I (1600-1649) ascended to the throne in
1625,
> and Charles managed to anger the Puritans by first marrying Henrietta
Maria,
> a French Catholic Princess, and then appointing William Laud as Archbishop
> of Canterbury in 1633; and he didn't please the Parliamentarians by
> dissolving Parliament three times over the course of 1625-1629 and
insisting
> upon the Divine Right of Kings. Open war began in 1642 and resulted in
the
> beheading of both Archbishop Laud in 1645 and King Charles I in 1649.
>
> Note that Gradus is described as puritanical.
>
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War
> http://8.1911encyclopedia.org/L/LA/LAUD_WILLIAM.htm
> http://www.bartleby.com/65/cr/CromwellO.html
>
> p. 119
> "those dreadful days in the polluted palace!"
>
> We've learned that the soldiers are behaving with strict discipline, the
> wine cellars have been sealed up, the maids servants have been removed,
and
> the ladies in waiting have all gone -- this is what Charles considers
> polluted?
>
> p. 120
> "Blawick"
> The only Zemblan town with an English name, described in the Index as "a
> pleasant seaside resort on the Western Coast of Zembla, casino, golf
course,
> sea food, boats for hire" -- see also Note to 149.
>
> This is where Charles plans to make his departure from Zembla once he gets
> the opportunity, so it mirrors Brighton, England in at least two senses:
its
> geographical features are similar, and it's the town from which Charles II
> escaped England for his exile in 1651 after his defeat at Worcester.
>
> p. 123
> "specimens of Varangian boyhood"
>
> "Any of the Scandinavian rovers who in the 9th and 10th cents. overran
parts
> of Russia and reached Constantinople; a member of the Varangian Guard"
(OED)
>
> p. 123
> "faunlet" - the masculine of "nymphet"
>
> Jasper Fidget
> [More to follow when I recoup my spare time]
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3540
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