Difference between revisions of "ATD 119-148"

Revision as of 20:35, 2 April 2007

Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.

Page 121

flying bridge
On an ordinary aquatic ship, the flying bridge is an open deck atop the pilothouse for navigating in good weather. [Wikipedia]

to measure and map . . . that mysterious mathematical lattice-work
A big research area in satellite and earth sciences. For example, if you know to utmost accuracy how gravity varies in near-Earth space, you can predict the orbits of satellites used for navigation and positioning (i.e., GPS).

"Ray-rush"
Cf contemporary telecom bandwidth auctions. "Ray-rush" as "Gold-rush"

Page 122

transfiguration unceasing
Not just continuous change, but specifically changes in the observer's face as the colors and intensities shift.

iceblink
Lightening of the underside of clouds over ice. A related phenomenon is "water sky," darkening of clouds over water. Photos of both.

souls bound to the planetary lines of force, swept pole to pole
In V, Mondaugen was stationed in South Africa to record "sferics" or "whistlers," a form of radio interference due to charged particles traveling along Earth's lines of magnetic force. Here, the planet being hollow, the field may be continuous, north-south on the outside and then south-north on the inside, and the lines may represent some other, nonmagnetic field.

dazzle-painting
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships.[1].

intelligence centers on the surface such as the Inter-Group Laboratory for Opticomagnetic Observation (I.G.L.O.O.), a radiational clearing-house in Northern Alaska
Perhaps a reference to the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) site in Gakonka, AK, which is ostensibly engaged in ionospheric research (Wikipedia entry). Also suggestive of the ECHELON network (Wikipedia entry), comprising a number of signals intelligence sites, which are capable of intercepting a wide variety of communications signals throughout the world. Also, Pynchon often creates humorous or fanciful acronyms: W.A.S.T.E. (The Crying of Lot 49), A.C.H.T.U.N.G. (Gravity's Rainbow), etc.

Lloyd's of the high spectrum [...] the next fateful Lutine announcement.
The HMS Lutine (Lutine translates as "the tease") was a ship commissioned in the French Royal Navy which was later given to the English Royal Navy during the Revolution. In 1799 she sank in the North Sea while blockading Holland; her hold was full of gold. Lloyd's of London, an independent insurance market still known for being willing to assume large insurance risks for the right price, had insured the gold, and paid the claim in full, acquiring nominal ownership of the still-unsalvaged cargo. The ship's bell was recovered in the mid-19th century and hangs to this day in the Underwriting Room at Lloyd's. For many years the the Lutine Bell was struck to announce news of an overdue ship: once if lost, twice if reported safe. [Wikipedia]

last eclipse
Possibly Pike's Peak, 1878? (partial table)

Page 123

lookout telegraph
Instead of attaching Pugnax's tail directly to a hammer that hits the gong, the gong is struck remotely via a telegraph line.

Igor Padzhitnoff
The whole passage that introduces the rival airship captain is a play on Tetris. Igor's surname is similar to that of the creator of Tetris, Alexey Pazhitnov. Also, the captain himself serves "a program of mischief", flies a ship called "The Great Game" and drops "bricks and masonry, always in the four-block fragments which had become his "signature," to fall on and damage targets designated by his superiors."

The term 'Great Game' also refers to the intense geopolitical rivalry between the English and Russian empires over control of Central Asia during the whole of the 19th century Wikipedia. The period of this Great Game is thought to have ended in 1907, about the time of the book. The constant appearance of the Russians wherever the Chums go would appear to play on both this and on the coming Cold War conflict. The equation of all of these with Tetris suggests a common theme in all three 'non-violent' conflicts.

Ice Pirates
This turn of phrase echoes the spoof movie of camraderie and dangerous "space herpes" that was released in 1984. There's no textual evidence that Pynchon means to refer to the movie, but the satirical humor and outlandish situations presented in the film might be attractive to someone with his sensibilities.

Tovarishchi Slutchainyi
Tovarishchi translates as comrades; the literal translation of "Slutchainyi" is "accidental", leading to one possible reading of the phrase being: Chums of Chance.
The phrase "Tovarishchi Slutchainyi" could also mean someone who is friends, but not intentionally, ie: perhaps people who are conscripted into a situation where they are forced to be communal. (Thanks to Anna Zaytseva for the idiomatic help!)
A third reading is introduced when the homophonic correspondence between the final two syllables of Slutchainyi and Vice-President Cheney's name is noted. (Erhm, this doesn't work: the Russian word is sloo-CHIE-nee.)

If the name were Tovarishchi Sluchainogo instead of as in the text, it would mean "Comrades of the Random," an exact parallel to the Chums.

trespassing upon their "sky-space" again
A Soviet and Russian preoccupation, encroachment on their airspace by military or civilian flights.

nasal dislocation
'Nose out of joint' = offended, feelings hurt.

Page 124

Na sobrat' ya po nebo!
Randolph says "На собратья по небо." What I believe he means to say is "Наши собратья по небу" or Nashi sobrat'ya po nebu, meaning "Our brothers/comrades of the sky"—perhaps a ritual greeting between the two groups.
If aeronauts are like pilots, and they are--see ATD early---they feel and state a solidarity with others who fly.
It is unlikely that Pynchon would make a mistake (the Russian in GR is correct) but Randolph might err.
Much of the Russian in GR is OK, not all, and somebody erred on page 123 when they made sluchainyi (singular) modify tovarishchi (plural).

Page 125

a roman-feuilleton by M. Eugène Sue
A roman-feuilleton or serial novel. Eugène Sue (the "M." is for Monsieur = Mr.) was a French novelist roughly contemporary to Dumas père, with whom he has been compared. Wikipedia entry on Eugène Sue Sue's most famous, which used to be a Modern Library title, is The Wandering Jew.

His largest work, Les Mystères de Paris, is noted for its eventful plots and unique characters. Sue could have been called an early-19th-century Pynchon. Sue explored the underworld, and his work was quite sensational. Link to his works at Gutenberg

into the Zone of Emergency
Both the text and the theme are reminiscent of Slothrop's passage "into the Zone" in GR

red as a cursed ruby representing a third eye in the brow of some idol of the incomprehensible
Seems too random to not be a reference to something...Very possibly; under the name T.Lopsang Rampa an Englishman published a thoroughly discredited spiritual autobiography called The Third Eye. The Third Eye, by Englishman Cyril Hoskin, a fantastic (and popular) tale of Tibetan spirit possession published in 1956; included telepathy and more.

In the 1940 version of "The Thief of Bagdad" the boy thief Abu (played by Sabu) must steal a magical "all-seeing eye" (ruby?) from the brow of a massive golden idol in a remote temple, in order to see - as in a crystal ball - the location of the Princess held in thrall by the evil vizier Jaffar.

Isafjörðr
Town in the Westfjords of Iceland. Often spelled as Isafjörður, Wikipedia

The "extra man" of Arctic myth

In his footnotes to "The Waste Land", T.S. Eliot glosses the lines:

Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you

with:

"The following lines were stimulated by the account of one of the Antarctic expeditions (I forget which, but I think one of Shackleton's): it was related that the party of explorers, at the extremity of their strength, had the constant delusion that there was one more member than could actually be counted." [2]

See also NOVA Online: Shackleton's Antarctic Odyssey "Shackleton, for his part, attributed their astonishing success to something else: 'I know that during that long and racking march of 36 hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three.' Worsley and Crean, uncannily, felt the same. When T. S. Eliot read Shackleton's account, he was inspired to write the passage at the head of this dispatch."

the true face
Possible variant on Taoism's "The Tao that can be spoken of is not the true Tao" [cf]

bonzoline
Ivory substitute made from celluloid, used for billiard balls. [cite]

Page 126

inukshuk
An inukshuk is a stone landmark used as a milestone or directional marker by the Inuit of the Canadian Arctic. The Arctic Circle, dominated by permafrost, has few natural landmarks and thus the inuksuk was central to navigation across the barren tundra. Wikipedia entry on Inukshuk

a truth beyond the secular
Pynchon's use of the word "secular" is unusual. He previously had the Chums striving "to minimize contamination of the secular" on page 113, and here the Chums try to glimpse "some expression of a truth beyond the secular." Neither of these statements makes much sense with the normal definitions in use today for "secular"-- what could this mean?

I think it is likely that secular means quotidian, "of the day", visible, as opposed to the invisible and mysterious which pervades ATD.

Yes, that is a good extension of the original meaning: of the ages, of an age—as opposed to "eternal."

Étienne-Louis Malus
See page 114.

Iceland spar
A cristalline form of calcite. Wikipedia

Luxembourg Palace
In Paris; now the seat of the French Senate.

376 feet, 6 inches
The same length as the WWII-era Fletcher Class Destroyer.

They passed around rumors--the Captain was insane again, ice-pirates were hunting the Malus like whalers...
This phrase seems evocative of Moby Dick, not only in the intimation that the Captain might be insane and the rumors that might result, but also with the explicit references to "whalers" in the subsequent clause, "the subtle insanity of Ahab." Moby Dick of course contains many scenes when two whaling ships come together to exchange messages. Chapter 131, "The Pequod Meets the Delight," features particularly sinister omens. It is safe to say, however, that none of the captains who meets Ahab quite resembles Padzhitnoff or has a "signature" resembling the game of Tetris! Pynchon once again lightly tweaks the "line" linking his body of work to Melville's. (page 73)

Page 127

Constance Penhallow
Hallow: to set apart as holy, to honor greatly. Her name then pairs the virtue of constancy with honoring the pen. Note also that her grandson, mentioned a few lines below, is named Hunter and is an artist--In the hunt for the consecrated pen.

Alternatively, the prefix pen- is Gaelic for head, principal, or chief, in which case the name would mean "Holiest." It is also Latin for nearly, almost (as in "penultimate" or "peninsula"), rendering the name "nearly holy." Given the Nordic origin of the Penhallow family, and the Germanic etymology of "hallow," the Gaelic prefix may be more likely. On the other hand, the Latinate prefix suggests the state of preterition -- not quite holy and perhaps not saved...

I don't see "Nordic" (although their fortune is derived from Nordic commerce). The prefix Pen- in a surname marks the family as Cornish in origin.

walled garden
In the Christian iconographic traditions of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, a walled garden, or hortus conclusus signified both/either the Garden of Eden and/or Mary's virginity.

Harald the Ruthless
Harald III Sigurdsson (1015 – September 25, 1066), later surnamed Harald Hardråde (meaning ruthless) was the king of Norway from 1047 until 1066. Harald was the last great Viking king of Norway and his invasion of England and death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 proved a true watershed moment. It marked the end of the Viking age. In Norway, Harald's death also marked the beginning of the Christian era. Wikipedia entry on Harald the Ruthless

Ginnungagap
In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap ("seeming emptiness" or "gaping gap") was a vast chasm that existed before the ordering of the world. To the north of Ginnungagap lay the intense cold of Niflheim, to the south the insufferable heat of Muspelheim. At the beginning of time, the two met in the Ginnungagap; and where the heat met the frost, the frost drops melted and formed the substance eitr, which quickened into life in the form of the giant Ymir, the father of all Frost giants. Wikipedia entry on Ginnungagap

Page 128

Bay of Röerford
Does not seem to exist, at least with this spelling.

Hunter Penhallow
See above, Constance Penhallow.

lower-eighties
Latitudes from 80N to 85N (mainly Ellesmere Island). [map]

love
The word is rare in Pynchon's work. Here it is linked to separation, the human theme of the novel.

Page 129

Meat Olaf
Anagram.

As a lesson on the dangers of over-interpretation: I asked a Norwegian friend whether this is truly a Norwegian dish, to which he replied "no," making me feel stupid. Bleakhaus

¡Cuidado Cabrón! Salsa Explosiva La Original
Cabrón is an offensive word in Spanish meaning a guy who is an asshole/dick/cuckold, but friends can also call each other Cabrón in a joking manner. So, Watch-Out, Fucker! The Original Explosive Sauce.

There appears, in "Explosiva La Original," to be a suggestion of an originary explosion, i.e. the Big Bang.

Page 130

the force of a Tibetan prayer wheel
Pynchon is slightly confused here. When spinning a Tibetan prayer wheel, you don't recite any prayers or mantras. The prayer wheel contains rolls of paper imprinted with the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra, but it is believed that the spinning of the wheel has the same effect as reciting that mantra; the more one recites the mantra, the closer one can get to enlightenment. So here, it would be more correct to say something along the lines of "the force of a mantra" rather than a Tibetan prayer wheel, since the characters are reciting the name of the salsa. More on Tibetan prayer wheels

Tsangpo-Brahmaputra country
The Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra river drains a large portion of the eastern Himalaya and southern Tibetan plateau as well as the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, one of the most tectonically active areas of the globe.

Candlebrow University
A fictional institute, created in the tradition of Lovecraft's Miskatonic University.

Ex Voti of Wax, from Isernia

Quaternions
In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. At first, quaternions were regarded as pathological, because they disobeyed the commutative law ab = ba. Although they have been superseded in most applications by vectors, they still find uses in both theoretical and applied mathematics, in particular for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations. Wikipedia entry.

And, of course, this is all connected with how that Randy St. Cosmo got his name...

Dr. V Ganesh Rao
Ganesha is a Hindu god. From Wikipedia:

"It is widely believed that "Wherever there is Ganesha, there is Success and Prosperity" and "Wherever there is Success and Prosperity there is Ganesha". He is the Lord of Obstacles both of a material and spiritual order.[2] He is capable of placing obstacles in the path of those who need to be checked, and can remove blockages just as easily. By calling on him people believe that he will come to their aid and grant them success in their endeavour. He also is considered the master of intellect and wisdom."

Fleetwood Vibe
Fleetwood, like Scarsdale, is a wealthy suburb of New York City. Both communities are located in Westchester County, north of New York City.

bucket-shop
Business designed to cheat people. [Wikipedia]

Dodge Flannelette
Flannelette is a little washcloth.
Flannelette is a soft fabric popular (in the UK at least) for pyjamas of a cosy but unsexy kind --Gobbag 10:40, 11 February 2007 (PST) We have already seen one character with a name similar to an American car: Chevrolette. Two actually: The Cadillac Fleetwood.

Harriman... Schiff
Railroad magnate and financier behind Northern Pacific Railroad, c1901. [Wikipedia] Book on Harriman Harriman Wikpedia Entry Schiff Wikipedia Entry

Page 131

"with oceangoing ships we left flat surfaces and went into Riemann space"
One of Riemann's major contributions was the mathematics of manifolds, geometrical constructs that on a local scale appear to have fewer dimensions than they actually occupy. A standard example is the surface of the earth, which locally appears to be flat (2-dimensional), but in fact is curved (3-dimensional). Riemann's differential geometry quantifies the distortion produced by the curve of the surface.

Outer Hebrides
or Western Isles comprise an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The population today is only 26,370, and there is no University.

Page 132

an additional axis whose unit is (-1)¹/²
The usual form of representing a complex number z = b + ai, (see below for explanation) graphically is by presenting its real part, b, along the horizontal real axis and its imaginary part, a, on the vertical imaginary (additional) axis of a Cartesian coordinate system. For a graph illustion of z = 1 + 2i.

complex number
The complex number is of the form b + ai, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined as the square root of -1, i.e. i = (-1)¹/². According to the definition, Cf page 133 Imaginary Number, ai is an imaginary number. Therefore, a complex number is a sum of real and imaginary numbers. Commonly, one use z to denote the whole expression b + ai, i.e. z = b + ai. And now z is called a complex number. Besides z, the letter w is often used to denote complex numbers.

complex variable
In mathematics, a 'variable' is a symbolic representation, usually a letter of the English (such as x and y), Greek or Roman alphabet, denoting an 'unkown' quantity which may vary during the course of calculation or investigation. For example, the speed of a jetliner,v, flying from Los Angeles to New York varies during the course of its flight. So,v here is a variable. While 'c', the speed of light, unvaried, is a constant. In the algebraic equation y = ax² + bx + c where a, b and c are constants, x and y are variables. When x and y involve complex numbers, then they are called complex variables.

w = exp z
Here, w is a complex function, or a function of complex variables. exp z is the exponential function of z to the base e. The expression w = exp z gives the relationship of the independent (complex) variable z to the dependent (complex) variable w, i.e. mapping z onto w. This relationship may not be one-to-one. The number e is the base of the natural logarithm, approximately equals to 2.71828. After Pi, e is the most important constant in mathematics. See the popular article about the history, definition and 10,000-place value of e.

as Fitzgerald maintained, a shrinkage of dimension
Irish physicist George FitzGerald proposed a contraction of length parallel to the direction of motion, to explain the negative result of the Michelson-Morley experiment. Quantitavely, the contraction is identical with the one predicted later by Einstein's special theory of relativity.

Here is a concise and satisfying discussion of the Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction in the context of late 19th and early 20th-century physics.

Page 133

Ynglingasaga
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. Wikipedia entry

The Book of Iceland Spar, commonly described as "like the Ynglingasaga only different"
" 'Thanatoid' means 'like death, only different.' " (Vineland, p. 170)

... even of days not yet transpired.
Reminiscent of the Borges short story "The Library of Babel" about an "infinite library" which contains every possible book. Wikipedia entry.

Imaginary Number
Imaginary number is of the form ai, where a is a real number, and i is defined such that i² = -1,
i.e. i = (-1)¹/² (sqare root of minus 1). For example, -16¹/², (square root of minus 16) is an imaginary number since it can be expressed as 4i by definition. In the novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), the character Robert Langdon jokes that character Sophie Neveu "believes in the imaginary number i because it helps her break code". In Issac Asimov's short story The Imaginary (1942), eccentric psychologist Tan Porus explains the behavior of a mysterious species of squid by using imaginary numbers in the equations which describe its psychology.

Page 134

that all-important ninety-degree twist to their light, so they can exist alongside our own world but not be seen
Seems to echo Merle Rideout's theory on the "double refraction" of Blinky Morgan and Ed Morley from p.62.
It's also a reference to the discussion of complex numbers in the previous pages, the implication being that the double refraction due to the Iceland Spar ("ninety-degree twist") puts the "Hidden People" into an imaginary space analogous to the imaginary axis of the space of complex numbers--Gobbag 12:55, 11 February 2007 (PST) It could also be the angle at which light is polarized.

Also, this technique of bending light is similar to the technology The Predator has for a cloaking device. Wikipedia

visitors from elsewhere, of non-human aspect
Extraterrestrials, perhaps? "Visitors", in popular culture, is a term sometimes used to describe ETs. The alien race from the television miniseries V was named The Visitors. In the fictional world of South Park, aliens are referred to as "visitors".

infinitesimal circle
Cf p58. Reference to epsilon neighbourhoods, an essential tool in mathematical proofs.

bad ice
Uneven ice formed by pressure, currents and wind in the dynamic Arctic environment

neutral-density gray
Photography term. A neutral-density filter is designed to reduce the amount of light entering the lens without introducing a colour cast.

the sea-green, the ice-green, glass-green sea.
In Ulysses, James Joyce repeatedly describes the "snotgreen sea" (cf. Gabler edition, p. 4), itself an allusion to Homer's evocation of the "wine-dark sea". Cf., also, ATD, p.127: " . . . a green headland, sheer green walls of ice, the greenness nearest the water . . . . " In previous novels, Pynchon's use of color is almost always advised, as N.K. Hayles and M.B. Eiser note in their essay, "Coloring Gravity's Rainbow," in which green is frequently associated with the natural world, uncontaminated by humanity.
Also, the repetition itself has a Joyceian feel.--Gobbag 13:52, 11 February 2007 (PST)

Narvik
is a town in Norway, above the Arctic Circle.

Page 135

Mush-It-Away
Takeaway (takeout fast food) for dogsledders.

Page 136

Venice of the Arctic
Many cities have been compared with Venice in Italy, usually due to a high density of waterways (especially inner city canals) and/or maritime trade connections. Wikipedia entry on Venice of the X comparisons

The Venice passage contains two themes that have appeared often in Against the Day so far: that of doubles (such as Foley Walker and Scarsdale Vibe, Randolph and his Russian counterpart, etc) and that of chance or randomness (the Chums, the meeting of Vibe and Walker, etc).

Also the double versions of the map of Asia, double versions of elements that can be seen when they are viewed with Iceland Spar.

And Pynchon seems to love Venice, a very positive place in one short story

Bauer-Grünewald
Famous hotel in Venice.

kedgework
A set of pilings used to move a ship by hauling on its mooring or anchoring lines.

Page 138

In the period of ATD, museums around the world sought spectacular meteorites, e.g. the Cape York meteorite recovered by Arctic explorer Robert Peary. [3]

From the Journals...
This passage marks the first break in the narration to a first-person style. Pynchon thus briefly adopts the form of an epistolary novel, a style popular during the period with which ATD is concerned--see for instance Dracula.

Nesselrode pudding
From The Penguin Book of Food and Drink, ed. Paul Levy:
"An iced pudding flavoured with chestnuts and dried fruit was invented by Monsieur Mony, chef for many years to the Russian diplomat, Count Nesselrode, in Paris [...] Glacé fruit and peel were a further embellishment to the Nesselrode by the time Proust was old enough to notice such things.

Page 139

Dr. Counterfly... bearded
Last seen as a boy with low rank. Six years have elapsed, 1893-1899.

lenses proved to be...Nicol prisms
A Nicol Prism is a device to produce polarized light. It is made from a crystal of calcite (Iceland spar), which is cut along a precisely determined plane and then cemented back together with Canada balsam. A picture can be found here, detailed diagrams of Nicol and other polarizing prisms are availabe here.

Glasses like the ones described here are used for viewing 3-D movies.

nunatak
A nunatak (plural: nunataks) is a mountain top that is not covered by land ice (see glaciation and ice age), and protrudes out of a surrounding glacier. The wildlife on a nunatak can be isolated by the glacier, just like an island is in the ocean. Nunataks are generally angular and jagged because of freeze-thaw weathering, and can be seen to contrast strongly with the softer contours of the glacially eroded land below if the glacier retreats. [Wikipedia]

Pynchon's translation, "land connected" would seem to be at 180 degrees to Wikipedia's "lonely peak". Which is correct?

Perhaps "land connected" because it is a connection to the land beneath the glacier? --Kirkm 13:09, 19 February 2007 (PST)

Page 140

sensitive-flames
The term has a specific technical meaning: External link

a large brass speaking-trumpet
Somewhat reminiscent of the ubiquitous W.A.S.T.E. symbolism in The Crying of Lot 49.

Breguet hands

A distinctive fine watch of French design, usually with open circles ('moons') near the ends of the hands. Wikipedia entry

Poulsen's Telegraphone
Invented in 1898, the first magnetic recording machine was patented by Valdemar Poulsen. The theory behind this machine was worked out theoretically by Oberlin Smith of the UK in 1888. Poulsen's machine recorded by passing a thin wire across an electromagnet. Each minute section of the wire would retain its electromagnetic charge, thus recording the sound. Sound could be both recorded and played back. Unfortunately, because the machine's output wasn't very loud and there was no way to amplify the signal, the Telegraphone was not much of a success. External link

a human caul
caul (Latin: Caput galeatum, literally, "head helmet") is a thin, filmy membrane, the remnants of the amniotic sac, that covers or partly covers the newborn mammal immediately after birth. It is also the membrane enclosing the paunch of mammals, particularly as in pork and mutton butchery. In butchery, the caul is used as offal. A third meaning refers to a type of women's headdress. The superstition attached to birth cauls has figured into numerous works of fiction, including David Copperfield, Stephen King's The Shining (wherein the child Danny Torrance, born with a caul, is possessed with the eponymous supernatural power), and Alan Moore's short graphic novel, The Birth Caul.

Page 141

camera lucida
A drawing aid sometimes used with an optical instrument; it is worthwhile to read the Wikipedia entry in order to understand what's going on here.

misfortunes of certain Egyptologists
Possibly a reference to the curse supposed to be attendant on the tomb of Tutankhamen, and upon which the death of George Herbert, who financed the expedition, was blamed. The tomb was breached in Feb 1923, though, and that seems later than this episode, so it may just be a reference to general myth. [history]

odalisque of the snows
An odalisque was a virgin female slave who tended to the harem of the Turkish sultan. Numerous paintings of the 19th century portrayed them as reclining beauties. The most famous of these is Ingres' La grande odalisque (1814):

mongoloid features
Perhaps a reference to images of the Buddha, in which he is often seen reclining?

Tolkien?
From FleetwoodVibe's journal of the Vormance expedition where his crew and the ChumsOfChance are assembled in the Inconvenience, observing the "nunatak" through some strange instrument (p141):

"...we were bound in a common terror of that moment at which it might become aware of our interest and smoothly pivot its awful head to stare us full in the face"

Startlingly, this is highly reminiscent of more than one passage in Lord of the Rings where transfixed good guys observe Sauron or his lair through a crystal ball, in terror of attracting his attention

Reminiscent, yes, but not concrete enough to be interpreted as intentional, IMO. Bleakhaus

Page 142

Eddas
Refers to the Old Norse Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, both of which were written down in Iceland during the 13th century, although some of the poems included in them may be centuries older.

we intrepid innocents . . . destiny.
This Vormance expedition calls to mind the 2004 film AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, in which an exploratory expedition funded by nefarious corporate elements discovers an ancient polar pyramid which they descend into, getting more than they bargain for in the process. Good stupid camp. See p. 134 in regards to Predator's cloaking device.

Page 143

Tungus
Old name for the Siberian language Evenki; see Wikipedia.

bilocation
Doubtless to be an important concept in the novel, judging by the title of Part Three. Latin bis, twice, and locatio, place. Bilocation is as Pynchon explains, the ostensibly supernatural act of appearing or being in two or more locations simultaneously. Bilocation is claimed to have been experienced, and even practiced at will, by mystics, ecstatics, saints, monks, and magical adepts. Notably, Icelandic sagas also speak of warriors who were able to fall into a trance and appear thousands of miles away in battle. Wikipedia on bilocation Is also obviously related to the physical properties of Iceland Spar.

Christian Time
That is, linear time, a concept first introduced by St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), in his autobiographical Confessions. Augustine argued that the inevitability and singularity of Christ's return demanded that all history must be viewed as a linear progression toward the apocalypse and the ascendancy of Christ on Earth, after which time would effectively stop, an event described as the "End of Days." From this decidedly deterministic view of time, Augustine derived his doctrine of predestination, that is, of a world in which each soul, even as it is born, is already pre-defined as saved or unsaved. While the Catholic Church would eventually reject this doctrine, the protestant reformer and theologian John Calvin resurrected it, and it became an important part of Calvinist theology, notably as practiced by the Puritans.

Page 144

"we measured, and remeasured, and each time the dimensions kept coming out different - not just slightly so but drastically."
Cf. Mark Danielewski's debut novel House Of Leaves (2000), where a house interior dimensions keep changing, while the exterior remains unaltered. Wikipedia entry

"its gaze had remained directed solely, personally, to each of us, no matter where we stood or moved."
Supposedly a standard feature of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church portrait-icons.

Also brings to mind Mona Lisa

something, down there, below our feet... where it lay patient and thawing, was terribly, and soon to be more terribly, amiss.
This is all extremely Lovecraftian, and especially brings to mind Lovecraft's story, "At The Mountains Of Madness". Wikipedia

Returned to harbor at last
Not in Iceland but in the city from where the expedition first sailed.

Page 145

upstate security of Matteawan
I.e., committed to the Matteawan Asylum at Fishkill, N.Y. Does this leave any doubt as to the name of the great city?

The apocalyptic giant of light unearthed in the Arctic in Neon Genesis Evangelion

Reminiscent of the famous Japanese anime Neon Genesis Evangelion (1994-95), in which mankind unearths a mysterious creature from the Arctic ice that appears as a man-shaped giant of light, gets out of man's control and triggers an apocalypse. Probably not an intentional reference, but if Pynchon plays Tetris, who knows?

-sinister variant of GR's Kirghiz Light? Those who see the Light find their words dismissed "as the meaningless sounds of a baby" (GR 358) just as witnesses to ATD's light are sent to the sanitorium. Note also the line's similarity to the Aqyn's warning from GR: "And the Light will never find you." (359)

c.f. the man-shaped light on 153

those starfish corridors where they suffer…
“they” are the witnesses who heard the Figure speak. Pynchon here refers to the radial structure of Jeremy Bentham’s designs for his panopticon, a penal/containment facility wherein many individuals can be observed from a central unit, giving the illusion of constant surveillance. The witnesses in “the upstate security of Matteawan” appear to be detained in just such a facility. Through the use of the word “starfish” the narrator further invokes H. P. Lovecraft’s novel At The Mountains of Madness, wherein starfish- and star-shaped patterns abound in the culture and physiology of the Elder Ones.

Page 146

lines
The description of the single-file line at the train station basically describes current security conditions at American airports. A single line (i.e. linear thinking) does not seem to be a 'positive' in the Pynchon world. (See too the slaughterhouse on page 10.)

Explorers' Club
Apparently in South Africa (the famous NYC one wasn't founded until 1904).

In Washington, D.C., though this doesn't help with the timing since the D.C. chapter wasn't formed till 1924. But "in Africa," "out there" and the word "British" in referring to the poet laureate—these all rule out Africa as the site.

Dr. Jim's little adventure
A reference to the so-called "Jameson Raid" spearheaded by Dr. L. S. Jameson. The raid was intended to trigger an uprising among the British expatriate workers (the Uitlanders) in the Transvaal, but failed, and instead served to further destabilize the region and catalyze the Second Boer War. Wikipedia entry (From Wikipedia: “The Jameson Raid (December 29, 1895 - January 2, 1896) was a raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895-96. It was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British expatriate workers (known as Uitlanders) in the Transvaal but failed to do so. The raid was ineffective and no uprising took place, but it did much to bring about the Second Boer War and the Second Matabele War.”)

"War any moment"
The Second Boer War started in October 1899. [Wikipedia]

Rand shares
Not the currency, but rather the gold fields near Johannesburg. The following page confirms this: "In the Rand, some of the shafts go down four thousand feet."

the British poet-laureate’s commemorative verse
Reference to Alfred Austin. From Wikipedia: “As poet-laureate, his topical verses did not escape negative criticism; a hasty poem written in praise of the Jameson Raid in 1896 being a notable instance.” Wikipedia entry

The questionable rhyme referred to is from that “hasty poem” --

They went across the veldt,

As hard as they could pelt.

Page 147

Borchardt

Borchardt pistol

Nansen
Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (1861-1930) was a Norwegian explorer, scientist and diplomat. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner. In 1893, he sailed to the Arctic in a ship which was deliberately allowed to drift north through the sea ice, a journey that took more than three years. During this first crossing of the Arctic Ocean the expedition became the first to discover the existence of a deep polar basin. When, after more than one year in the ice it became apparent that the ship would not reach the North Pole, Nansen continued north on foot and, in April 1895, reached 86° 14´ N, the highest latitude then attained. The two men were forced to spend the winter, surviving on walrus blubber and polar bear meat. Wikipedia entry on Nansen Cf. p. 138.

Suppose it were to happen to us . . . an innocence they knew how to circumvent
"Art" is supposed, among other things, to help us interpret our world. This passage is Art as brilliant and hardnosed as anything Goya or Picasso or Shostakovich ever created. Just one man's opinion. --Volver 15:19, 5 February 2007 (PST)

This passage, "use humans for similar purposes", ie, for food, recalls the classic Twilight Zone episode, To Serve Man, as well as the movie Soylent Green.

Page 148

"Evolution. Ape evolves to man, well, what's the next step - human to what? Some compound organism, the American Corporation, for instance"
Cf. the following excerpt from William Gibson's 1981 short story "New Rose Hotel":

Imagine an alien, Fox once said, who's come here to identify the planet's dominant form of intelligence. The alien has a look, then chooses. What do you think he picks? I probably shrugged.

The zaibatsus, Fox said, the multinationals. The blood of a zaibatsu is information, not people. The structure is independent of the individual lives that comprise it. Corporation as life form.

the American Corporation, for instance, in which even the Supreme Court has recognized legal personhood
Refers to Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company (1886), during which Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite announced: "The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does." Wikipedia entry Corporations are routinely recognized as "persons" in the law nowadays. For more on the recognition of corporation as legal persons, see Wikipedia entry on corporate personhood. A recent documentary film, The Corporation (2003), tried to make the case that if a corporation is a "person," it has the personality of a psychopath.

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