Difference between revisions of "ATD 26-56"

Revision as of 18:03, 24 November 2006

Page 26

Little Egypt
was the stage name for two popular exotic dancers, Ashea Wabe who danced at the Seeley banquet at the 1893 World's Fair and Farida Mazar Spyropoulos, also performing under the stage name Fatima, appeared at the "Street in Cairo" exhibition on the Midway at the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. Wikipedia entry Also a 1961 song by the Coasters.

Page 28

Imbottigliata!
Italian for "bottled"?

Dahlia Rideout
A child who drinks and the unexpectedly sexual nature of her father and Chick's discussion of her recall Bianca from Gravity's Rainbow, another child given certain adult characteristics.

Page 29

a l'étouffée
French, meaning a dish fried in a pan. So, pan-fried alligator meat.

Khartoum... Mahdi's army... Oltre Giubba, instead of down in Alex
Khartoum is the capital of Sudan. The Mahdi army was an Islamic group in the 1880s that advocated a return to strict Islamic values and battled with the government of Khartoum and Egyptian armies. More on these convoluted events at the Wikipedia entry.

Page 36

Lew Basnight
"Bas" is French for "low."

Page 39

kazoos
This silly instrument appears in many (all?) Pynchon novels.

"liable for criminal penalties"
Law and the legal profession so far appear in AtD more than any other Pynchon novel (perhaps save The Crying of Lot 49), and so far, like here, in a negative or confusing light, perhaps as part of the establishment Pynchon seems to rail against in the novel.

Page 44

Francis Ferdinand
This is indeed the same Franz Ferdinand whose assassination in 1914 triggered World War I. At the time of his appearance in AtD, we would have been 30, and his two passions throughout young adulthood and his 20s were hunting and travel. Wikipedia makes no mention of whether he visited America, but he traveled to Egypt, Turkey, and other exotic locales and it is estimated that he shot more than 5,000 deer in his lifetime. Wikipedia entry.

Ferdinand did indeed attend the Chicago Exposition. THE BOOK OF THE FAIR by Hubert Howe Bancroft
Chicago, San Francisco: The Bancroft Company, 1893: pg 956
[1]

Page 45

"have a lawyer explain civil liability to you"
Again, law. Pynchon must have boned up on legal jargon (or perhaps he got sued?).

trabants
Unsure whether "trabants" (German for 'satellites') ever signified Imperial Austrian bodyguards, but Trabant is the name of the iconical small, crappy East German cars found throughout Eastern Europe during the Soviet era.

Page 46

"Hungarians are the lowest level of brute existence"
It is unclear whether this shocking sentiment (especially to Hungarians!) expressed by the Archduke is more fictitious than factual. Hungary had become an equal partner in the Austro-Hungarian empire by the 1890s, and Empress Elizabeth herself spoke the Hungarian language and loved its country and people, visiting and residing there often. Pynchon's portrayal of Franz seems to indicate, however, that despite the historic nature of his assassination, he deserved it...!

Page 47

K&K Special Security
"K&K" stands for "Kaiserlich und Königlich," German for "imperial and royal (kingly)," to indicate the Austrian two titles of the ruler of the Dual Monarchy: King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria. Wikipedia entry.

Page 48

Mannlicher
A double-barreled rifle designed by Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher. It is reported that Archduke Franz Ferdinand had several of these made special for him.

Page 49

Kinsley's
A famous steakhouse at 105-107 Adams St. in downtown Chicago. The building was erected in 1885.

Welsbach mantles
One of the most important advances in the history of lighting, the Welsbach mantle (for a period so ubiquitous it became more commonly known simply as 'gas mantle') was first sold commercially in 1892 and quickly spread throughout Europe. It remained an important part of street lighting until the widespread introduction of electric lighting in the early 1900s. Wikipedia entry.

Moss Gatlin
A fictional character.

Blake's Jerusalem
The original lines From William Blake's poem are:

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

Page 50

Picardy third
The use of a major chord at the end of a musical section in a minor key. Wikipedia entry

Page 51

"prophesiers who had seen America as it might be in visions America's wardens could not tolerate"
Coupled with the cover blurb Pynchon wrote: "If it is not the world, it is what the world might be with a minor adjustment or two. According to some, this is one of the main purposes of fiction." Could Against the Day be Pynchon's prophesy of a future America?

Inconvenience
Lew Basnight's temporary presence on the airship may be the first clue as to why it's called Inconvenience. Perhaps his growing sympathy for the anarchists will lead to greater involvement by him, the Chums, or at least the book in portraying the anarchist movement, which is viewed as an inconvenience to the ruling classes. Pynchon may consider his novel's message, similarly, as an inconvenient truth about America's past, present or both.

Page 53

cause and effect
A major theme in Gravity's Rainbow.