ATD 119-148
- Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.
Contents
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]
"Ray-rush"
Cf contemporary telecom bandwidth auctions.
"Ray-rush" as "Gold-rush"
Page 122
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 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.
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.
It is unlikely that Pynchon would make a mistake (the Russian in GR is correct) but Randolph might err.
Page 125
a roman-feuilleton by M. Eugène Sue
A roman-feuilleton or serial novel. M. Eugène Sue was a French novelist roughly contemporary to Dumas père, with whom he has been compared. Wikipedia entry on M. Eugène Sue Sue's most famous, which used to be a Modern Library title, is
The Wandering Jew.
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...
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.
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)
Étienne-Louis Malus
See page 114.
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 on page 128, 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...
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
Hunter Penhallow
See above, Constance Penhallow.
Bay of Röerford
Does not seem to exist, at least with this spelling.
lower-eighties
Latitudes from 80N to 85N (mainly Ellesmere Island). [map]
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
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!" hot sauce.
Page 130
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.
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.
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]
Flannelette
Little washcloth.
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 133
Ynglingasaga
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. Wikipedia entry
... 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
Page 134
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.
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.
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).
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]
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
[Wikipedia]
Page 140
a large brass speaking-trumpet
Somewhat reminiscent of the ubiquitous W.A.S.T.E. symbolism in The Crying of Lot 49.
A distinctive fine watch of French design, usually with open circles ('moons') near the ends of the hands. Wikipedia entry
Poulson's Telegraphone
Invented in 1898, the first magnetic recording machine was patented by Valdemar Poulson. The theory behind this machine was worked out theoretically by Oberlin Smith of the UK in 1888. Poulson'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
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):
Page 143
Tungus
Siberian language. [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.
Page 145
the man-shaped light shall not deliver you
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?
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).
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]
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
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.
Page 148
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.
Annotation Index
| Part One: The Light Over the Ranges |
|
|---|---|
| Part Two: Iceland Spar |
119-148, 149-170, 171-198, 199-218, 219-242, 243-272, 273-295, 296-317, 318-335, 336-357, 358-373, 374-396, 397-428 |
| Part Three: Bilocations |
429-459, 460-488, 489-524, 525-556, 557-587, 588-614, 615-643, 644-677, 678-694 |
| Part Four: Against the Day |
695-723, 724-747, 748-767, 768-791, 792-820, 821-848, 849-863, 864-891, 892-918, 919-945, 946-975, 976-999, 1000-1017, 1018-1039, 1040-1062 |
| Part Five: Rue du Départ |
