Thomas Pynchon Wiki - User contributions [en]

Sarajevo

2008-12-16T14:03:50Z

Jc: Add link to Sarajevo image

Who but Pynchon could set a historical novel in a time-frame which includes the First World War, and set a segment of the book in the Balkans, and include some scenes in Sarajevo, and feature Franz Ferdinand as a cameo character, yet still leave out the assassination?

Anyway, since I have been to Sarajevo, and in fact married a beautiful Bosnian woman, and since this is the time of year when snowballs are flying their arcs, here's a reasonably representative shot of Sarajevo in Winter.

[[Image:SarajevoWinter.jpg]]

File:SarajevoWinter.jpg

2008-12-16T14:00:02Z

Jc:

Sarajevo

2008-12-16T13:58:48Z

Jc:

Sarajevo

2008-12-16T13:55:15Z

Jc: Sarajevo in Winter

ATD 119-148

2008-11-28T21:55:52Z

Jc: /* Page 128 */ toroid/Tesla/serpent

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 121==

'''flying bridge''' 
On an ordinary aquatic ship, the flying bridge is an open deck atop the pilothouse for navigating in good weather. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_bridge [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). AtD is interested in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry throughout, as well as in electromagnetic fields, topology and mapping. How does one world, one reality "map" onto another? Do they "double"? In what ways do they intersect?

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

'''here at the high edge of the atmosphere''' 
Odd phrasing that may mark an allusion to the space race a few decades later.

'''obscure feelings of dread''' 
Strange lights in the sky, not accompanied by thunder, are a portent—seldom of anything good on the way.

==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. [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html 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. Note the link here to the mysterious lattice-work on p. 121 above.

'''manœuvring''' 
British spelling; U.S. ''maneuvering.''

'''dazzle-painting''' 
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships.[http://www.gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html].

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarp (Wikipedia entry)]. Also suggestive of the ECHELON network [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON (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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutine 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 Lutine Bell was struck to announce news of an overdue ship: once if lost, twice if reported safe. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd's_of_London#Miscellaneous [Wikipedia]]

'''last eclipse''' 
Possibly Pike's Peak, 1878? [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhistory/SEhistory.html (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, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Pazhitnov 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game 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.

Additionally, the name Padzhitnoff sounds like ‘pads hitting off’ which in cricketing parlance describes a batsman being dismissed ‘Leg Before Wicket’ (or LBW). The rules for being given out [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_before_wicket LBW] require the umpire to make a subjective decision about whether the ball would have travelled onto the stumps after hitting the batsman. Due to this inherent element of uncertainty LBW dismissals are a constant source of disagreement between players, umpires, and fans.

'''''Ice Pirates''''' 
This turn of phrase echoes the spoof [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/ 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==

'''Getting jump on me''' 
To put on a comic Russian accent, first thing you do is delete all the articles: ''a, an, the.'' Russian has no articles, and some Russian speakers can't get the frightfully complicated rules for using ours.

'''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).

'''all animals . . . had names—bears, wolves, Siberian tigers''' 
Linguists cite Padzhitnoff's error as their favorite example of a taboo. Some time in the remote past, the name of the bear—derived from an Indo-European word like ''arktos'' or ''rktos''—became unspeakable and was replaced, in Russian, by the euphemism "honey-eater": ''medved'.'' It happened so long ago that speakers of the language think this is the native word. Same in English; ours comes from an old word for "brown."

'''That creature, we did not have name for''' 
Well then, how the hell are we supposed to look it up and post it to the wiki?

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Sue 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. [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/s#a1186 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.

Reading TRP has trained me to look for meaningful acronyms whether they are there or not. Here ZoE, zoë, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=b&p=10 "animal life"] -- and the emergence thereof. Spinning this album backword, we hear "the emergence of the animal" which like all good backward masking, refers to something in the [http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP27Revelation.htm ''Book of Revelation''.] This section, so titled, seems relevant (revelant): 
: 11:7-10 - ''Then...the animal will come up out of the pit and go to war with them. It will conquer and kill them, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city...."

'''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.

:The stolen idol's eye as a literary device goes back at least to 1868, when Wilkie Collins invented the modern detective novel in [http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/other/moonstone.html ''The Moonstone.''] In 1891, London's Savoy Theatre presented a post-Gilbert and Sullivan operetta called [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/other_savoy/nautch_girl/nautch_review.html ''The Nautch Girl''] using the same gimmick. And a rather maudlin poem by J. Milton Hayes, [http://ingeb.org/songs/theresae.html "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God"] (written before 1911), gives it a Kiplingesque treatment.

:And the theft of the idol's eye results in blindness, blindness at the heart of the diamond, and so [[ATD_97-118#Page_109|another ''Moonstone'' resonance.]]

The Hindu god of destruction and transformation, Shiva, "is often depicted with a third eye with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva#Attributes_of_Shiva wiki]

'''Isafjörðr''' 
Town in the Westfjords of Iceland. Often spelled as Isafjörður, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ísafjörður 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." [http://www.infoplease.com/t/lit/wasteland/thunder.html]

See also [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/dispatches/19991110.html 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" [http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/the-X-that-can-be-Y-is-not-the-true-X.html [cf]] 
Or -- the Zen koan regarding one's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_face Original Face]: "What did your face look like before your parents were born?"

'''bonzoline''' 
Ivory substitute made from celluloid, used for billiard balls. [http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Word=bonzoline [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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk 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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_113|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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|page 114]].

'''The ''Étienne-Louis Malus''''' 
The level of detail in the description suggests Pynchon wrote it while looking at a photo.

'''Iceland spar''' 
A crystalline form of calcite; see [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|annotations to page 114]] and the fuller entry [[I|under "I" in the alpha index]]. In truth, the links in these wiki entries make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcite Wikipedia] look lame.

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

'''376 feet, 6 inches''' 
The same length as the WWII-era [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_class_destroyer Fletcher Class Destroyer].

'''to the coasts of "Iceland," to the inhabited cliffs of ice''' 
The quotation marks suggest a place with this nickname, not Iceland. And sure enough, the Icelanders live in unglaciated lowlands, not cliffs in the ice.

'''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. ([[ATD_57-80#Page_73|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.

'''another remembered country''' 
The description of the scene suggests England or more specifically Cornwall, but who is remembering it? Constance lives in an "ancestral" home and Hunter apparently has not been away from there. It's an iconic background Hunter has painted into the scene; see the next entry.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_III_of_Norway 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginnungagap Wikipedia entry on Ginnungagap]

Ginnungagap seems a Norse counterpart to the Indian Akasa. 
''Eitr'' has no linguistic tie to ''aether'' -- but the two words have phonetic resonance. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eitr Eitr] means "poison" or specifically "snake poison."

'''inexplicable desire . . . about desire, and the forsaking of desire''' 
When Pynchon uses the word "desire" it always has some special urgency. Harald feels driven to enter Ginnungagap but draws back without fulfilling his desire.

==Page 128==

'''So relates Adam of Bremen in the ''Historia Hammaburgensis Ecclesiæ''''' 
The references to [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Adam_of_Bremen Adam of Bremen] and [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Harald_III Harald the Ruthless] may be "softer" than many appropriations of history in ''AtD.'' Or another way to characterize them may be "bolder." Adam (d. ca. 1085) was a learned churchman who wrote a history called ''Gesta hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (Acts of the Archbishops of the Hamburg Church) or ''Historia ecclesiastica'' (Church History). In the fourth book, ''Descriptio insularum aquilonum'' (Description of the Islands of the North), Adam writes about the expedition mentioned in the text and another voyage to the northern seas.

The indented paragraphs below are based on ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen,'' translated by F.J. Tschan from the ''Historia'' and published in 1959 by Columbia University Press. Extracts are paraphrased except where identified by quotation marks.

:From Book IV, chapter xxxix (pp. 219-220 in Tschan): Past [i.e., north of?] Vinland there is no habitable land in the ocean, only impassable ice and darkness. Frozen sea is encountered one day's sail to the north. The Norwegian prince Harald took several ships to explore the northern realm. Finally they saw the murky boundaries of "a failing world." Harald turned around and did not fall into the bottomless pit.

:From the next chapters, IV, xl-xli (220-221 in Tschan): A number of ships sailed from the coast of Frisia, landing in Iceland and then proceeding northward. Reaching the limits of the known islands, they commended their fate to God and St. Willehad and continued into an all-obscuring mist. They were picked up by a current of the "fluctuating" ocean and whirled around a great chasm that sucks in the sea and then vomits it forth again. Some ships were lost but others saved themselves by rowing against the flow. The voyagers came to an island encircled by high cliffs where men lived in underground caves. They collected great treasure of gold and silver that lay in front of the caves, then were chased from the island by giants with enormous hounds. A safe return to Bremen ended the exploration.

What the mariners reported is some medium-scale phenomenon, big enough to seize a ship. It might be a tidal or current vortex. In a footnote to chapter xl, the translator says there is a big whirlpool (the ''Eis'') off the east coast of Greenland. The original Maelstrom (look further down this page) is a zone of current shears and eddies off the west coast of Norway. We might also suspect a violent tidal rush, as in the Bay of Fundy. There are enough candidates out there to promote Adam's version from fabulous to plausible, at any rate.

The key point, however, is that Ginnungagap and Harald's epiphany about desire are ''not'' related by Adam but read/written into his account.

'''water-sky''' 
Darkening of the underside of clouds over water; [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html photos of water-sky and iceblink.]

'''drawn into another, toroidal dispensation''' 
"Dispensation" refers to a scheme under which God carries out his purposes toward men, or to a providential event affecting men and involving either mercy or judgment. [http://www.calvarysbd.com/terms.htm#D Slightly fuller definition.] "Toroidal" means donut-shaped.

A toroidal dispensation then is a scheme of universal management involving a donut shape. A huge whirlpool, in short: a ''maelstrom.''

[http://www.math.uio.no/maelstrom/ ''The'' Maelstrom] is a complicated system of currents and eddies off the coast of Norway, a frightful hazard to navigators that has become an icon for the vortex or whirlpool.

A couple of connections here: a Tesla Coil is a toroid, I think; and the 'creature' that is found in the ice, and taken back to America by the Vormance expedition, is (sometimes) described as serpent-like, another coil. The creature's escape, and the disastrous aftermath, have many September 11th resonances, and there's an obvious analogy between that and our world, post-911, being sucked into another, more perilous phase, subject to a new, 'toroidal' dispensation.

'''Bay of Röerford''' 
Does not seem to exist, at least with this spelling. 
A Google hit seems to confirm that the scientist Rasmus or Erasmus Bartholin studied calcite from the Bay of Roerford or Röerford, possibly in Denmark, but the link leads only to a summary, not full text.

The spelling Roerfjord is an old Danish or Norwegian variant of the Icelandic Reydarfjord. On the shores of Reydarfjord Bay lies Helgustadir, the site of the Iceland spar mine for centuries - in Bartholin's day thought to be the only source of Iceland spar.

'''southward to that region of sailors' yarns and oddities unconfirmed''' 
Clever inversion. To these people of the north, it's our familiar temperate seas that contain the marvels: porpoises, sargasso weed, year-round harbors.

'''Hunter Penhallow''' 
See above, Constance Penhallow. 
By the way, Penhallow is pronounced in a way that's very close to the italian "pennello" which means "paintbrush": quite appropriate for a painter!

'''lower-eighties''' 
Latitudes from 80N to 85N (mainly Ellesmere Island). [http://www.athropolis.com/map2.htm [map]] 
You would think that, but the text refers to people with "lower-eighties accents," and virtually no scientist comes from these latitudes (to say nothing of alienists). Could it have to do with 80th to 85th Streets? The expedition does appear to sail from New York.

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

==Page 129==

'''shakes''' 
[http://www.houstonremodeling.com/glossary/glossary_s.htm Shingles made by splitting a wood such as cedar along the grain.]

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]]

:It is however the case that a popular Norwegian (and Norwegian-American) dish is lutefisk, an awful concoction unimaginable to those of us who enjoy fresh seafood, which is a sort of "fish loaf." For a funny description of an American attempt to eat it, see [http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~atman/ic/lutefisk.html].

'''''¡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==

'''separated . . . by only the thinnest of membranes''' 
An excellent book, ''The Mind in the Cave,'' by David Lewis-Williams, explores the idea that the partition between worlds is thick most everywhere but thin in special places, allowing the spiritual journeyer (e.g., the shaman) to make an easy crossing. Superstitions about veils, including [[ATD_119-148#Page_140|human cauls,]] make similar claims about what separates the natural and supernatural worlds. Shifts from one world to another figure at several places in ''AtD''; [[ATD_1-25#Page_9|see for example the dialog on p. 9,]] "Another 'surface,' but an earthly one."

'''until the phrase no longer had meaning''' 
This contributor took part in creating a work of radio conceptual art called ''Knob.'' A reader spoke the word "knob" onto a tape, which was then looped so that it repeated every 3-4 seconds. After a few dozen repetitions, the listener could not associate any meaning with the word; after the full half-hour, few could stand without assistance.

'''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. [http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/prayer-wheel.htm 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.

[[image:ex-voti-isernia.jpg|thumb|175px|''Ex Voti'' of Wax, from Isernia|right]]What ''is'' a "candlebrow"? Consider those [[St. Cosmo|phallic ''ex voti'' candles offered up to St. Cosmo]]. The head of the candle-phallus, brow shaped, sits atop the cylindrical candle-shaft and is, metaphorically, the candle's brow. And, natch, Gideon Candlebrow made the bucks necessary to fund Candlebrow U. with the miracle product "Smegmo," the "Messiah of kitchen fats" (Imperial Margarine was advertised as "the King of Margarines") and we all know what [http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Asmegma&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official smegma] is. Also, the Biblical Gideon was associated with Phallus worship which was not considered at all shocking back in the day. When Gideon was asked by the Israelites to rule over them, he demurred stating that Yahveh shall rule over them, and he called on the people for all their golden ornaments, and of these be made the golden ephod (conventionally viewed as a priestly apron; controversially viewed as a phallus). The ephod was thus Yahveh or his idol. [http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Old%20Testament/Sex%20Worship%20and%20Idols.htm] [[The Sexual Angle|More on this...]]

Pynchon consistently calls it Candlebrow '''U.''' instead of simply Candlebrow or Candlebrow University because the letter's ''shape'', like the inverted-vagina shape of the Tetractys, echoes its phallic connotation. Pynchon similarly emphasizes the phallic by using "Dick" Counterfly (''with'' the quotes) instead of simply Dick. Hmmm, Ewball / U-ball?

Or, heck, maybe it's just Pynchon's oblique way of saying "fuck you"...

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

'''Quaternions''' 
In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician [[ATD-H#hamilton|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion Wikipedia entry].

'''Dr. V Ganesh Rao''' 
Ganesha is a Hindu god. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_shop [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 --[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pacific_Railroad [Wikipedia]] [http://www.beardbooks.com/beardbooks/eh_harriman.html Book on Harriman] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Harriman Harriman Wikpedia Entry] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Schiff Schiff Wikipedia Entry]

==Page 131==

'''The Transnoctial Discussion Group''' 
Note that "transnoctial" doesn't mean ''through'' the night, it means ''across'' the night. 
Trans- \Trans-\ [L. trans across, over.]
A prefix, signifying over, beyond, through and through, on the other side, as in transalpine, beyond the Alps;
transform, to form through and through, that is, anew,
transfigure.[1913 Webster]

See annotations to the next page for discussion of the members' names.

Noctial: from a [http://forums.gleemax.com/archive/index.php/t-838215.html Dungeons and Dragons] bulletin board: 

:''When a star is born, it violently tears apart the void that was there before its creation, ripping the nihility into hundreds of pieces and sending them hurtling through space. Occasionally, one finds its way to a planet, where it stays, consuming creatures to fill the unending emptiness inside it. These are noctials, rare but dangerous creatures that usually dwell in the wilderness.''
:''Noctials prefer open environments at night, making use of their Made of Sky ability to blend in with the night sky and drop down on unsuspecting prey. They are reclusive during the day, hiding in caves and other dark places. If it is clear that a noctial will lose a battle, a noctial will, rather than show a sense of self-preservation and flee, instead move to a position where its death throes will hurt its attackers as much as possible.''
:''Made of Sky (Ex): Noctials are made of the blackness between the stars, and so blend in perfectly. If the sun has set and a creature looking at a noctial sees nothing behind it except the sky, the noctial can hold perfectly still and automatically succeed on a Hide check, effectively being invisible to that creature as long as it remains immobile. True Seeing and the like have no effect on this ability.
:''Death Throes (Su): When a noctial dies, it explodes in a manner not unlike that of a dying star. Transforming into a raging inferno of white fire, it deals 4d6 damage to all creatures within 10 feet and 1d6 to all creatures within 20 feet. This will also ignite most flammable material within 20 feet.'' 
:''Ooze traits: Noctials are immune to all mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning, critical hits, flanking, and all effects relying on sight''. 
:''Incorporeal subtype: All nonmagical weapons miss noctials. All magical attacks have a 50% miss chance, unless they are based on positive energy, negative energy, or force or have Ghost touch. Noctials can partially enter objects, but must always be within 5 feet of the object's exterior. A noctial's attacks pass through natural armor, armor, and shields unless they are force-based (Mage Armor) or have a deflection bonus. They also can't manipulate objects, be grappled, or really interact with matter at all.''

'''"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.

'''first few wingbeats...invasion routes" 
An extraordinary paragraph. ''wingbeats'': in context has a demonic overtone of bats and Rebel Angels. Vormance and Vibe his sponsor here seem more intent on storming Heaven than exploring the artic -- shades of the ''Book of Revelation'' and Milton's ''Paradise Lost''.

'''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==

'''it described the present journey as being taken "at right angles to the flow of time"''' 
Fittingly, as the discussion immediately following makes clear, this means into an imaginary time.

'''Vormance . . . Otto Ghloix . . . a heckler''' 
Members of the Transnoctial Discussion Group are Alden Vormance, V. Ganesh Rao, Dodge Flannelette, Fleetwood Vibe, Templeton Blope, Hastings Throyle, Otto Ghloix, and an extra man (heckler).

Without trying to read too much into the names, consider two parallel discussion groups in stories by the science fiction writer R.A. Lafferty, both collected in ''Nine Hundred Grandmothers'' (1970). "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" features Gregory Smirnov, Valery Mok, her husband Charles Cogsworth, a person called Glasser, Aloysius Shiplap, Willy McGilly, Audifax O'Hanlon and Diogenes Pontifex. The brilliant "Narrow Valley" brings in "the eminent scientists, Dr. Velikof Vonk, Arpad Arkabaranan and Willy McGilly. That bunch turns up every time you get on a good one." Vonk, Arkabaranan and McGilly are a stable group with many other credits in Lafferty's fiction. These groups share more than just capricious names with the T.D.G.; the members have a hypothesis ready for any observation, and the hypotheses never agree.

'''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 [http://www-xray.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jgraham/hypo/h13/images/image118.gif 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-valued function of a complex variable; exp ''z''—written ''ez'' in the text—is a generalization of the exponential function 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.

:Mathematicians, please check this: In general, ''w'' = ''ez'' maps a line in the ''z'' plane to a spiral, not a circle, in the ''w'' plane. In the special case of a line parallel to the real axis, the map is either a line or a ray. In the special case of a line parallel to the imaginary axis, the map is indeed a circle. If this assertion is correct, it plays hob with Prof. Rao's metaphor.

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 [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/e.html ''e''].

'''as Fitzgerald maintained, a shrinkage of dimension''' 
Irish physicist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_FitzGerald George FitzGerald] proposed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Length_contraction 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.

[http://musr.physics.ubc.ca/~jess/p200/str/str.html 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==

'''a heckler . . . whom nobody . . . seemed quite able to locate''' 
The [[ATD_119-148#Page_125|Extra Man]] has followed the team indoors. 
Or maybe it is the ''Voice of God'' heckling those who just heckeled him!

'''Ynglingasaga''' 
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_babel 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--[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_%28alien%29 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".

:I'd opt for visitors from another dimension, a spiritual or an imaginary dimension, such as the dimension or axis upon which imaginary numbers reside (see above).
In his 1919 book, The Book of the Damned, Charles Fort uses the term to describe extra-terrestrials.

'''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

'''a device immediately recognizable yet unnamable''' 
"Device" here means an emblem. Irrelevantly, the rising sun on the Japanese flag is a device in this sense.

'''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 . . . . " and GR, V131: "the sea, which at sunset tonight shone green and smooth as iron-rich glass". 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.--[[User:Gobbag|Gobbag]] 13:52, 11 February 2007 (PST)
:Who but an artist like Hunter would catalog greens this way?

'''Narvik''' 
is a town in Norway, above the Arctic Circle.
Narvik was also the site of the first allied victory against Germany during WWII.

==Page 135==

'''in the offing''' 
Extended meaning: imminent. Originally a ship was said to be in the offing when she was visible from land but not yet (or no longer) in the area of safe anchorage.

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

'''cloudberries''' 
[http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~alice/explorations/churchill/cloudb.htm ''Rubus chamaemorus,''] edible fruit, yellow when ripe, related to raspberries, found growing wild in northern parts. Indigenous peoples may indeed eat them with blubber, but nowadays they also go into preserves and liqueurs.

'''skua eggs any style''' 
The [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068130/skua skua] is a predatory seabird, ''Catharacta skua.''

For those not familiar with American diner lingo, "any style" means they will be served fried, scrambled, poached or boiled, as you request.

'''Arctic humor''' 
If Narvik's three jokes are Arctic humor, give me the temperate kind any time.

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames#.27Venice_of_....27 Wikipedia entry on Venice of the X comparisons]

The Venice passage contains three 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.

Finally, the thinnest of veils between two locations allowing for bi-location. The first is the salsa label which when looked at the right way will transport you to the sunny clime immediately; the second is here on the ice, for when the cracks perfectly match the map of Venice, you can step through it and be translated directly to Italy.

A-and, since the ice in Iceland sometimes arranges itself into a map of Venice, and it's said that you can pass directly from Iceland to Venice, it's highly appropriate that you can do something similar with the very names of the places themselves: venICE to ICEland. A typicaly wonderful piece of Pynchonalia.

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

'''multiply-connected spaces''' 
Mathematical expression. In the crassest terms, Venice is multiply connected because some paths from one dry place to another pass through water. Without much risk of a spoiler, [[ATD_615-643#Page_618|see the definition on p. 618.]]

'''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.
[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/what/capeyork.php]

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel epistolary novel], a style popular during the period with which ATD is concerned--see for instance ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula Dracula]''.

'''Rapture of the North''' 
Coined phrase, after "Rapture of the Deep," a [http://www.deep-six.com/page74.htm nitrogen narcosis] experienced by deep-sea divers.

'''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==

'''scarcely enough of us to handle the lines''' 
Compare Darby's singlehanded feat, [[ATD_1-25#Page_14|annotations to p. 14.]]

Note that the increase in the size of the semi-fictional ''Inconvenience'' appears to be consistant with that of the larger fiction.

'''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 [http://web.grinnell.edu/physics/PMuseum/Nicol%20Prisms.html here], detailed diagrams of Nicol and other polarizing prisms are availabe [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/polpri.html 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunatak [Wikipedia]]

Pynchon's translation, "land connected" would seem to be at 180 degrees to Wikipedia's "lonely peak" (which is supported by Bates & Jackson, ''Glossary of Geology,'' 2nd ed.). Which is correct?

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

Perhaps both are correct? Connected and isolated: a classic Pynchon duality.

==Page 140==

'''an ark . . . and life resume its dominion''' 
Ecologists use the word [http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/zy198.htm#R ''refugium''] (plural ''refugia'') for an area protected from drastic changes in the surrounding region and preserving species and communities in just the way described in the text.

'''overhead . . . bulkheads''' 
And on p. 144 '''purchase . . . hawser . . . strand . . . starboard quarter''' 
Fleetwood either has a nautical background or is using these terms (for ceiling; walls; strong point of attachment; very heavy rope product; unravel; and behind and on the right side) in order to sound like an old salt.

'''sensitive-flames''' 
The term has a specific technical meaning: [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sensitive+flame External link]

And, qv Gravity's Rainbow - Snoxalls, mediums, Milton Gloaming, etc.

'''a large brass speaking-trumpet''' 
Somewhat reminiscent of the ubiquitous W.A.S.T.E. symbolism in ''The Crying of Lot 49''.

[[image:Breguethands.jpg|thumb|Breguet hands|right]]'''Breguet-style arrowheads''' 
A distinctive fine watch of French design, usually with open circles ('moons') near the ends of the hands. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breguet_(watch) 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. [http://www.wou.edu/las/creativearts/music/MUS%20206%20Text.pdf 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.

To be "born with a caul" is meant to indicate a great future. 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''.

Caul births are rare. Two [http://doctorpotato.blogdrive.com/archive/32.html superstitions linked to them] are (1) that possession of a human caul (preferably one's own, but not necessarily) protects one against drowning and, by extension, protects one's ship against being wrecked; (2) that the child born in a caul will have second sight, the thinness of the membrane signifying the closeness of the natural and supernatural worlds. Midwives sometimes abstracted and sold cauls.

==Page 141==

'''''camera lucida''''' 
A drawing aid sometimes used with an optical instrument; it is worthwhile to read the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_lucida 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 or just one more anachronism. [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/curse.htm [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):

[[Image:odalisque.jpg|300px|center]]

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

Lord Vishnu is often depicted lying or sleeping like an odalisque upon the serpent (naga) Lord Sesha who represents widom, power, energy. Vishnu is the Preserver in the Trimurti of Brahma/Vishnu/Siva. Some legends associate him with the primeval waters that pervaded the world before creation and as the mover of waters. Vishnu is also the restorer of dharma and has ten avatars that have/will come to re-establish righteousness over chaos, one of which is Lord Krishna. In many depictions, a lotus or the four-faced Brahma rises from the navel of the reclining god. It is said that when Vishnu is depicted in this manner good and evil are in proper balance throughout the cosmos.

That this faux nunatak has mongoloid or serpent eyes brings to mind the passage in the ''Book of Revelation'' where Archangel Michael defeats Satan/the dragon:
:12:7-9 - ''The war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels battled with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they did not prevail and they were expelled from Heaven. So the huge dragon, the serpent of ancient times, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down upon the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.''

That this serpent is encased in ice at the North Pole is suggestive of Satan at the bottom of hell, in Dante's Ninth Circle, also encased in ice.

It would appear that the Vormance expedition, in search of profits, is about to undo the work of Heaven and unleash Satan upon the world.

While Dante and Virgil escape the center of hell at the bottom of the world (a zone of emergency if ever there was one) by passing through the center of the earth, Chick and the Chums "fly counter" to this -- through the center of the earth -- to get to the zone of emergency, the lake of ice, at the top of the world to witness the liberation of Destruction.
A cosmic reversal.

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|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.

'''which of us . . . had not performed''' 
Using the subjunctive mood, not the past perfect tense. A writer of today might say, "which of us . . . would not have performed."

'''we intrepid innocents . . . destiny.''' 
This Vormance expedition calls to mind the 2004 film [http://imdb.com/title/tt0370263/ 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.

'''scentless snow walls''' 
An interesting literary parallel: Richard Powers' novel ''Gain'' (1998) tells of a botanist who sails with the first U.S. Antarctic expedition:
<blockquote>A scent wafted upon him, a redolence for all the world like the smell of a forgotten existence. . . . the thing he smelled, out on the ice, was the sachet of scentlessness: air before the employment of lungs.</blockquote>
Congress, it's revealed, has funded the journey in hopes of discovering Symmes' Hole in the southern continent. The scientist belongs to a candle- and soap-manufacturing family that makes a fortune, establishes a conglomerate, invents a cooking fat substitute, exhibits at the 1893 Columbian World's Exposition in Chicago, endows a college, and extends the benefits of industrial society (cleanliness, Americanism and cancer clusters) throughout the world.

The name of the family and the company is Clare, but plainly there are several parallels to the Candlebrow saga. Scroll back to the annotations on p. 130, or (risking spoilers) [[ATD_397-428#Page_405|jump ahead to the annotations on p. 405]] and succeeding pages.

==Page 143==

'''Tungus''' 
Old name for the Siberian language Evenki; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungusic_languages 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilocation Wikipedia on bilocation] Is also obviously related to the physical properties of Iceland Spar.

'''Arctic hysteria . . . Northern melancholia''' 
We have three "scientifically" named psychological disorders: Rapture of the North (scroll back to annotations on p. 138), Arctic hysteria and Northern melancholia. Whatever happens, Ghloix will claim he predicted it.

If it's psychological disorders we are talking about, why not include Narvik's "Arctic humor" (p. 135)?

'''Christian Time''' 
That is, linear time, a concept first introduced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo St. Augustine of Hippo] (354-430), in his autobiographical [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions/confessions.html ''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_leaves Wikipedia entry]

Compare ''Mason & Dixon'' wherein the interiors of a coach (and one house, at least?) is more spacious than the measured dimensions.

While TRP writes only of the dimensions of the thing and not its actual shape, there is the sense of something protean, of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus Proteus] in the hold. In reading the wiki entry one learns that Proteus is associated in alchemy with Philosophical Mercury, "the light of nature," the ''anima mundi '' (spirit of the world), and much later Carl Jung associated it with the unconscious. Homer, Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Joyce, Vonnegut among others make use of this "Old Man of the Sea" god.

'''"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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_lisa Mona Lisa]
:[http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/eyefolow.htm Here is a scientific account] (though less coherent than we might like) of how the artist makes the subject of a painting seem to be looking at the viewer. It's very simple: paint the eyes looking along a line perpendicular to the canvas. But what's described in the text here is a little different and may be related to a phenomenon in public speaking: If the speaker makes eye contact with a few people in the audience, even skipping randomly around the house, ''many'' will report "He was looking directly at me!"

'''misplaced moon''' 
The moon simile is not far-fetched; ''Inconvenience'' viewed head-on must have looked quite moonlike.

'''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". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness Wikipedia]

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

'''impersonal momenta of the Commercial''' 
Momentum (plural momenta) must be a metaphor for the constant buzz of commerce; in physics, of course, the word means a well-defined quantity of motion, but that does not seem to fit here.

==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?

[[image:Evangelion.jpg|right|175px|thumb|The apocalyptic giant of light unearthed in the Arctic in Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''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? 
:-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)

The "man of light" is also a term from ancient Iranian gnosticism, representing the [http://www.kheper.net/topics/augeoides/Higher_Self.html higher self], the heavenly twin, the guide of light of every individual.
"The quest for the dawning of light in the cosmic North symbolizes the mystic's search for realization. In this spiritual journey, the light arising in man's inner darkness- the Northern Light or Midnight Sun- represents the impartial but brilliant light of Truth, that which sets us free from egotism and from slavery to material existence." Please see Henry Corbin's wonderful book [http://www.booklightinc.net/omegapub/detail.html?session=2a71a6af38a06d45076b5355e0eb5fd5&id=0930872487 ''The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism''] though be advised that it is written for the specialist.

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham Jeremy Bentham’s] designs for his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon 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.
:That unfortunately doesn't hold up. The panopticon doesn't have radiating corridors, as the floor plan in the Wikipedia article (link above) shows. And Matteawan was not built to the panopticon design anyway; it was an accretion of fairly conventional rectangular structures. [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/docs2day/fishkill.html Here is an aerial view] of Matteawan at a time later than the action; [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/loaded.html this web page] has exterior and interior views; the asylum was even pictured on [http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/matteawan_ny/index.html colored postcards.] The direct reference of "starfish" is probably to long wings running in scattered directions.

Through the use of the word “starfish” the narrator further invokes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft’s] novel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness ''At The Mountains of Madness''], wherein starfish- and star-shaped patterns abound in the culture and physiology of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Things 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. ("the District"), 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson_Raid 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War [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.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Austin 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''' 
[[image:borchardt.jpg|thumb|200px|Borchardt pistol|right]]1894 forerunner of Luger.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen 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. --[[User:Volver|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." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad Wikipedia entry] Corporations are routinely recognized as "persons" in the law nowadays. For more on the recognition of corporation as legal persons, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood 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==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 119-148

2008-11-28T15:19:48Z

Jc: /* Page 140 */

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 121==

'''flying bridge''' 
On an ordinary aquatic ship, the flying bridge is an open deck atop the pilothouse for navigating in good weather. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_bridge [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). AtD is interested in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry throughout, as well as in electromagnetic fields, topology and mapping. How does one world, one reality "map" onto another? Do they "double"? In what ways do they intersect?

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

'''here at the high edge of the atmosphere''' 
Odd phrasing that may mark an allusion to the space race a few decades later.

'''obscure feelings of dread''' 
Strange lights in the sky, not accompanied by thunder, are a portent—seldom of anything good on the way.

==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. [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html 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. Note the link here to the mysterious lattice-work on p. 121 above.

'''manœuvring''' 
British spelling; U.S. ''maneuvering.''

'''dazzle-painting''' 
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships.[http://www.gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html].

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarp (Wikipedia entry)]. Also suggestive of the ECHELON network [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON (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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutine 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 Lutine Bell was struck to announce news of an overdue ship: once if lost, twice if reported safe. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd's_of_London#Miscellaneous [Wikipedia]]

'''last eclipse''' 
Possibly Pike's Peak, 1878? [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhistory/SEhistory.html (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, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Pazhitnov 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game 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.

Additionally, the name Padzhitnoff sounds like ‘pads hitting off’ which in cricketing parlance describes a batsman being dismissed ‘Leg Before Wicket’ (or LBW). The rules for being given out [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_before_wicket LBW] require the umpire to make a subjective decision about whether the ball would have travelled onto the stumps after hitting the batsman. Due to this inherent element of uncertainty LBW dismissals are a constant source of disagreement between players, umpires, and fans.

'''''Ice Pirates''''' 
This turn of phrase echoes the spoof [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/ 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==

'''Getting jump on me''' 
To put on a comic Russian accent, first thing you do is delete all the articles: ''a, an, the.'' Russian has no articles, and some Russian speakers can't get the frightfully complicated rules for using ours.

'''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).

'''all animals . . . had names—bears, wolves, Siberian tigers''' 
Linguists cite Padzhitnoff's error as their favorite example of a taboo. Some time in the remote past, the name of the bear—derived from an Indo-European word like ''arktos'' or ''rktos''—became unspeakable and was replaced, in Russian, by the euphemism "honey-eater": ''medved'.'' It happened so long ago that speakers of the language think this is the native word. Same in English; ours comes from an old word for "brown."

'''That creature, we did not have name for''' 
Well then, how the hell are we supposed to look it up and post it to the wiki?

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Sue 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. [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/s#a1186 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.

Reading TRP has trained me to look for meaningful acronyms whether they are there or not. Here ZoE, zoë, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=b&p=10 "animal life"] -- and the emergence thereof. Spinning this album backword, we hear "the emergence of the animal" which like all good backward masking, refers to something in the [http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP27Revelation.htm ''Book of Revelation''.] This section, so titled, seems relevant (revelant): 
: 11:7-10 - ''Then...the animal will come up out of the pit and go to war with them. It will conquer and kill them, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city...."

'''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.

:The stolen idol's eye as a literary device goes back at least to 1868, when Wilkie Collins invented the modern detective novel in [http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/other/moonstone.html ''The Moonstone.''] In 1891, London's Savoy Theatre presented a post-Gilbert and Sullivan operetta called [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/other_savoy/nautch_girl/nautch_review.html ''The Nautch Girl''] using the same gimmick. And a rather maudlin poem by J. Milton Hayes, [http://ingeb.org/songs/theresae.html "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God"] (written before 1911), gives it a Kiplingesque treatment.

:And the theft of the idol's eye results in blindness, blindness at the heart of the diamond, and so [[ATD_97-118#Page_109|another ''Moonstone'' resonance.]]

The Hindu god of destruction and transformation, Shiva, "is often depicted with a third eye with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva#Attributes_of_Shiva wiki]

'''Isafjörðr''' 
Town in the Westfjords of Iceland. Often spelled as Isafjörður, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ísafjörður 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." [http://www.infoplease.com/t/lit/wasteland/thunder.html]

See also [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/dispatches/19991110.html 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" [http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/the-X-that-can-be-Y-is-not-the-true-X.html [cf]] 
Or -- the Zen koan regarding one's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_face Original Face]: "What did your face look like before your parents were born?"

'''bonzoline''' 
Ivory substitute made from celluloid, used for billiard balls. [http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Word=bonzoline [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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk 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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_113|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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|page 114]].

'''The ''Étienne-Louis Malus''''' 
The level of detail in the description suggests Pynchon wrote it while looking at a photo.

'''Iceland spar''' 
A crystalline form of calcite; see [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|annotations to page 114]] and the fuller entry [[I|under "I" in the alpha index]]. In truth, the links in these wiki entries make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcite Wikipedia] look lame.

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

'''376 feet, 6 inches''' 
The same length as the WWII-era [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_class_destroyer Fletcher Class Destroyer].

'''to the coasts of "Iceland," to the inhabited cliffs of ice''' 
The quotation marks suggest a place with this nickname, not Iceland. And sure enough, the Icelanders live in unglaciated lowlands, not cliffs in the ice.

'''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. ([[ATD_57-80#Page_73|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.

'''another remembered country''' 
The description of the scene suggests England or more specifically Cornwall, but who is remembering it? Constance lives in an "ancestral" home and Hunter apparently has not been away from there. It's an iconic background Hunter has painted into the scene; see the next entry.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_III_of_Norway 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginnungagap Wikipedia entry on Ginnungagap]

Ginnungagap seems a Norse counterpart to the Indian Akasa. 
''Eitr'' has no linguistic tie to ''aether'' -- but the two words have phonetic resonance. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eitr Eitr] means "poison" or specifically "snake poison."

'''inexplicable desire . . . about desire, and the forsaking of desire''' 
When Pynchon uses the word "desire" it always has some special urgency. Harald feels driven to enter Ginnungagap but draws back without fulfilling his desire.

==Page 128==

'''So relates Adam of Bremen in the ''Historia Hammaburgensis Ecclesiæ''''' 
The references to [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Adam_of_Bremen Adam of Bremen] and [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Harald_III Harald the Ruthless] may be "softer" than many appropriations of history in ''AtD.'' Or another way to characterize them may be "bolder." Adam (d. ca. 1085) was a learned churchman who wrote a history called ''Gesta hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (Acts of the Archbishops of the Hamburg Church) or ''Historia ecclesiastica'' (Church History). In the fourth book, ''Descriptio insularum aquilonum'' (Description of the Islands of the North), Adam writes about the expedition mentioned in the text and another voyage to the northern seas.

The indented paragraphs below are based on ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen,'' translated by F.J. Tschan from the ''Historia'' and published in 1959 by Columbia University Press. Extracts are paraphrased except where identified by quotation marks.

:From Book IV, chapter xxxix (pp. 219-220 in Tschan): Past [i.e., north of?] Vinland there is no habitable land in the ocean, only impassable ice and darkness. Frozen sea is encountered one day's sail to the north. The Norwegian prince Harald took several ships to explore the northern realm. Finally they saw the murky boundaries of "a failing world." Harald turned around and did not fall into the bottomless pit.

:From the next chapters, IV, xl-xli (220-221 in Tschan): A number of ships sailed from the coast of Frisia, landing in Iceland and then proceeding northward. Reaching the limits of the known islands, they commended their fate to God and St. Willehad and continued into an all-obscuring mist. They were picked up by a current of the "fluctuating" ocean and whirled around a great chasm that sucks in the sea and then vomits it forth again. Some ships were lost but others saved themselves by rowing against the flow. The voyagers came to an island encircled by high cliffs where men lived in underground caves. They collected great treasure of gold and silver that lay in front of the caves, then were chased from the island by giants with enormous hounds. A safe return to Bremen ended the exploration.

What the mariners reported is some medium-scale phenomenon, big enough to seize a ship. It might be a tidal or current vortex. In a footnote to chapter xl, the translator says there is a big whirlpool (the ''Eis'') off the east coast of Greenland. The original Maelstrom (look further down this page) is a zone of current shears and eddies off the west coast of Norway. We might also suspect a violent tidal rush, as in the Bay of Fundy. There are enough candidates out there to promote Adam's version from fabulous to plausible, at any rate.

The key point, however, is that Ginnungagap and Harald's epiphany about desire are ''not'' related by Adam but read/written into his account.

'''water-sky''' 
Darkening of the underside of clouds over water; [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html photos of water-sky and iceblink.]

'''drawn into another, toroidal dispensation''' 
"Dispensation" refers to a scheme under which God carries out his purposes toward men, or to a providential event affecting men and involving either mercy or judgment. [http://www.calvarysbd.com/terms.htm#D Slightly fuller definition.] "Toroidal" means donut-shaped.

A toroidal dispensation then is a scheme of universal management involving a donut shape. A huge whirlpool, in short: a ''maelstrom.''

[http://www.math.uio.no/maelstrom/ ''The'' Maelstrom] is a complicated system of currents and eddies off the coast of Norway, a frightful hazard to navigators that has become an icon for the vortex or whirlpool.

'''Bay of Röerford''' 
Does not seem to exist, at least with this spelling. 
A Google hit seems to confirm that the scientist Rasmus or Erasmus Bartholin studied calcite from the Bay of Roerford or Röerford, possibly in Denmark, but the link leads only to a summary, not full text.

The spelling Roerfjord is an old Danish or Norwegian variant of the Icelandic Reydarfjord. On the shores of Reydarfjord Bay lies Helgustadir, the site of the Iceland spar mine for centuries - in Bartholin's day thought to be the only source of Iceland spar.

'''southward to that region of sailors' yarns and oddities unconfirmed''' 
Clever inversion. To these people of the north, it's our familiar temperate seas that contain the marvels: porpoises, sargasso weed, year-round harbors.

'''Hunter Penhallow''' 
See above, Constance Penhallow. 
By the way, Penhallow is pronounced in a way that's very close to the italian "pennello" which means "paintbrush": quite appropriate for a painter!

'''lower-eighties''' 
Latitudes from 80N to 85N (mainly Ellesmere Island). [http://www.athropolis.com/map2.htm [map]] 
You would think that, but the text refers to people with "lower-eighties accents," and virtually no scientist comes from these latitudes (to say nothing of alienists). Could it have to do with 80th to 85th Streets? The expedition does appear to sail from New York.

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

==Page 129==

'''shakes''' 
[http://www.houstonremodeling.com/glossary/glossary_s.htm Shingles made by splitting a wood such as cedar along the grain.]

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]]

:It is however the case that a popular Norwegian (and Norwegian-American) dish is lutefisk, an awful concoction unimaginable to those of us who enjoy fresh seafood, which is a sort of "fish loaf." For a funny description of an American attempt to eat it, see [http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~atman/ic/lutefisk.html].

'''''¡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==

'''separated . . . by only the thinnest of membranes''' 
An excellent book, ''The Mind in the Cave,'' by David Lewis-Williams, explores the idea that the partition between worlds is thick most everywhere but thin in special places, allowing the spiritual journeyer (e.g., the shaman) to make an easy crossing. Superstitions about veils, including [[ATD_119-148#Page_140|human cauls,]] make similar claims about what separates the natural and supernatural worlds. Shifts from one world to another figure at several places in ''AtD''; [[ATD_1-25#Page_9|see for example the dialog on p. 9,]] "Another 'surface,' but an earthly one."

'''until the phrase no longer had meaning''' 
This contributor took part in creating a work of radio conceptual art called ''Knob.'' A reader spoke the word "knob" onto a tape, which was then looped so that it repeated every 3-4 seconds. After a few dozen repetitions, the listener could not associate any meaning with the word; after the full half-hour, few could stand without assistance.

'''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. [http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/prayer-wheel.htm 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.

[[image:ex-voti-isernia.jpg|thumb|175px|''Ex Voti'' of Wax, from Isernia|right]]What ''is'' a "candlebrow"? Consider those [[St. Cosmo|phallic ''ex voti'' candles offered up to St. Cosmo]]. The head of the candle-phallus, brow shaped, sits atop the cylindrical candle-shaft and is, metaphorically, the candle's brow. And, natch, Gideon Candlebrow made the bucks necessary to fund Candlebrow U. with the miracle product "Smegmo," the "Messiah of kitchen fats" (Imperial Margarine was advertised as "the King of Margarines") and we all know what [http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Asmegma&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official smegma] is. Also, the Biblical Gideon was associated with Phallus worship which was not considered at all shocking back in the day. When Gideon was asked by the Israelites to rule over them, he demurred stating that Yahveh shall rule over them, and he called on the people for all their golden ornaments, and of these be made the golden ephod (conventionally viewed as a priestly apron; controversially viewed as a phallus). The ephod was thus Yahveh or his idol. [http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Old%20Testament/Sex%20Worship%20and%20Idols.htm] [[The Sexual Angle|More on this...]]

Pynchon consistently calls it Candlebrow '''U.''' instead of simply Candlebrow or Candlebrow University because the letter's ''shape'', like the inverted-vagina shape of the Tetractys, echoes its phallic connotation. Pynchon similarly emphasizes the phallic by using "Dick" Counterfly (''with'' the quotes) instead of simply Dick. Hmmm, Ewball / U-ball?

Or, heck, maybe it's just Pynchon's oblique way of saying "fuck you"...

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

'''Quaternions''' 
In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician [[ATD-H#hamilton|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion Wikipedia entry].

'''Dr. V Ganesh Rao''' 
Ganesha is a Hindu god. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_shop [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 --[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pacific_Railroad [Wikipedia]] [http://www.beardbooks.com/beardbooks/eh_harriman.html Book on Harriman] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Harriman Harriman Wikpedia Entry] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Schiff Schiff Wikipedia Entry]

==Page 131==

'''The Transnoctial Discussion Group''' 
Note that "transnoctial" doesn't mean ''through'' the night, it means ''across'' the night. 
Trans- \Trans-\ [L. trans across, over.]
A prefix, signifying over, beyond, through and through, on the other side, as in transalpine, beyond the Alps;
transform, to form through and through, that is, anew,
transfigure.[1913 Webster]

See annotations to the next page for discussion of the members' names.

Noctial: from a [http://forums.gleemax.com/archive/index.php/t-838215.html Dungeons and Dragons] bulletin board: 

:''When a star is born, it violently tears apart the void that was there before its creation, ripping the nihility into hundreds of pieces and sending them hurtling through space. Occasionally, one finds its way to a planet, where it stays, consuming creatures to fill the unending emptiness inside it. These are noctials, rare but dangerous creatures that usually dwell in the wilderness.''
:''Noctials prefer open environments at night, making use of their Made of Sky ability to blend in with the night sky and drop down on unsuspecting prey. They are reclusive during the day, hiding in caves and other dark places. If it is clear that a noctial will lose a battle, a noctial will, rather than show a sense of self-preservation and flee, instead move to a position where its death throes will hurt its attackers as much as possible.''
:''Made of Sky (Ex): Noctials are made of the blackness between the stars, and so blend in perfectly. If the sun has set and a creature looking at a noctial sees nothing behind it except the sky, the noctial can hold perfectly still and automatically succeed on a Hide check, effectively being invisible to that creature as long as it remains immobile. True Seeing and the like have no effect on this ability.
:''Death Throes (Su): When a noctial dies, it explodes in a manner not unlike that of a dying star. Transforming into a raging inferno of white fire, it deals 4d6 damage to all creatures within 10 feet and 1d6 to all creatures within 20 feet. This will also ignite most flammable material within 20 feet.'' 
:''Ooze traits: Noctials are immune to all mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning, critical hits, flanking, and all effects relying on sight''. 
:''Incorporeal subtype: All nonmagical weapons miss noctials. All magical attacks have a 50% miss chance, unless they are based on positive energy, negative energy, or force or have Ghost touch. Noctials can partially enter objects, but must always be within 5 feet of the object's exterior. A noctial's attacks pass through natural armor, armor, and shields unless they are force-based (Mage Armor) or have a deflection bonus. They also can't manipulate objects, be grappled, or really interact with matter at all.''

'''"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.

'''first few wingbeats...invasion routes" 
An extraordinary paragraph. ''wingbeats'': in context has a demonic overtone of bats and Rebel Angels. Vormance and Vibe his sponsor here seem more intent on storming Heaven than exploring the artic -- shades of the ''Book of Revelation'' and Milton's ''Paradise Lost''.

'''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==

'''it described the present journey as being taken "at right angles to the flow of time"''' 
Fittingly, as the discussion immediately following makes clear, this means into an imaginary time.

'''Vormance . . . Otto Ghloix . . . a heckler''' 
Members of the Transnoctial Discussion Group are Alden Vormance, V. Ganesh Rao, Dodge Flannelette, Fleetwood Vibe, Templeton Blope, Hastings Throyle, Otto Ghloix, and an extra man (heckler).

Without trying to read too much into the names, consider two parallel discussion groups in stories by the science fiction writer R.A. Lafferty, both collected in ''Nine Hundred Grandmothers'' (1970). "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" features Gregory Smirnov, Valery Mok, her husband Charles Cogsworth, a person called Glasser, Aloysius Shiplap, Willy McGilly, Audifax O'Hanlon and Diogenes Pontifex. The brilliant "Narrow Valley" brings in "the eminent scientists, Dr. Velikof Vonk, Arpad Arkabaranan and Willy McGilly. That bunch turns up every time you get on a good one." Vonk, Arkabaranan and McGilly are a stable group with many other credits in Lafferty's fiction. These groups share more than just capricious names with the T.D.G.; the members have a hypothesis ready for any observation, and the hypotheses never agree.

'''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 [http://www-xray.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jgraham/hypo/h13/images/image118.gif 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-valued function of a complex variable; exp ''z''—written ''ez'' in the text—is a generalization of the exponential function 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.

:Mathematicians, please check this: In general, ''w'' = ''ez'' maps a line in the ''z'' plane to a spiral, not a circle, in the ''w'' plane. In the special case of a line parallel to the real axis, the map is either a line or a ray. In the special case of a line parallel to the imaginary axis, the map is indeed a circle. If this assertion is correct, it plays hob with Prof. Rao's metaphor.

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 [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/e.html ''e''].

'''as Fitzgerald maintained, a shrinkage of dimension''' 
Irish physicist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_FitzGerald George FitzGerald] proposed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Length_contraction 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.

[http://musr.physics.ubc.ca/~jess/p200/str/str.html 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==

'''a heckler . . . whom nobody . . . seemed quite able to locate''' 
The [[ATD_119-148#Page_125|Extra Man]] has followed the team indoors. 
Or maybe it is the ''Voice of God'' heckling those who just heckeled him!

'''Ynglingasaga''' 
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_babel 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--[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_%28alien%29 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".

:I'd opt for visitors from another dimension, a spiritual or an imaginary dimension, such as the dimension or axis upon which imaginary numbers reside (see above).
In his 1919 book, The Book of the Damned, Charles Fort uses the term to describe extra-terrestrials.

'''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

'''a device immediately recognizable yet unnamable''' 
"Device" here means an emblem. Irrelevantly, the rising sun on the Japanese flag is a device in this sense.

'''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 . . . . " and GR, V131: "the sea, which at sunset tonight shone green and smooth as iron-rich glass". 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.--[[User:Gobbag|Gobbag]] 13:52, 11 February 2007 (PST)
:Who but an artist like Hunter would catalog greens this way?

'''Narvik''' 
is a town in Norway, above the Arctic Circle.
Narvik was also the site of the first allied victory against Germany during WWII.

==Page 135==

'''in the offing''' 
Extended meaning: imminent. Originally a ship was said to be in the offing when she was visible from land but not yet (or no longer) in the area of safe anchorage.

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

'''cloudberries''' 
[http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~alice/explorations/churchill/cloudb.htm ''Rubus chamaemorus,''] edible fruit, yellow when ripe, related to raspberries, found growing wild in northern parts. Indigenous peoples may indeed eat them with blubber, but nowadays they also go into preserves and liqueurs.

'''skua eggs any style''' 
The [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068130/skua skua] is a predatory seabird, ''Catharacta skua.''

For those not familiar with American diner lingo, "any style" means they will be served fried, scrambled, poached or boiled, as you request.

'''Arctic humor''' 
If Narvik's three jokes are Arctic humor, give me the temperate kind any time.

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames#.27Venice_of_....27 Wikipedia entry on Venice of the X comparisons]

The Venice passage contains three 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.

Finally, the thinnest of veils between two locations allowing for bi-location. The first is the salsa label which when looked at the right way will transport you to the sunny clime immediately; the second is here on the ice, for when the cracks perfectly match the map of Venice, you can step through it and be translated directly to Italy.

A-and, since the ice in Iceland sometimes arranges itself into a map of Venice, and it's said that you can pass directly from Iceland to Venice, it's highly appropriate that you can do something similar with the very names of the places themselves: venICE to ICEland. A typicaly wonderful piece of Pynchonalia.

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

'''multiply-connected spaces''' 
Mathematical expression. In the crassest terms, Venice is multiply connected because some paths from one dry place to another pass through water. Without much risk of a spoiler, [[ATD_615-643#Page_618|see the definition on p. 618.]]

'''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.
[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/what/capeyork.php]

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel epistolary novel], a style popular during the period with which ATD is concerned--see for instance ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula Dracula]''.

'''Rapture of the North''' 
Coined phrase, after "Rapture of the Deep," a [http://www.deep-six.com/page74.htm nitrogen narcosis] experienced by deep-sea divers.

'''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==

'''scarcely enough of us to handle the lines''' 
Compare Darby's singlehanded feat, [[ATD_1-25#Page_14|annotations to p. 14.]]

Note that the increase in the size of the semi-fictional ''Inconvenience'' appears to be consistant with that of the larger fiction.

'''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 [http://web.grinnell.edu/physics/PMuseum/Nicol%20Prisms.html here], detailed diagrams of Nicol and other polarizing prisms are availabe [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/polpri.html 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunatak [Wikipedia]]

Pynchon's translation, "land connected" would seem to be at 180 degrees to Wikipedia's "lonely peak" (which is supported by Bates & Jackson, ''Glossary of Geology,'' 2nd ed.). Which is correct?

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

Perhaps both are correct? Connected and isolated: a classic Pynchon duality.

==Page 140==

'''an ark . . . and life resume its dominion''' 
Ecologists use the word [http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/zy198.htm#R ''refugium''] (plural ''refugia'') for an area protected from drastic changes in the surrounding region and preserving species and communities in just the way described in the text.

'''overhead . . . bulkheads''' 
And on p. 144 '''purchase . . . hawser . . . strand . . . starboard quarter''' 
Fleetwood either has a nautical background or is using these terms (for ceiling; walls; strong point of attachment; very heavy rope product; unravel; and behind and on the right side) in order to sound like an old salt.

'''sensitive-flames''' 
The term has a specific technical meaning: [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sensitive+flame External link]

And, qv Gravity's Rainbow - Snoxalls, mediums, Milton Gloaming, etc.

'''a large brass speaking-trumpet''' 
Somewhat reminiscent of the ubiquitous W.A.S.T.E. symbolism in ''The Crying of Lot 49''.

[[image:Breguethands.jpg|thumb|Breguet hands|right]]'''Breguet-style arrowheads''' 
A distinctive fine watch of French design, usually with open circles ('moons') near the ends of the hands. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breguet_(watch) 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. [http://www.wou.edu/las/creativearts/music/MUS%20206%20Text.pdf 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.

To be "born with a caul" is meant to indicate a great future. 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''.

Caul births are rare. Two [http://doctorpotato.blogdrive.com/archive/32.html superstitions linked to them] are (1) that possession of a human caul (preferably one's own, but not necessarily) protects one against drowning and, by extension, protects one's ship against being wrecked; (2) that the child born in a caul will have second sight, the thinness of the membrane signifying the closeness of the natural and supernatural worlds. Midwives sometimes abstracted and sold cauls.

==Page 141==

'''''camera lucida''''' 
A drawing aid sometimes used with an optical instrument; it is worthwhile to read the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_lucida 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 or just one more anachronism. [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/curse.htm [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):

[[Image:odalisque.jpg|300px|center]]

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

Lord Vishnu is often depicted lying or sleeping like an odalisque upon the serpent (naga) Lord Sesha who represents widom, power, energy. Vishnu is the Preserver in the Trimurti of Brahma/Vishnu/Siva. Some legends associate him with the primeval waters that pervaded the world before creation and as the mover of waters. Vishnu is also the restorer of dharma and has ten avatars that have/will come to re-establish righteousness over chaos, one of which is Lord Krishna. In many depictions, a lotus or the four-faced Brahma rises from the navel of the reclining god. It is said that when Vishnu is depicted in this manner good and evil are in proper balance throughout the cosmos.

That this faux nunatak has mongoloid or serpent eyes brings to mind the passage in the ''Book of Revelation'' where Archangel Michael defeats Satan/the dragon:
:12:7-9 - ''The war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels battled with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they did not prevail and they were expelled from Heaven. So the huge dragon, the serpent of ancient times, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down upon the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.''

That this serpent is encased in ice at the North Pole is suggestive of Satan at the bottom of hell, in Dante's Ninth Circle, also encased in ice.

It would appear that the Vormance expedition, in search of profits, is about to undo the work of Heaven and unleash Satan upon the world.

While Dante and Virgil escape the center of hell at the bottom of the world (a zone of emergency if ever there was one) by passing through the center of the earth, Chick and the Chums "fly counter" to this -- through the center of the earth -- to get to the zone of emergency, the lake of ice, at the top of the world to witness the liberation of Destruction.
A cosmic reversal.

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|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.

'''which of us . . . had not performed''' 
Using the subjunctive mood, not the past perfect tense. A writer of today might say, "which of us . . . would not have performed."

'''we intrepid innocents . . . destiny.''' 
This Vormance expedition calls to mind the 2004 film [http://imdb.com/title/tt0370263/ 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.

'''scentless snow walls''' 
An interesting literary parallel: Richard Powers' novel ''Gain'' (1998) tells of a botanist who sails with the first U.S. Antarctic expedition:
<blockquote>A scent wafted upon him, a redolence for all the world like the smell of a forgotten existence. . . . the thing he smelled, out on the ice, was the sachet of scentlessness: air before the employment of lungs.</blockquote>
Congress, it's revealed, has funded the journey in hopes of discovering Symmes' Hole in the southern continent. The scientist belongs to a candle- and soap-manufacturing family that makes a fortune, establishes a conglomerate, invents a cooking fat substitute, exhibits at the 1893 Columbian World's Exposition in Chicago, endows a college, and extends the benefits of industrial society (cleanliness, Americanism and cancer clusters) throughout the world.

The name of the family and the company is Clare, but plainly there are several parallels to the Candlebrow saga. Scroll back to the annotations on p. 130, or (risking spoilers) [[ATD_397-428#Page_405|jump ahead to the annotations on p. 405]] and succeeding pages.

==Page 143==

'''Tungus''' 
Old name for the Siberian language Evenki; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungusic_languages 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilocation Wikipedia on bilocation] Is also obviously related to the physical properties of Iceland Spar.

'''Arctic hysteria . . . Northern melancholia''' 
We have three "scientifically" named psychological disorders: Rapture of the North (scroll back to annotations on p. 138), Arctic hysteria and Northern melancholia. Whatever happens, Ghloix will claim he predicted it.

If it's psychological disorders we are talking about, why not include Narvik's "Arctic humor" (p. 135)?

'''Christian Time''' 
That is, linear time, a concept first introduced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo St. Augustine of Hippo] (354-430), in his autobiographical [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions/confessions.html ''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_leaves Wikipedia entry]

Compare ''Mason & Dixon'' wherein the interiors of a coach (and one house, at least?) is more spacious than the measured dimensions.

While TRP writes only of the dimensions of the thing and not its actual shape, there is the sense of something protean, of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus Proteus] in the hold. In reading the wiki entry one learns that Proteus is associated in alchemy with Philosophical Mercury, "the light of nature," the ''anima mundi '' (spirit of the world), and much later Carl Jung associated it with the unconscious. Homer, Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Joyce, Vonnegut among others make use of this "Old Man of the Sea" god.

'''"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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_lisa Mona Lisa]
:[http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/eyefolow.htm Here is a scientific account] (though less coherent than we might like) of how the artist makes the subject of a painting seem to be looking at the viewer. It's very simple: paint the eyes looking along a line perpendicular to the canvas. But what's described in the text here is a little different and may be related to a phenomenon in public speaking: If the speaker makes eye contact with a few people in the audience, even skipping randomly around the house, ''many'' will report "He was looking directly at me!"

'''misplaced moon''' 
The moon simile is not far-fetched; ''Inconvenience'' viewed head-on must have looked quite moonlike.

'''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". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness Wikipedia]

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

'''impersonal momenta of the Commercial''' 
Momentum (plural momenta) must be a metaphor for the constant buzz of commerce; in physics, of course, the word means a well-defined quantity of motion, but that does not seem to fit here.

==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?

[[image:Evangelion.jpg|right|175px|thumb|The apocalyptic giant of light unearthed in the Arctic in Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''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? 
:-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)

The "man of light" is also a term from ancient Iranian gnosticism, representing the [http://www.kheper.net/topics/augeoides/Higher_Self.html higher self], the heavenly twin, the guide of light of every individual.
"The quest for the dawning of light in the cosmic North symbolizes the mystic's search for realization. In this spiritual journey, the light arising in man's inner darkness- the Northern Light or Midnight Sun- represents the impartial but brilliant light of Truth, that which sets us free from egotism and from slavery to material existence." Please see Henry Corbin's wonderful book [http://www.booklightinc.net/omegapub/detail.html?session=2a71a6af38a06d45076b5355e0eb5fd5&id=0930872487 ''The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism''] though be advised that it is written for the specialist.

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham Jeremy Bentham’s] designs for his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon 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.
:That unfortunately doesn't hold up. The panopticon doesn't have radiating corridors, as the floor plan in the Wikipedia article (link above) shows. And Matteawan was not built to the panopticon design anyway; it was an accretion of fairly conventional rectangular structures. [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/docs2day/fishkill.html Here is an aerial view] of Matteawan at a time later than the action; [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/loaded.html this web page] has exterior and interior views; the asylum was even pictured on [http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/matteawan_ny/index.html colored postcards.] The direct reference of "starfish" is probably to long wings running in scattered directions.

Through the use of the word “starfish” the narrator further invokes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft’s] novel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness ''At The Mountains of Madness''], wherein starfish- and star-shaped patterns abound in the culture and physiology of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Things 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. ("the District"), 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson_Raid 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War [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.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Austin 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''' 
[[image:borchardt.jpg|thumb|200px|Borchardt pistol|right]]1894 forerunner of Luger.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen 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. --[[User:Volver|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." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad Wikipedia entry] Corporations are routinely recognized as "persons" in the law nowadays. For more on the recognition of corporation as legal persons, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood 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==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 119-148

2008-11-28T15:18:14Z

Jc: /* Page 139 */ Connected and isolated nunatak

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 121==

'''flying bridge''' 
On an ordinary aquatic ship, the flying bridge is an open deck atop the pilothouse for navigating in good weather. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_bridge [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). AtD is interested in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry throughout, as well as in electromagnetic fields, topology and mapping. How does one world, one reality "map" onto another? Do they "double"? In what ways do they intersect?

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

'''here at the high edge of the atmosphere''' 
Odd phrasing that may mark an allusion to the space race a few decades later.

'''obscure feelings of dread''' 
Strange lights in the sky, not accompanied by thunder, are a portent—seldom of anything good on the way.

==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. [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html 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. Note the link here to the mysterious lattice-work on p. 121 above.

'''manœuvring''' 
British spelling; U.S. ''maneuvering.''

'''dazzle-painting''' 
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships.[http://www.gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html].

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarp (Wikipedia entry)]. Also suggestive of the ECHELON network [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON (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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutine 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 Lutine Bell was struck to announce news of an overdue ship: once if lost, twice if reported safe. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd's_of_London#Miscellaneous [Wikipedia]]

'''last eclipse''' 
Possibly Pike's Peak, 1878? [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhistory/SEhistory.html (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, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Pazhitnov 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game 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.

Additionally, the name Padzhitnoff sounds like ‘pads hitting off’ which in cricketing parlance describes a batsman being dismissed ‘Leg Before Wicket’ (or LBW). The rules for being given out [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_before_wicket LBW] require the umpire to make a subjective decision about whether the ball would have travelled onto the stumps after hitting the batsman. Due to this inherent element of uncertainty LBW dismissals are a constant source of disagreement between players, umpires, and fans.

'''''Ice Pirates''''' 
This turn of phrase echoes the spoof [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/ 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==

'''Getting jump on me''' 
To put on a comic Russian accent, first thing you do is delete all the articles: ''a, an, the.'' Russian has no articles, and some Russian speakers can't get the frightfully complicated rules for using ours.

'''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).

'''all animals . . . had names—bears, wolves, Siberian tigers''' 
Linguists cite Padzhitnoff's error as their favorite example of a taboo. Some time in the remote past, the name of the bear—derived from an Indo-European word like ''arktos'' or ''rktos''—became unspeakable and was replaced, in Russian, by the euphemism "honey-eater": ''medved'.'' It happened so long ago that speakers of the language think this is the native word. Same in English; ours comes from an old word for "brown."

'''That creature, we did not have name for''' 
Well then, how the hell are we supposed to look it up and post it to the wiki?

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Sue 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. [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/s#a1186 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.

Reading TRP has trained me to look for meaningful acronyms whether they are there or not. Here ZoE, zoë, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=b&p=10 "animal life"] -- and the emergence thereof. Spinning this album backword, we hear "the emergence of the animal" which like all good backward masking, refers to something in the [http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP27Revelation.htm ''Book of Revelation''.] This section, so titled, seems relevant (revelant): 
: 11:7-10 - ''Then...the animal will come up out of the pit and go to war with them. It will conquer and kill them, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city...."

'''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.

:The stolen idol's eye as a literary device goes back at least to 1868, when Wilkie Collins invented the modern detective novel in [http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/other/moonstone.html ''The Moonstone.''] In 1891, London's Savoy Theatre presented a post-Gilbert and Sullivan operetta called [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/other_savoy/nautch_girl/nautch_review.html ''The Nautch Girl''] using the same gimmick. And a rather maudlin poem by J. Milton Hayes, [http://ingeb.org/songs/theresae.html "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God"] (written before 1911), gives it a Kiplingesque treatment.

:And the theft of the idol's eye results in blindness, blindness at the heart of the diamond, and so [[ATD_97-118#Page_109|another ''Moonstone'' resonance.]]

The Hindu god of destruction and transformation, Shiva, "is often depicted with a third eye with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva#Attributes_of_Shiva wiki]

'''Isafjörðr''' 
Town in the Westfjords of Iceland. Often spelled as Isafjörður, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ísafjörður 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." [http://www.infoplease.com/t/lit/wasteland/thunder.html]

See also [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/dispatches/19991110.html 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" [http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/the-X-that-can-be-Y-is-not-the-true-X.html [cf]] 
Or -- the Zen koan regarding one's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_face Original Face]: "What did your face look like before your parents were born?"

'''bonzoline''' 
Ivory substitute made from celluloid, used for billiard balls. [http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Word=bonzoline [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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk 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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_113|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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|page 114]].

'''The ''Étienne-Louis Malus''''' 
The level of detail in the description suggests Pynchon wrote it while looking at a photo.

'''Iceland spar''' 
A crystalline form of calcite; see [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|annotations to page 114]] and the fuller entry [[I|under "I" in the alpha index]]. In truth, the links in these wiki entries make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcite Wikipedia] look lame.

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

'''376 feet, 6 inches''' 
The same length as the WWII-era [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_class_destroyer Fletcher Class Destroyer].

'''to the coasts of "Iceland," to the inhabited cliffs of ice''' 
The quotation marks suggest a place with this nickname, not Iceland. And sure enough, the Icelanders live in unglaciated lowlands, not cliffs in the ice.

'''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. ([[ATD_57-80#Page_73|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.

'''another remembered country''' 
The description of the scene suggests England or more specifically Cornwall, but who is remembering it? Constance lives in an "ancestral" home and Hunter apparently has not been away from there. It's an iconic background Hunter has painted into the scene; see the next entry.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_III_of_Norway 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginnungagap Wikipedia entry on Ginnungagap]

Ginnungagap seems a Norse counterpart to the Indian Akasa. 
''Eitr'' has no linguistic tie to ''aether'' -- but the two words have phonetic resonance. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eitr Eitr] means "poison" or specifically "snake poison."

'''inexplicable desire . . . about desire, and the forsaking of desire''' 
When Pynchon uses the word "desire" it always has some special urgency. Harald feels driven to enter Ginnungagap but draws back without fulfilling his desire.

==Page 128==

'''So relates Adam of Bremen in the ''Historia Hammaburgensis Ecclesiæ''''' 
The references to [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Adam_of_Bremen Adam of Bremen] and [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Harald_III Harald the Ruthless] may be "softer" than many appropriations of history in ''AtD.'' Or another way to characterize them may be "bolder." Adam (d. ca. 1085) was a learned churchman who wrote a history called ''Gesta hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (Acts of the Archbishops of the Hamburg Church) or ''Historia ecclesiastica'' (Church History). In the fourth book, ''Descriptio insularum aquilonum'' (Description of the Islands of the North), Adam writes about the expedition mentioned in the text and another voyage to the northern seas.

The indented paragraphs below are based on ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen,'' translated by F.J. Tschan from the ''Historia'' and published in 1959 by Columbia University Press. Extracts are paraphrased except where identified by quotation marks.

:From Book IV, chapter xxxix (pp. 219-220 in Tschan): Past [i.e., north of?] Vinland there is no habitable land in the ocean, only impassable ice and darkness. Frozen sea is encountered one day's sail to the north. The Norwegian prince Harald took several ships to explore the northern realm. Finally they saw the murky boundaries of "a failing world." Harald turned around and did not fall into the bottomless pit.

:From the next chapters, IV, xl-xli (220-221 in Tschan): A number of ships sailed from the coast of Frisia, landing in Iceland and then proceeding northward. Reaching the limits of the known islands, they commended their fate to God and St. Willehad and continued into an all-obscuring mist. They were picked up by a current of the "fluctuating" ocean and whirled around a great chasm that sucks in the sea and then vomits it forth again. Some ships were lost but others saved themselves by rowing against the flow. The voyagers came to an island encircled by high cliffs where men lived in underground caves. They collected great treasure of gold and silver that lay in front of the caves, then were chased from the island by giants with enormous hounds. A safe return to Bremen ended the exploration.

What the mariners reported is some medium-scale phenomenon, big enough to seize a ship. It might be a tidal or current vortex. In a footnote to chapter xl, the translator says there is a big whirlpool (the ''Eis'') off the east coast of Greenland. The original Maelstrom (look further down this page) is a zone of current shears and eddies off the west coast of Norway. We might also suspect a violent tidal rush, as in the Bay of Fundy. There are enough candidates out there to promote Adam's version from fabulous to plausible, at any rate.

The key point, however, is that Ginnungagap and Harald's epiphany about desire are ''not'' related by Adam but read/written into his account.

'''water-sky''' 
Darkening of the underside of clouds over water; [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html photos of water-sky and iceblink.]

'''drawn into another, toroidal dispensation''' 
"Dispensation" refers to a scheme under which God carries out his purposes toward men, or to a providential event affecting men and involving either mercy or judgment. [http://www.calvarysbd.com/terms.htm#D Slightly fuller definition.] "Toroidal" means donut-shaped.

A toroidal dispensation then is a scheme of universal management involving a donut shape. A huge whirlpool, in short: a ''maelstrom.''

[http://www.math.uio.no/maelstrom/ ''The'' Maelstrom] is a complicated system of currents and eddies off the coast of Norway, a frightful hazard to navigators that has become an icon for the vortex or whirlpool.

'''Bay of Röerford''' 
Does not seem to exist, at least with this spelling. 
A Google hit seems to confirm that the scientist Rasmus or Erasmus Bartholin studied calcite from the Bay of Roerford or Röerford, possibly in Denmark, but the link leads only to a summary, not full text.

The spelling Roerfjord is an old Danish or Norwegian variant of the Icelandic Reydarfjord. On the shores of Reydarfjord Bay lies Helgustadir, the site of the Iceland spar mine for centuries - in Bartholin's day thought to be the only source of Iceland spar.

'''southward to that region of sailors' yarns and oddities unconfirmed''' 
Clever inversion. To these people of the north, it's our familiar temperate seas that contain the marvels: porpoises, sargasso weed, year-round harbors.

'''Hunter Penhallow''' 
See above, Constance Penhallow. 
By the way, Penhallow is pronounced in a way that's very close to the italian "pennello" which means "paintbrush": quite appropriate for a painter!

'''lower-eighties''' 
Latitudes from 80N to 85N (mainly Ellesmere Island). [http://www.athropolis.com/map2.htm [map]] 
You would think that, but the text refers to people with "lower-eighties accents," and virtually no scientist comes from these latitudes (to say nothing of alienists). Could it have to do with 80th to 85th Streets? The expedition does appear to sail from New York.

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

==Page 129==

'''shakes''' 
[http://www.houstonremodeling.com/glossary/glossary_s.htm Shingles made by splitting a wood such as cedar along the grain.]

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]]

:It is however the case that a popular Norwegian (and Norwegian-American) dish is lutefisk, an awful concoction unimaginable to those of us who enjoy fresh seafood, which is a sort of "fish loaf." For a funny description of an American attempt to eat it, see [http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~atman/ic/lutefisk.html].

'''''¡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==

'''separated . . . by only the thinnest of membranes''' 
An excellent book, ''The Mind in the Cave,'' by David Lewis-Williams, explores the idea that the partition between worlds is thick most everywhere but thin in special places, allowing the spiritual journeyer (e.g., the shaman) to make an easy crossing. Superstitions about veils, including [[ATD_119-148#Page_140|human cauls,]] make similar claims about what separates the natural and supernatural worlds. Shifts from one world to another figure at several places in ''AtD''; [[ATD_1-25#Page_9|see for example the dialog on p. 9,]] "Another 'surface,' but an earthly one."

'''until the phrase no longer had meaning''' 
This contributor took part in creating a work of radio conceptual art called ''Knob.'' A reader spoke the word "knob" onto a tape, which was then looped so that it repeated every 3-4 seconds. After a few dozen repetitions, the listener could not associate any meaning with the word; after the full half-hour, few could stand without assistance.

'''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. [http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/prayer-wheel.htm 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.

[[image:ex-voti-isernia.jpg|thumb|175px|''Ex Voti'' of Wax, from Isernia|right]]What ''is'' a "candlebrow"? Consider those [[St. Cosmo|phallic ''ex voti'' candles offered up to St. Cosmo]]. The head of the candle-phallus, brow shaped, sits atop the cylindrical candle-shaft and is, metaphorically, the candle's brow. And, natch, Gideon Candlebrow made the bucks necessary to fund Candlebrow U. with the miracle product "Smegmo," the "Messiah of kitchen fats" (Imperial Margarine was advertised as "the King of Margarines") and we all know what [http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Asmegma&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official smegma] is. Also, the Biblical Gideon was associated with Phallus worship which was not considered at all shocking back in the day. When Gideon was asked by the Israelites to rule over them, he demurred stating that Yahveh shall rule over them, and he called on the people for all their golden ornaments, and of these be made the golden ephod (conventionally viewed as a priestly apron; controversially viewed as a phallus). The ephod was thus Yahveh or his idol. [http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Old%20Testament/Sex%20Worship%20and%20Idols.htm] [[The Sexual Angle|More on this...]]

Pynchon consistently calls it Candlebrow '''U.''' instead of simply Candlebrow or Candlebrow University because the letter's ''shape'', like the inverted-vagina shape of the Tetractys, echoes its phallic connotation. Pynchon similarly emphasizes the phallic by using "Dick" Counterfly (''with'' the quotes) instead of simply Dick. Hmmm, Ewball / U-ball?

Or, heck, maybe it's just Pynchon's oblique way of saying "fuck you"...

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

'''Quaternions''' 
In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician [[ATD-H#hamilton|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion Wikipedia entry].

'''Dr. V Ganesh Rao''' 
Ganesha is a Hindu god. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_shop [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 --[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pacific_Railroad [Wikipedia]] [http://www.beardbooks.com/beardbooks/eh_harriman.html Book on Harriman] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Harriman Harriman Wikpedia Entry] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Schiff Schiff Wikipedia Entry]

==Page 131==

'''The Transnoctial Discussion Group''' 
Note that "transnoctial" doesn't mean ''through'' the night, it means ''across'' the night. 
Trans- \Trans-\ [L. trans across, over.]
A prefix, signifying over, beyond, through and through, on the other side, as in transalpine, beyond the Alps;
transform, to form through and through, that is, anew,
transfigure.[1913 Webster]

See annotations to the next page for discussion of the members' names.

Noctial: from a [http://forums.gleemax.com/archive/index.php/t-838215.html Dungeons and Dragons] bulletin board: 

:''When a star is born, it violently tears apart the void that was there before its creation, ripping the nihility into hundreds of pieces and sending them hurtling through space. Occasionally, one finds its way to a planet, where it stays, consuming creatures to fill the unending emptiness inside it. These are noctials, rare but dangerous creatures that usually dwell in the wilderness.''
:''Noctials prefer open environments at night, making use of their Made of Sky ability to blend in with the night sky and drop down on unsuspecting prey. They are reclusive during the day, hiding in caves and other dark places. If it is clear that a noctial will lose a battle, a noctial will, rather than show a sense of self-preservation and flee, instead move to a position where its death throes will hurt its attackers as much as possible.''
:''Made of Sky (Ex): Noctials are made of the blackness between the stars, and so blend in perfectly. If the sun has set and a creature looking at a noctial sees nothing behind it except the sky, the noctial can hold perfectly still and automatically succeed on a Hide check, effectively being invisible to that creature as long as it remains immobile. True Seeing and the like have no effect on this ability.
:''Death Throes (Su): When a noctial dies, it explodes in a manner not unlike that of a dying star. Transforming into a raging inferno of white fire, it deals 4d6 damage to all creatures within 10 feet and 1d6 to all creatures within 20 feet. This will also ignite most flammable material within 20 feet.'' 
:''Ooze traits: Noctials are immune to all mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning, critical hits, flanking, and all effects relying on sight''. 
:''Incorporeal subtype: All nonmagical weapons miss noctials. All magical attacks have a 50% miss chance, unless they are based on positive energy, negative energy, or force or have Ghost touch. Noctials can partially enter objects, but must always be within 5 feet of the object's exterior. A noctial's attacks pass through natural armor, armor, and shields unless they are force-based (Mage Armor) or have a deflection bonus. They also can't manipulate objects, be grappled, or really interact with matter at all.''

'''"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.

'''first few wingbeats...invasion routes" 
An extraordinary paragraph. ''wingbeats'': in context has a demonic overtone of bats and Rebel Angels. Vormance and Vibe his sponsor here seem more intent on storming Heaven than exploring the artic -- shades of the ''Book of Revelation'' and Milton's ''Paradise Lost''.

'''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==

'''it described the present journey as being taken "at right angles to the flow of time"''' 
Fittingly, as the discussion immediately following makes clear, this means into an imaginary time.

'''Vormance . . . Otto Ghloix . . . a heckler''' 
Members of the Transnoctial Discussion Group are Alden Vormance, V. Ganesh Rao, Dodge Flannelette, Fleetwood Vibe, Templeton Blope, Hastings Throyle, Otto Ghloix, and an extra man (heckler).

Without trying to read too much into the names, consider two parallel discussion groups in stories by the science fiction writer R.A. Lafferty, both collected in ''Nine Hundred Grandmothers'' (1970). "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" features Gregory Smirnov, Valery Mok, her husband Charles Cogsworth, a person called Glasser, Aloysius Shiplap, Willy McGilly, Audifax O'Hanlon and Diogenes Pontifex. The brilliant "Narrow Valley" brings in "the eminent scientists, Dr. Velikof Vonk, Arpad Arkabaranan and Willy McGilly. That bunch turns up every time you get on a good one." Vonk, Arkabaranan and McGilly are a stable group with many other credits in Lafferty's fiction. These groups share more than just capricious names with the T.D.G.; the members have a hypothesis ready for any observation, and the hypotheses never agree.

'''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 [http://www-xray.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jgraham/hypo/h13/images/image118.gif 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-valued function of a complex variable; exp ''z''—written ''ez'' in the text—is a generalization of the exponential function 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.

:Mathematicians, please check this: In general, ''w'' = ''ez'' maps a line in the ''z'' plane to a spiral, not a circle, in the ''w'' plane. In the special case of a line parallel to the real axis, the map is either a line or a ray. In the special case of a line parallel to the imaginary axis, the map is indeed a circle. If this assertion is correct, it plays hob with Prof. Rao's metaphor.

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 [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/e.html ''e''].

'''as Fitzgerald maintained, a shrinkage of dimension''' 
Irish physicist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_FitzGerald George FitzGerald] proposed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Length_contraction 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.

[http://musr.physics.ubc.ca/~jess/p200/str/str.html 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==

'''a heckler . . . whom nobody . . . seemed quite able to locate''' 
The [[ATD_119-148#Page_125|Extra Man]] has followed the team indoors. 
Or maybe it is the ''Voice of God'' heckling those who just heckeled him!

'''Ynglingasaga''' 
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_babel 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--[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_%28alien%29 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".

:I'd opt for visitors from another dimension, a spiritual or an imaginary dimension, such as the dimension or axis upon which imaginary numbers reside (see above).
In his 1919 book, The Book of the Damned, Charles Fort uses the term to describe extra-terrestrials.

'''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

'''a device immediately recognizable yet unnamable''' 
"Device" here means an emblem. Irrelevantly, the rising sun on the Japanese flag is a device in this sense.

'''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 . . . . " and GR, V131: "the sea, which at sunset tonight shone green and smooth as iron-rich glass". 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.--[[User:Gobbag|Gobbag]] 13:52, 11 February 2007 (PST)
:Who but an artist like Hunter would catalog greens this way?

'''Narvik''' 
is a town in Norway, above the Arctic Circle.
Narvik was also the site of the first allied victory against Germany during WWII.

==Page 135==

'''in the offing''' 
Extended meaning: imminent. Originally a ship was said to be in the offing when she was visible from land but not yet (or no longer) in the area of safe anchorage.

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

'''cloudberries''' 
[http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~alice/explorations/churchill/cloudb.htm ''Rubus chamaemorus,''] edible fruit, yellow when ripe, related to raspberries, found growing wild in northern parts. Indigenous peoples may indeed eat them with blubber, but nowadays they also go into preserves and liqueurs.

'''skua eggs any style''' 
The [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068130/skua skua] is a predatory seabird, ''Catharacta skua.''

For those not familiar with American diner lingo, "any style" means they will be served fried, scrambled, poached or boiled, as you request.

'''Arctic humor''' 
If Narvik's three jokes are Arctic humor, give me the temperate kind any time.

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames#.27Venice_of_....27 Wikipedia entry on Venice of the X comparisons]

The Venice passage contains three 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.

Finally, the thinnest of veils between two locations allowing for bi-location. The first is the salsa label which when looked at the right way will transport you to the sunny clime immediately; the second is here on the ice, for when the cracks perfectly match the map of Venice, you can step through it and be translated directly to Italy.

A-and, since the ice in Iceland sometimes arranges itself into a map of Venice, and it's said that you can pass directly from Iceland to Venice, it's highly appropriate that you can do something similar with the very names of the places themselves: venICE to ICEland. A typicaly wonderful piece of Pynchonalia.

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

'''multiply-connected spaces''' 
Mathematical expression. In the crassest terms, Venice is multiply connected because some paths from one dry place to another pass through water. Without much risk of a spoiler, [[ATD_615-643#Page_618|see the definition on p. 618.]]

'''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.
[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/what/capeyork.php]

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel epistolary novel], a style popular during the period with which ATD is concerned--see for instance ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula Dracula]''.

'''Rapture of the North''' 
Coined phrase, after "Rapture of the Deep," a [http://www.deep-six.com/page74.htm nitrogen narcosis] experienced by deep-sea divers.

'''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==

'''scarcely enough of us to handle the lines''' 
Compare Darby's singlehanded feat, [[ATD_1-25#Page_14|annotations to p. 14.]]

Note that the increase in the size of the semi-fictional ''Inconvenience'' appears to be consistant with that of the larger fiction.

'''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 [http://web.grinnell.edu/physics/PMuseum/Nicol%20Prisms.html here], detailed diagrams of Nicol and other polarizing prisms are availabe [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/polpri.html 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunatak [Wikipedia]]

Pynchon's translation, "land connected" would seem to be at 180 degrees to Wikipedia's "lonely peak" (which is supported by Bates & Jackson, ''Glossary of Geology,'' 2nd ed.). Which is correct?

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

Perhaps both are correct? Connected and isolated: a classic Pynchon duality.

==Page 140==

'''an ark . . . and life resume its dominion''' 
Ecologists use the word [http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/zy198.htm#R ''refugium''] (plural ''refugia'') for an area protected from drastic changes in the surrounding region and preserving species and communities in just the way described in the text.

'''overhead . . . bulkheads''' 
And on p. 144 '''purchase . . . hawser . . . strand . . . starboard quarter''' 
Fleetwood either has a nautical background or is using these terms (for ceiling; walls; strong point of attachment; very heavy rope product; unravel; and behind and on the right side) in order to sound like an old salt.

'''sensitive-flames''' 
The term has a specific technical meaning: [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sensitive+flame External link]

'''a large brass speaking-trumpet''' 
Somewhat reminiscent of the ubiquitous W.A.S.T.E. symbolism in ''The Crying of Lot 49''.

[[image:Breguethands.jpg|thumb|Breguet hands|right]]'''Breguet-style arrowheads''' 
A distinctive fine watch of French design, usually with open circles ('moons') near the ends of the hands. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breguet_(watch) 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. [http://www.wou.edu/las/creativearts/music/MUS%20206%20Text.pdf 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.

To be "born with a caul" is meant to indicate a great future. 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''.

Caul births are rare. Two [http://doctorpotato.blogdrive.com/archive/32.html superstitions linked to them] are (1) that possession of a human caul (preferably one's own, but not necessarily) protects one against drowning and, by extension, protects one's ship against being wrecked; (2) that the child born in a caul will have second sight, the thinness of the membrane signifying the closeness of the natural and supernatural worlds. Midwives sometimes abstracted and sold cauls.

==Page 141==

'''''camera lucida''''' 
A drawing aid sometimes used with an optical instrument; it is worthwhile to read the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_lucida 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 or just one more anachronism. [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/curse.htm [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):

[[Image:odalisque.jpg|300px|center]]

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

Lord Vishnu is often depicted lying or sleeping like an odalisque upon the serpent (naga) Lord Sesha who represents widom, power, energy. Vishnu is the Preserver in the Trimurti of Brahma/Vishnu/Siva. Some legends associate him with the primeval waters that pervaded the world before creation and as the mover of waters. Vishnu is also the restorer of dharma and has ten avatars that have/will come to re-establish righteousness over chaos, one of which is Lord Krishna. In many depictions, a lotus or the four-faced Brahma rises from the navel of the reclining god. It is said that when Vishnu is depicted in this manner good and evil are in proper balance throughout the cosmos.

That this faux nunatak has mongoloid or serpent eyes brings to mind the passage in the ''Book of Revelation'' where Archangel Michael defeats Satan/the dragon:
:12:7-9 - ''The war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels battled with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they did not prevail and they were expelled from Heaven. So the huge dragon, the serpent of ancient times, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down upon the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.''

That this serpent is encased in ice at the North Pole is suggestive of Satan at the bottom of hell, in Dante's Ninth Circle, also encased in ice.

It would appear that the Vormance expedition, in search of profits, is about to undo the work of Heaven and unleash Satan upon the world.

While Dante and Virgil escape the center of hell at the bottom of the world (a zone of emergency if ever there was one) by passing through the center of the earth, Chick and the Chums "fly counter" to this -- through the center of the earth -- to get to the zone of emergency, the lake of ice, at the top of the world to witness the liberation of Destruction.
A cosmic reversal.

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|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.

'''which of us . . . had not performed''' 
Using the subjunctive mood, not the past perfect tense. A writer of today might say, "which of us . . . would not have performed."

'''we intrepid innocents . . . destiny.''' 
This Vormance expedition calls to mind the 2004 film [http://imdb.com/title/tt0370263/ 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.

'''scentless snow walls''' 
An interesting literary parallel: Richard Powers' novel ''Gain'' (1998) tells of a botanist who sails with the first U.S. Antarctic expedition:
<blockquote>A scent wafted upon him, a redolence for all the world like the smell of a forgotten existence. . . . the thing he smelled, out on the ice, was the sachet of scentlessness: air before the employment of lungs.</blockquote>
Congress, it's revealed, has funded the journey in hopes of discovering Symmes' Hole in the southern continent. The scientist belongs to a candle- and soap-manufacturing family that makes a fortune, establishes a conglomerate, invents a cooking fat substitute, exhibits at the 1893 Columbian World's Exposition in Chicago, endows a college, and extends the benefits of industrial society (cleanliness, Americanism and cancer clusters) throughout the world.

The name of the family and the company is Clare, but plainly there are several parallels to the Candlebrow saga. Scroll back to the annotations on p. 130, or (risking spoilers) [[ATD_397-428#Page_405|jump ahead to the annotations on p. 405]] and succeeding pages.

==Page 143==

'''Tungus''' 
Old name for the Siberian language Evenki; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungusic_languages 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilocation Wikipedia on bilocation] Is also obviously related to the physical properties of Iceland Spar.

'''Arctic hysteria . . . Northern melancholia''' 
We have three "scientifically" named psychological disorders: Rapture of the North (scroll back to annotations on p. 138), Arctic hysteria and Northern melancholia. Whatever happens, Ghloix will claim he predicted it.

If it's psychological disorders we are talking about, why not include Narvik's "Arctic humor" (p. 135)?

'''Christian Time''' 
That is, linear time, a concept first introduced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo St. Augustine of Hippo] (354-430), in his autobiographical [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions/confessions.html ''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_leaves Wikipedia entry]

Compare ''Mason & Dixon'' wherein the interiors of a coach (and one house, at least?) is more spacious than the measured dimensions.

While TRP writes only of the dimensions of the thing and not its actual shape, there is the sense of something protean, of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus Proteus] in the hold. In reading the wiki entry one learns that Proteus is associated in alchemy with Philosophical Mercury, "the light of nature," the ''anima mundi '' (spirit of the world), and much later Carl Jung associated it with the unconscious. Homer, Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Joyce, Vonnegut among others make use of this "Old Man of the Sea" god.

'''"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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_lisa Mona Lisa]
:[http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/eyefolow.htm Here is a scientific account] (though less coherent than we might like) of how the artist makes the subject of a painting seem to be looking at the viewer. It's very simple: paint the eyes looking along a line perpendicular to the canvas. But what's described in the text here is a little different and may be related to a phenomenon in public speaking: If the speaker makes eye contact with a few people in the audience, even skipping randomly around the house, ''many'' will report "He was looking directly at me!"

'''misplaced moon''' 
The moon simile is not far-fetched; ''Inconvenience'' viewed head-on must have looked quite moonlike.

'''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". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness Wikipedia]

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

'''impersonal momenta of the Commercial''' 
Momentum (plural momenta) must be a metaphor for the constant buzz of commerce; in physics, of course, the word means a well-defined quantity of motion, but that does not seem to fit here.

==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?

[[image:Evangelion.jpg|right|175px|thumb|The apocalyptic giant of light unearthed in the Arctic in Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''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? 
:-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)

The "man of light" is also a term from ancient Iranian gnosticism, representing the [http://www.kheper.net/topics/augeoides/Higher_Self.html higher self], the heavenly twin, the guide of light of every individual.
"The quest for the dawning of light in the cosmic North symbolizes the mystic's search for realization. In this spiritual journey, the light arising in man's inner darkness- the Northern Light or Midnight Sun- represents the impartial but brilliant light of Truth, that which sets us free from egotism and from slavery to material existence." Please see Henry Corbin's wonderful book [http://www.booklightinc.net/omegapub/detail.html?session=2a71a6af38a06d45076b5355e0eb5fd5&id=0930872487 ''The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism''] though be advised that it is written for the specialist.

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham Jeremy Bentham’s] designs for his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon 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.
:That unfortunately doesn't hold up. The panopticon doesn't have radiating corridors, as the floor plan in the Wikipedia article (link above) shows. And Matteawan was not built to the panopticon design anyway; it was an accretion of fairly conventional rectangular structures. [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/docs2day/fishkill.html Here is an aerial view] of Matteawan at a time later than the action; [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/loaded.html this web page] has exterior and interior views; the asylum was even pictured on [http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/matteawan_ny/index.html colored postcards.] The direct reference of "starfish" is probably to long wings running in scattered directions.

Through the use of the word “starfish” the narrator further invokes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft’s] novel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness ''At The Mountains of Madness''], wherein starfish- and star-shaped patterns abound in the culture and physiology of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Things 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. ("the District"), 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson_Raid 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War [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.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Austin 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''' 
[[image:borchardt.jpg|thumb|200px|Borchardt pistol|right]]1894 forerunner of Luger.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen 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. --[[User:Volver|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." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad Wikipedia entry] Corporations are routinely recognized as "persons" in the law nowadays. For more on the recognition of corporation as legal persons, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood 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==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 119-148

2008-11-28T14:39:21Z

Jc: /* Page 136 */ venICE => ICEland

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 121==

'''flying bridge''' 
On an ordinary aquatic ship, the flying bridge is an open deck atop the pilothouse for navigating in good weather. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_bridge [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). AtD is interested in Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry throughout, as well as in electromagnetic fields, topology and mapping. How does one world, one reality "map" onto another? Do they "double"? In what ways do they intersect?

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

'''here at the high edge of the atmosphere''' 
Odd phrasing that may mark an allusion to the space race a few decades later.

'''obscure feelings of dread''' 
Strange lights in the sky, not accompanied by thunder, are a portent—seldom of anything good on the way.

==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. [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html 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. Note the link here to the mysterious lattice-work on p. 121 above.

'''manœuvring''' 
British spelling; U.S. ''maneuvering.''

'''dazzle-painting''' 
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships.[http://www.gotouring.com/razzledazzle/articles/dazzle.html].

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarp (Wikipedia entry)]. Also suggestive of the ECHELON network [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON (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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutine 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 Lutine Bell was struck to announce news of an overdue ship: once if lost, twice if reported safe. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd's_of_London#Miscellaneous [Wikipedia]]

'''last eclipse''' 
Possibly Pike's Peak, 1878? [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhistory/SEhistory.html (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, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Pazhitnov 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game 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.

Additionally, the name Padzhitnoff sounds like ‘pads hitting off’ which in cricketing parlance describes a batsman being dismissed ‘Leg Before Wicket’ (or LBW). The rules for being given out [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leg_before_wicket LBW] require the umpire to make a subjective decision about whether the ball would have travelled onto the stumps after hitting the batsman. Due to this inherent element of uncertainty LBW dismissals are a constant source of disagreement between players, umpires, and fans.

'''''Ice Pirates''''' 
This turn of phrase echoes the spoof [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087451/ 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==

'''Getting jump on me''' 
To put on a comic Russian accent, first thing you do is delete all the articles: ''a, an, the.'' Russian has no articles, and some Russian speakers can't get the frightfully complicated rules for using ours.

'''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).

'''all animals . . . had names—bears, wolves, Siberian tigers''' 
Linguists cite Padzhitnoff's error as their favorite example of a taboo. Some time in the remote past, the name of the bear—derived from an Indo-European word like ''arktos'' or ''rktos''—became unspeakable and was replaced, in Russian, by the euphemism "honey-eater": ''medved'.'' It happened so long ago that speakers of the language think this is the native word. Same in English; ours comes from an old word for "brown."

'''That creature, we did not have name for''' 
Well then, how the hell are we supposed to look it up and post it to the wiki?

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugène_Sue 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. [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/s#a1186 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.

Reading TRP has trained me to look for meaningful acronyms whether they are there or not. Here ZoE, zoë, [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=b&p=10 "animal life"] -- and the emergence thereof. Spinning this album backword, we hear "the emergence of the animal" which like all good backward masking, refers to something in the [http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CP27Revelation.htm ''Book of Revelation''.] This section, so titled, seems relevant (revelant): 
: 11:7-10 - ''Then...the animal will come up out of the pit and go to war with them. It will conquer and kill them, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city...."

'''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.

:The stolen idol's eye as a literary device goes back at least to 1868, when Wilkie Collins invented the modern detective novel in [http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/digital/seringapatam/other/moonstone.html ''The Moonstone.''] In 1891, London's Savoy Theatre presented a post-Gilbert and Sullivan operetta called [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/other_savoy/nautch_girl/nautch_review.html ''The Nautch Girl''] using the same gimmick. And a rather maudlin poem by J. Milton Hayes, [http://ingeb.org/songs/theresae.html "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God"] (written before 1911), gives it a Kiplingesque treatment.

:And the theft of the idol's eye results in blindness, blindness at the heart of the diamond, and so [[ATD_97-118#Page_109|another ''Moonstone'' resonance.]]

The Hindu god of destruction and transformation, Shiva, "is often depicted with a third eye with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva#Attributes_of_Shiva wiki]

'''Isafjörðr''' 
Town in the Westfjords of Iceland. Often spelled as Isafjörður, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ísafjörður 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." [http://www.infoplease.com/t/lit/wasteland/thunder.html]

See also [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackletonexped/dispatches/19991110.html 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" [http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/the-X-that-can-be-Y-is-not-the-true-X.html [cf]] 
Or -- the Zen koan regarding one's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_face Original Face]: "What did your face look like before your parents were born?"

'''bonzoline''' 
Ivory substitute made from celluloid, used for billiard balls. [http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Word=bonzoline [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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk 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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_113|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 [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|page 114]].

'''The ''Étienne-Louis Malus''''' 
The level of detail in the description suggests Pynchon wrote it while looking at a photo.

'''Iceland spar''' 
A crystalline form of calcite; see [[ATD_97-118#Page_114|annotations to page 114]] and the fuller entry [[I|under "I" in the alpha index]]. In truth, the links in these wiki entries make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcite Wikipedia] look lame.

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

'''376 feet, 6 inches''' 
The same length as the WWII-era [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher_class_destroyer Fletcher Class Destroyer].

'''to the coasts of "Iceland," to the inhabited cliffs of ice''' 
The quotation marks suggest a place with this nickname, not Iceland. And sure enough, the Icelanders live in unglaciated lowlands, not cliffs in the ice.

'''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. ([[ATD_57-80#Page_73|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.

'''another remembered country''' 
The description of the scene suggests England or more specifically Cornwall, but who is remembering it? Constance lives in an "ancestral" home and Hunter apparently has not been away from there. It's an iconic background Hunter has painted into the scene; see the next entry.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_III_of_Norway 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginnungagap Wikipedia entry on Ginnungagap]

Ginnungagap seems a Norse counterpart to the Indian Akasa. 
''Eitr'' has no linguistic tie to ''aether'' -- but the two words have phonetic resonance. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eitr Eitr] means "poison" or specifically "snake poison."

'''inexplicable desire . . . about desire, and the forsaking of desire''' 
When Pynchon uses the word "desire" it always has some special urgency. Harald feels driven to enter Ginnungagap but draws back without fulfilling his desire.

==Page 128==

'''So relates Adam of Bremen in the ''Historia Hammaburgensis Ecclesiæ''''' 
The references to [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Adam_of_Bremen Adam of Bremen] and [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Harald_III Harald the Ruthless] may be "softer" than many appropriations of history in ''AtD.'' Or another way to characterize them may be "bolder." Adam (d. ca. 1085) was a learned churchman who wrote a history called ''Gesta hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' (Acts of the Archbishops of the Hamburg Church) or ''Historia ecclesiastica'' (Church History). In the fourth book, ''Descriptio insularum aquilonum'' (Description of the Islands of the North), Adam writes about the expedition mentioned in the text and another voyage to the northern seas.

The indented paragraphs below are based on ''History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen,'' translated by F.J. Tschan from the ''Historia'' and published in 1959 by Columbia University Press. Extracts are paraphrased except where identified by quotation marks.

:From Book IV, chapter xxxix (pp. 219-220 in Tschan): Past [i.e., north of?] Vinland there is no habitable land in the ocean, only impassable ice and darkness. Frozen sea is encountered one day's sail to the north. The Norwegian prince Harald took several ships to explore the northern realm. Finally they saw the murky boundaries of "a failing world." Harald turned around and did not fall into the bottomless pit.

:From the next chapters, IV, xl-xli (220-221 in Tschan): A number of ships sailed from the coast of Frisia, landing in Iceland and then proceeding northward. Reaching the limits of the known islands, they commended their fate to God and St. Willehad and continued into an all-obscuring mist. They were picked up by a current of the "fluctuating" ocean and whirled around a great chasm that sucks in the sea and then vomits it forth again. Some ships were lost but others saved themselves by rowing against the flow. The voyagers came to an island encircled by high cliffs where men lived in underground caves. They collected great treasure of gold and silver that lay in front of the caves, then were chased from the island by giants with enormous hounds. A safe return to Bremen ended the exploration.

What the mariners reported is some medium-scale phenomenon, big enough to seize a ship. It might be a tidal or current vortex. In a footnote to chapter xl, the translator says there is a big whirlpool (the ''Eis'') off the east coast of Greenland. The original Maelstrom (look further down this page) is a zone of current shears and eddies off the west coast of Norway. We might also suspect a violent tidal rush, as in the Bay of Fundy. There are enough candidates out there to promote Adam's version from fabulous to plausible, at any rate.

The key point, however, is that Ginnungagap and Harald's epiphany about desire are ''not'' related by Adam but read/written into his account.

'''water-sky''' 
Darkening of the underside of clouds over water; [http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/basics/phenomena/water_sky.html photos of water-sky and iceblink.]

'''drawn into another, toroidal dispensation''' 
"Dispensation" refers to a scheme under which God carries out his purposes toward men, or to a providential event affecting men and involving either mercy or judgment. [http://www.calvarysbd.com/terms.htm#D Slightly fuller definition.] "Toroidal" means donut-shaped.

A toroidal dispensation then is a scheme of universal management involving a donut shape. A huge whirlpool, in short: a ''maelstrom.''

[http://www.math.uio.no/maelstrom/ ''The'' Maelstrom] is a complicated system of currents and eddies off the coast of Norway, a frightful hazard to navigators that has become an icon for the vortex or whirlpool.

'''Bay of Röerford''' 
Does not seem to exist, at least with this spelling. 
A Google hit seems to confirm that the scientist Rasmus or Erasmus Bartholin studied calcite from the Bay of Roerford or Röerford, possibly in Denmark, but the link leads only to a summary, not full text.

The spelling Roerfjord is an old Danish or Norwegian variant of the Icelandic Reydarfjord. On the shores of Reydarfjord Bay lies Helgustadir, the site of the Iceland spar mine for centuries - in Bartholin's day thought to be the only source of Iceland spar.

'''southward to that region of sailors' yarns and oddities unconfirmed''' 
Clever inversion. To these people of the north, it's our familiar temperate seas that contain the marvels: porpoises, sargasso weed, year-round harbors.

'''Hunter Penhallow''' 
See above, Constance Penhallow. 
By the way, Penhallow is pronounced in a way that's very close to the italian "pennello" which means "paintbrush": quite appropriate for a painter!

'''lower-eighties''' 
Latitudes from 80N to 85N (mainly Ellesmere Island). [http://www.athropolis.com/map2.htm [map]] 
You would think that, but the text refers to people with "lower-eighties accents," and virtually no scientist comes from these latitudes (to say nothing of alienists). Could it have to do with 80th to 85th Streets? The expedition does appear to sail from New York.

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

==Page 129==

'''shakes''' 
[http://www.houstonremodeling.com/glossary/glossary_s.htm Shingles made by splitting a wood such as cedar along the grain.]

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]]

:It is however the case that a popular Norwegian (and Norwegian-American) dish is lutefisk, an awful concoction unimaginable to those of us who enjoy fresh seafood, which is a sort of "fish loaf." For a funny description of an American attempt to eat it, see [http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~atman/ic/lutefisk.html].

'''''¡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==

'''separated . . . by only the thinnest of membranes''' 
An excellent book, ''The Mind in the Cave,'' by David Lewis-Williams, explores the idea that the partition between worlds is thick most everywhere but thin in special places, allowing the spiritual journeyer (e.g., the shaman) to make an easy crossing. Superstitions about veils, including [[ATD_119-148#Page_140|human cauls,]] make similar claims about what separates the natural and supernatural worlds. Shifts from one world to another figure at several places in ''AtD''; [[ATD_1-25#Page_9|see for example the dialog on p. 9,]] "Another 'surface,' but an earthly one."

'''until the phrase no longer had meaning''' 
This contributor took part in creating a work of radio conceptual art called ''Knob.'' A reader spoke the word "knob" onto a tape, which was then looped so that it repeated every 3-4 seconds. After a few dozen repetitions, the listener could not associate any meaning with the word; after the full half-hour, few could stand without assistance.

'''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. [http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/prayer-wheel.htm 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.

[[image:ex-voti-isernia.jpg|thumb|175px|''Ex Voti'' of Wax, from Isernia|right]]What ''is'' a "candlebrow"? Consider those [[St. Cosmo|phallic ''ex voti'' candles offered up to St. Cosmo]]. The head of the candle-phallus, brow shaped, sits atop the cylindrical candle-shaft and is, metaphorically, the candle's brow. And, natch, Gideon Candlebrow made the bucks necessary to fund Candlebrow U. with the miracle product "Smegmo," the "Messiah of kitchen fats" (Imperial Margarine was advertised as "the King of Margarines") and we all know what [http://www.google.com/search?q=define%3Asmegma&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official smegma] is. Also, the Biblical Gideon was associated with Phallus worship which was not considered at all shocking back in the day. When Gideon was asked by the Israelites to rule over them, he demurred stating that Yahveh shall rule over them, and he called on the people for all their golden ornaments, and of these be made the golden ephod (conventionally viewed as a priestly apron; controversially viewed as a phallus). The ephod was thus Yahveh or his idol. [http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Old%20Testament/Sex%20Worship%20and%20Idols.htm] [[The Sexual Angle|More on this...]]

Pynchon consistently calls it Candlebrow '''U.''' instead of simply Candlebrow or Candlebrow University because the letter's ''shape'', like the inverted-vagina shape of the Tetractys, echoes its phallic connotation. Pynchon similarly emphasizes the phallic by using "Dick" Counterfly (''with'' the quotes) instead of simply Dick. Hmmm, Ewball / U-ball?

Or, heck, maybe it's just Pynchon's oblique way of saying "fuck you"...

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

'''Quaternions''' 
In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative extension of complex numbers. They were first described by the Irish mathematician [[ATD-H#hamilton|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion Wikipedia entry].

'''Dr. V Ganesh Rao''' 
Ganesha is a Hindu god. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesha 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucket_shop [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 --[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pacific_Railroad [Wikipedia]] [http://www.beardbooks.com/beardbooks/eh_harriman.html Book on Harriman] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._H._Harriman Harriman Wikpedia Entry] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Schiff Schiff Wikipedia Entry]

==Page 131==

'''The Transnoctial Discussion Group''' 
Note that "transnoctial" doesn't mean ''through'' the night, it means ''across'' the night. 
Trans- \Trans-\ [L. trans across, over.]
A prefix, signifying over, beyond, through and through, on the other side, as in transalpine, beyond the Alps;
transform, to form through and through, that is, anew,
transfigure.[1913 Webster]

See annotations to the next page for discussion of the members' names.

Noctial: from a [http://forums.gleemax.com/archive/index.php/t-838215.html Dungeons and Dragons] bulletin board: 

:''When a star is born, it violently tears apart the void that was there before its creation, ripping the nihility into hundreds of pieces and sending them hurtling through space. Occasionally, one finds its way to a planet, where it stays, consuming creatures to fill the unending emptiness inside it. These are noctials, rare but dangerous creatures that usually dwell in the wilderness.''
:''Noctials prefer open environments at night, making use of their Made of Sky ability to blend in with the night sky and drop down on unsuspecting prey. They are reclusive during the day, hiding in caves and other dark places. If it is clear that a noctial will lose a battle, a noctial will, rather than show a sense of self-preservation and flee, instead move to a position where its death throes will hurt its attackers as much as possible.''
:''Made of Sky (Ex): Noctials are made of the blackness between the stars, and so blend in perfectly. If the sun has set and a creature looking at a noctial sees nothing behind it except the sky, the noctial can hold perfectly still and automatically succeed on a Hide check, effectively being invisible to that creature as long as it remains immobile. True Seeing and the like have no effect on this ability.
:''Death Throes (Su): When a noctial dies, it explodes in a manner not unlike that of a dying star. Transforming into a raging inferno of white fire, it deals 4d6 damage to all creatures within 10 feet and 1d6 to all creatures within 20 feet. This will also ignite most flammable material within 20 feet.'' 
:''Ooze traits: Noctials are immune to all mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning, critical hits, flanking, and all effects relying on sight''. 
:''Incorporeal subtype: All nonmagical weapons miss noctials. All magical attacks have a 50% miss chance, unless they are based on positive energy, negative energy, or force or have Ghost touch. Noctials can partially enter objects, but must always be within 5 feet of the object's exterior. A noctial's attacks pass through natural armor, armor, and shields unless they are force-based (Mage Armor) or have a deflection bonus. They also can't manipulate objects, be grappled, or really interact with matter at all.''

'''"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.

'''first few wingbeats...invasion routes" 
An extraordinary paragraph. ''wingbeats'': in context has a demonic overtone of bats and Rebel Angels. Vormance and Vibe his sponsor here seem more intent on storming Heaven than exploring the artic -- shades of the ''Book of Revelation'' and Milton's ''Paradise Lost''.

'''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==

'''it described the present journey as being taken "at right angles to the flow of time"''' 
Fittingly, as the discussion immediately following makes clear, this means into an imaginary time.

'''Vormance . . . Otto Ghloix . . . a heckler''' 
Members of the Transnoctial Discussion Group are Alden Vormance, V. Ganesh Rao, Dodge Flannelette, Fleetwood Vibe, Templeton Blope, Hastings Throyle, Otto Ghloix, and an extra man (heckler).

Without trying to read too much into the names, consider two parallel discussion groups in stories by the science fiction writer R.A. Lafferty, both collected in ''Nine Hundred Grandmothers'' (1970). "Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne" features Gregory Smirnov, Valery Mok, her husband Charles Cogsworth, a person called Glasser, Aloysius Shiplap, Willy McGilly, Audifax O'Hanlon and Diogenes Pontifex. The brilliant "Narrow Valley" brings in "the eminent scientists, Dr. Velikof Vonk, Arpad Arkabaranan and Willy McGilly. That bunch turns up every time you get on a good one." Vonk, Arkabaranan and McGilly are a stable group with many other credits in Lafferty's fiction. These groups share more than just capricious names with the T.D.G.; the members have a hypothesis ready for any observation, and the hypotheses never agree.

'''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 [http://www-xray.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jgraham/hypo/h13/images/image118.gif 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-valued function of a complex variable; exp ''z''—written ''ez'' in the text—is a generalization of the exponential function 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.

:Mathematicians, please check this: In general, ''w'' = ''ez'' maps a line in the ''z'' plane to a spiral, not a circle, in the ''w'' plane. In the special case of a line parallel to the real axis, the map is either a line or a ray. In the special case of a line parallel to the imaginary axis, the map is indeed a circle. If this assertion is correct, it plays hob with Prof. Rao's metaphor.

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 [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/e.html ''e''].

'''as Fitzgerald maintained, a shrinkage of dimension''' 
Irish physicist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_FitzGerald George FitzGerald] proposed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Length_contraction 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.

[http://musr.physics.ubc.ca/~jess/p200/str/str.html 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==

'''a heckler . . . whom nobody . . . seemed quite able to locate''' 
The [[ATD_119-148#Page_125|Extra Man]] has followed the team indoors. 
Or maybe it is the ''Voice of God'' heckling those who just heckeled him!

'''Ynglingasaga''' 
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_babel 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--[[User:Gobbag|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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_%28alien%29 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".

:I'd opt for visitors from another dimension, a spiritual or an imaginary dimension, such as the dimension or axis upon which imaginary numbers reside (see above).
In his 1919 book, The Book of the Damned, Charles Fort uses the term to describe extra-terrestrials.

'''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

'''a device immediately recognizable yet unnamable''' 
"Device" here means an emblem. Irrelevantly, the rising sun on the Japanese flag is a device in this sense.

'''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 . . . . " and GR, V131: "the sea, which at sunset tonight shone green and smooth as iron-rich glass". 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.--[[User:Gobbag|Gobbag]] 13:52, 11 February 2007 (PST)
:Who but an artist like Hunter would catalog greens this way?

'''Narvik''' 
is a town in Norway, above the Arctic Circle.
Narvik was also the site of the first allied victory against Germany during WWII.

==Page 135==

'''in the offing''' 
Extended meaning: imminent. Originally a ship was said to be in the offing when she was visible from land but not yet (or no longer) in the area of safe anchorage.

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

'''cloudberries''' 
[http://www.chem.ucla.edu/~alice/explorations/churchill/cloudb.htm ''Rubus chamaemorus,''] edible fruit, yellow when ripe, related to raspberries, found growing wild in northern parts. Indigenous peoples may indeed eat them with blubber, but nowadays they also go into preserves and liqueurs.

'''skua eggs any style''' 
The [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068130/skua skua] is a predatory seabird, ''Catharacta skua.''

For those not familiar with American diner lingo, "any style" means they will be served fried, scrambled, poached or boiled, as you request.

'''Arctic humor''' 
If Narvik's three jokes are Arctic humor, give me the temperate kind any time.

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_nicknames#.27Venice_of_....27 Wikipedia entry on Venice of the X comparisons]

The Venice passage contains three 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.

Finally, the thinnest of veils between two locations allowing for bi-location. The first is the salsa label which when looked at the right way will transport you to the sunny clime immediately; the second is here on the ice, for when the cracks perfectly match the map of Venice, you can step through it and be translated directly to Italy.

A-and, since the ice in Iceland sometimes arranges itself into a map of Venice, and it's said that you can pass directly from Iceland to Venice, it's highly appropriate that you can do something similar with the very names of the places themselves: venICE to ICEland. A typicaly wonderful piece of Pynchonalia.

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

'''multiply-connected spaces''' 
Mathematical expression. In the crassest terms, Venice is multiply connected because some paths from one dry place to another pass through water. Without much risk of a spoiler, [[ATD_615-643#Page_618|see the definition on p. 618.]]

'''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.
[http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/meteorites/what/capeyork.php]

'''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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel epistolary novel], a style popular during the period with which ATD is concerned--see for instance ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula Dracula]''.

'''Rapture of the North''' 
Coined phrase, after "Rapture of the Deep," a [http://www.deep-six.com/page74.htm nitrogen narcosis] experienced by deep-sea divers.

'''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==

'''scarcely enough of us to handle the lines''' 
Compare Darby's singlehanded feat, [[ATD_1-25#Page_14|annotations to p. 14.]]

Note that the increase in the size of the semi-fictional ''Inconvenience'' appears to be consistant with that of the larger fiction.

'''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 [http://web.grinnell.edu/physics/PMuseum/Nicol%20Prisms.html here], detailed diagrams of Nicol and other polarizing prisms are availabe [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/phyopt/polpri.html 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunatak [Wikipedia]]

Pynchon's translation, "land connected" would seem to be at 180 degrees to Wikipedia's "lonely peak" (which is supported by Bates & Jackson, ''Glossary of Geology,'' 2nd ed.). Which is correct?

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

==Page 140==

'''an ark . . . and life resume its dominion''' 
Ecologists use the word [http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/zy198.htm#R ''refugium''] (plural ''refugia'') for an area protected from drastic changes in the surrounding region and preserving species and communities in just the way described in the text.

'''overhead . . . bulkheads''' 
And on p. 144 '''purchase . . . hawser . . . strand . . . starboard quarter''' 
Fleetwood either has a nautical background or is using these terms (for ceiling; walls; strong point of attachment; very heavy rope product; unravel; and behind and on the right side) in order to sound like an old salt.

'''sensitive-flames''' 
The term has a specific technical meaning: [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Sensitive+flame External link]

'''a large brass speaking-trumpet''' 
Somewhat reminiscent of the ubiquitous W.A.S.T.E. symbolism in ''The Crying of Lot 49''.

[[image:Breguethands.jpg|thumb|Breguet hands|right]]'''Breguet-style arrowheads''' 
A distinctive fine watch of French design, usually with open circles ('moons') near the ends of the hands. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breguet_(watch) 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. [http://www.wou.edu/las/creativearts/music/MUS%20206%20Text.pdf 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.

To be "born with a caul" is meant to indicate a great future. 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''.

Caul births are rare. Two [http://doctorpotato.blogdrive.com/archive/32.html superstitions linked to them] are (1) that possession of a human caul (preferably one's own, but not necessarily) protects one against drowning and, by extension, protects one's ship against being wrecked; (2) that the child born in a caul will have second sight, the thinness of the membrane signifying the closeness of the natural and supernatural worlds. Midwives sometimes abstracted and sold cauls.

==Page 141==

'''''camera lucida''''' 
A drawing aid sometimes used with an optical instrument; it is worthwhile to read the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_lucida 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 or just one more anachronism. [http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/curse.htm [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):

[[Image:odalisque.jpg|300px|center]]

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

Lord Vishnu is often depicted lying or sleeping like an odalisque upon the serpent (naga) Lord Sesha who represents widom, power, energy. Vishnu is the Preserver in the Trimurti of Brahma/Vishnu/Siva. Some legends associate him with the primeval waters that pervaded the world before creation and as the mover of waters. Vishnu is also the restorer of dharma and has ten avatars that have/will come to re-establish righteousness over chaos, one of which is Lord Krishna. In many depictions, a lotus or the four-faced Brahma rises from the navel of the reclining god. It is said that when Vishnu is depicted in this manner good and evil are in proper balance throughout the cosmos.

That this faux nunatak has mongoloid or serpent eyes brings to mind the passage in the ''Book of Revelation'' where Archangel Michael defeats Satan/the dragon:
:12:7-9 - ''The war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels battled with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they did not prevail and they were expelled from Heaven. So the huge dragon, the serpent of ancient times, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down upon the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.''

That this serpent is encased in ice at the North Pole is suggestive of Satan at the bottom of hell, in Dante's Ninth Circle, also encased in ice.

It would appear that the Vormance expedition, in search of profits, is about to undo the work of Heaven and unleash Satan upon the world.

While Dante and Virgil escape the center of hell at the bottom of the world (a zone of emergency if ever there was one) by passing through the center of the earth, Chick and the Chums "fly counter" to this -- through the center of the earth -- to get to the zone of emergency, the lake of ice, at the top of the world to witness the liberation of Destruction.
A cosmic reversal.

'''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. [[User:Bleakhaus|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.

'''which of us . . . had not performed''' 
Using the subjunctive mood, not the past perfect tense. A writer of today might say, "which of us . . . would not have performed."

'''we intrepid innocents . . . destiny.''' 
This Vormance expedition calls to mind the 2004 film [http://imdb.com/title/tt0370263/ 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.

'''scentless snow walls''' 
An interesting literary parallel: Richard Powers' novel ''Gain'' (1998) tells of a botanist who sails with the first U.S. Antarctic expedition:
<blockquote>A scent wafted upon him, a redolence for all the world like the smell of a forgotten existence. . . . the thing he smelled, out on the ice, was the sachet of scentlessness: air before the employment of lungs.</blockquote>
Congress, it's revealed, has funded the journey in hopes of discovering Symmes' Hole in the southern continent. The scientist belongs to a candle- and soap-manufacturing family that makes a fortune, establishes a conglomerate, invents a cooking fat substitute, exhibits at the 1893 Columbian World's Exposition in Chicago, endows a college, and extends the benefits of industrial society (cleanliness, Americanism and cancer clusters) throughout the world.

The name of the family and the company is Clare, but plainly there are several parallels to the Candlebrow saga. Scroll back to the annotations on p. 130, or (risking spoilers) [[ATD_397-428#Page_405|jump ahead to the annotations on p. 405]] and succeeding pages.

==Page 143==

'''Tungus''' 
Old name for the Siberian language Evenki; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungusic_languages 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilocation Wikipedia on bilocation] Is also obviously related to the physical properties of Iceland Spar.

'''Arctic hysteria . . . Northern melancholia''' 
We have three "scientifically" named psychological disorders: Rapture of the North (scroll back to annotations on p. 138), Arctic hysteria and Northern melancholia. Whatever happens, Ghloix will claim he predicted it.

If it's psychological disorders we are talking about, why not include Narvik's "Arctic humor" (p. 135)?

'''Christian Time''' 
That is, linear time, a concept first introduced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo St. Augustine of Hippo] (354-430), in his autobiographical [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/confessions/confessions.html ''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_leaves Wikipedia entry]

Compare ''Mason & Dixon'' wherein the interiors of a coach (and one house, at least?) is more spacious than the measured dimensions.

While TRP writes only of the dimensions of the thing and not its actual shape, there is the sense of something protean, of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proteus Proteus] in the hold. In reading the wiki entry one learns that Proteus is associated in alchemy with Philosophical Mercury, "the light of nature," the ''anima mundi '' (spirit of the world), and much later Carl Jung associated it with the unconscious. Homer, Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Joyce, Vonnegut among others make use of this "Old Man of the Sea" god.

'''"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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_lisa Mona Lisa]
:[http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/eyefolow.htm Here is a scientific account] (though less coherent than we might like) of how the artist makes the subject of a painting seem to be looking at the viewer. It's very simple: paint the eyes looking along a line perpendicular to the canvas. But what's described in the text here is a little different and may be related to a phenomenon in public speaking: If the speaker makes eye contact with a few people in the audience, even skipping randomly around the house, ''many'' will report "He was looking directly at me!"

'''misplaced moon''' 
The moon simile is not far-fetched; ''Inconvenience'' viewed head-on must have looked quite moonlike.

'''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". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness Wikipedia]

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

'''impersonal momenta of the Commercial''' 
Momentum (plural momenta) must be a metaphor for the constant buzz of commerce; in physics, of course, the word means a well-defined quantity of motion, but that does not seem to fit here.

==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?

[[image:Evangelion.jpg|right|175px|thumb|The apocalyptic giant of light unearthed in the Arctic in Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''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? 
:-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)

The "man of light" is also a term from ancient Iranian gnosticism, representing the [http://www.kheper.net/topics/augeoides/Higher_Self.html higher self], the heavenly twin, the guide of light of every individual.
"The quest for the dawning of light in the cosmic North symbolizes the mystic's search for realization. In this spiritual journey, the light arising in man's inner darkness- the Northern Light or Midnight Sun- represents the impartial but brilliant light of Truth, that which sets us free from egotism and from slavery to material existence." Please see Henry Corbin's wonderful book [http://www.booklightinc.net/omegapub/detail.html?session=2a71a6af38a06d45076b5355e0eb5fd5&id=0930872487 ''The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism''] though be advised that it is written for the specialist.

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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham Jeremy Bentham’s] designs for his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon 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.
:That unfortunately doesn't hold up. The panopticon doesn't have radiating corridors, as the floor plan in the Wikipedia article (link above) shows. And Matteawan was not built to the panopticon design anyway; it was an accretion of fairly conventional rectangular structures. [http://www.correctionhistory.org/html/chronicl/docs2day/fishkill.html Here is an aerial view] of Matteawan at a time later than the action; [http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/loaded.html this web page] has exterior and interior views; the asylum was even pictured on [http://www.rootsweb.com/~asylums/matteawan_ny/index.html colored postcards.] The direct reference of "starfish" is probably to long wings running in scattered directions.

Through the use of the word “starfish” the narrator further invokes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft’s] novel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Mountains_of_Madness ''At The Mountains of Madness''], wherein starfish- and star-shaped patterns abound in the culture and physiology of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Things 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. ("the District"), 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jameson_Raid 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Boer_War [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.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Austin 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''' 
[[image:borchardt.jpg|thumb|200px|Borchardt pistol|right]]1894 forerunner of Luger.

'''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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridtjof_Nansen 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. --[[User:Volver|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." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad Wikipedia entry] Corporations are routinely recognized as "persons" in the law nowadays. For more on the recognition of corporation as legal persons, see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_personhood 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==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 199-218

2008-01-04T13:46:29Z

Jc: /* Page 212 */ apelike trudge = Dubya Bush

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 199==

'''headed for Nevada''' 
From Denver or Golden the boys travel westward. Do they reach Nevada or just point in that direction? The scenic description may fit parts of Utah (between Colorado and Nevada) or Nevada proper. It's some 250 miles from Denver to the Utah-Nevada line; we learn that Jeshimon is a day's ride (say 100 miles?) from Nochecita, and also that you go south from Jeshimon to get to Telluride. And there's more: In Nochecita some visitors are identified as "Utahans," which suggests the town is not in Utah. 
The geography seems to work only if Nochecita is in western Colorado, not Nevada.

==Page 200==

'''Nochecita''' 
Spanish: little night. We saw earlier [[ATD_1-25#Page_22|(see annotations to p. 22)]] that bright light is not a source of comfort while darkness can be; Nochecita should be a place of shelter.

'''Estrella''' 
Spanish: star. In New World Spanish the middle syllable is pronounced just about like "Stray."
:and in Old World Spanish too 
She is a star in the "little night."

The name of a character in Dickens' ''Great Expectations.''

==Page 201==
'''natatorium''' 
New Englandish word for "swimming pool" - see [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=natatorium Online Etymology Dictionary], from the Latin ''natare'' - to swim.

'''stand literally ''in a circle'' around the couple as if enforcing the choice and allowing them no other''' 
Weddings in many places and times feature circles (circular ring, guests dancing in a circle, ribbon encircling the couple). A confining circle of guests does not seem to be a custom anywhere. Are these newly made "friends" pursuing some end we can't recognize—for example seeking to ensure a lineage?

'''Family idiot... some emergency drooling done''' 
Frank the self-professed Frankenstein of the Traverse family. 
Frank will not be the last ''AtD'' character to hold himself out as an [[Idiots and Idiocy in Against the Day|idiot]].

==Page 202==

'''Cooper''' 
In the spirit of Icelandic Spar doubling, is it possible that the description of 'young gent Cooper' is Pynchon writing himself into ATD? Pynchon is reportedly shy and one of the supposed reasons given for why he never wanted his picture taken was that his upper teeth protruded and he did not like his portrait. Cooper sits astride a black and gold V-twin (!), produces a "Cornell" model Acme guitar, 'which now and then found strange notes added into the guitar chords, as though Cooper had hit between the wrong frets, only somehow it sounded right,' a pretty good analogy of Pynchon's bizarre but powerful prose style. Cf. Pynchon and his music connections and the trope (from Homer on) of musicians as the archetypal artists. Pynchon reportedly played the ukulele, so perhaps he also plays guitar. Perhaps this Cooper is an amalgam of himself and his
great deceased school friend, Richard Farina?

A Cooper is also a barrel-maker.

On the other hand, Cooper is blonde and blue-eyed, whereas Pynchon has dark brown hair and dark eyes, as near as can be made out from the photos that exist.

Then there is Gary Cooper, debonair American movie star.

A Peter Cooper wrote an early book on Pychon's signs and symbols.

"Young Cooper" is also the appellation of Dale Cooper, the FBI agent who is one of the main characters in David Lynch famous series "Twin Peaks"... Don't know...

:Erase Gary Cooper from your thoughts. Too tall, wrong eye color (though he did have that deceptive upper lip). Nearly every detail about Agent Cooper is wrong too.

:Scaled down just a bit, striking blue eyes, blond hair, "motor-wheelman," "injury . . . in his past." Everything but the name comes out [http://www.stevemcqueen.org.uk/ Steve McQueen] (1930-80). Not an identification but a distant resonance.

'''V-twin with white rubber tires''' 
A V-twin is a two cylinder internal combustion engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V configuration, most often seen in motorcycles. The first motorcycles available for purchase were made in 1894 by Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, but the V-twin layout did not come to market until ca. 1902 (Zedel, Switzerland). The first U.S. V-twin was apparently made by [http://www.ianchadwick.com/motorcycles/triumph/time01.html Indian] (1903). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Davidson Harley-Davidson] got a V-twin motor into production in 1910 or 1911 (prototype 1907).

'''notes... rang like schoolbells''' 
Recalls the lyrics from the famous 1958 Chuck Berry song, "Johnny B. Goode": "But he could play the guitar just like a ringing a bell".

==Page 203==

'''Cooper, cont'd'''

If Cooper ''is'' meant as some kind of parallel of Pynchon, note that Cooper waits "for faces there, or a particular face, to be drawn by the music," and one is-- Sage, who exits the house wearing gray and puts her arm up Cooper's sleeve. Could this be Pynchon's loving memory of meeting his wife?

This is all far too tenous and speculative, surely?

==Page 204==

'''Linnet Dawes''' 
The linnet is ''Carpodacus mexicanus,'' most often called house finch. The species originated in the western U.S. but got spread through the east as a result of releases by bird smugglers. Also a European finch. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnet Wikipedia]

She is named for two birds. The daw or jackdaw is an Old World bird somewhat resembling the crow in appearance and the grackle in behavior.

Jackdaw in Czech is "Kafka" --[[User:jackmw|jackmw]] 18:28, 04 April 2007 (PST)

'''reading the ''Police Gazette'' or, actually, looking at the pictures''' 
[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1330925 The ''National Police Gazette''] (published 1848-1980s) was the biggest men's magazine in the U.S. at the turn of the century, selling some 150,000 copies. Printed on pink paper, it contained sports reporting as well as crime stories, often with drawings of rumpled female victims. Photos of burlesque performers were a regular feature by the time of the action.

==Page 205==

'''against the daylight''' 
A direct example of ''against the day'' as ''against the light''. Significantly, Frank's attempt to discern Stray's true facial expression is thwarted by the daylight behind her. An object positioned against the daylight, or, in general, between an observer and a light source, is shadowed or silhouetted -- in Pynchon's words of the same sentence, "veiled by its own penumbra". This is suggestive of the idea that light does not always illuminate.

This is also an echo of the 'dorsal finality' framing of Constance Penhallow in Hunter's portrait back in Iceland.

'''"faro boxes"''' 
Card game with anti-cheating mechanism that can be fixed. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faro_(card_game) Wikipedia.] In fact, faro was a big moneymaker—for the house—because rigging the shoe or box was so common.

'''ol' Buck-the-Tiger''' 
"Bucking the tiger" is an old euphemism for playing faro. [http://www.bcvc.net/faro/history.htm bcvc.net]

==Page 206==

'''soul-to-soul''' and '''down Mexico way''' 
Possible allusions to blues-rock guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, respectively. The first phrase was the title of a Vaughan album and the second is a phrase used in the song "Hey Joe," most famously recorded by Hendrix.

Pynchon must be laughing his tits off at some of this stuff. "Soul to soul" and "down Mexico way" are just expressions - that's how they found their way into songs. TRP is a bright guy and if he'd wanted for some reason to allude to Stevie Ray and Jimi at this particular point (why, for god's sake?) he'd have found a more satisfying way of doing it.

'''everything . . . proceeded down Mexico way''' 
A triple metaphor: (3) to proceed to Mexico from Colorado, you go south. (2) "Go south" evokes "Go west." (1) To go west is an expression from the World War meaning to die. 
The vast system of trenches in the war ran mainly north and south, with the Allies on the west. Going west meant getting finally withdrawn from the never-ending trench war. Soldiers would later say "go home in a bag." [http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/wordswar.htm ''Gone west'' for "dead"] apparently predates ''gone south'' by a little. 
[http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/26/messages/584.html ''Gone south'' for "deteriorated"] is influenced by the preceding but also relies on customary map orientation: south = down. 
So ''everything proceeded down Mexico way'' means it all came undone, turned to disaster.

'''both sounders and inkers''' 
Two types of telegraph machine. Inkers turn telegraph signals into marks along long ribbons of paper, while sounders only made sounds through a speaker, requiring a human to write down the message.

'''one day it rang while Reef happened to be right next to it''' 
Someone who knew Pynchon in the 60s described their final meeting in the article, [http://theaesthetic.com/NewFiles/pynchon.html Thomas Pynchon and the South Bay]: "I was walking down the street and he was walking toward me. Our paths crossed right in front of a pay phone, our eyes met and we recognized each other. I asked how he was and at that moment the telephone rang. He looked at me and looked at the phone, then turned around and ran down the street, and I never saw him again."

At the 70s pot-commune 'The Farm' in Tennessee, their first phone system (called 'Beatnik Bell') was legendary for working this way (by ESP). [http://www.thefarm.org/lifestyle/albertbates/akbp1b.html more]

'''a turbulent bath of noise that could have been fragments of speech or music surged along the lines''' 
A possible imagistic allusion to the work of Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, specifically their 1948 book ''A Mathematical Theory of Communication''. Shannon and Weaver were engineers working for Bell Systems who posited that information traffic through telephone systems could best be described in mathematical terms normally reserved for the flow of ''turbulent fluids''. Their work, along with that of Norbert Wiener, founds the basis of the American branch of information theory. Wikipedia citations for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon Shannon] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Weaver Weaver], and for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory information theory].

We know from the introduction to Slow Learner that Pynchon read (some--two books mentioned) Norbert Wiener while still in college.

==Page 207==

'''"Bob Meldrum"''' 
1920s outlaw. [http://www.museumnwco.org/lookBackArticle.php?lookBackID=35 cite]

'''Jeshimon''' 
Jeshimon is typically rendered from Hebrew as desert or wasteland. It appears in the Bible, 1 Samuel 26:1, "And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?"

Apparently not the name of a real town. Utahans are known to name towns with words from scripture, though. In the Mormon book of 1 Nephi, the patriarch Lehi is reported to have migrated with his family through a wilderness. D. Kelly Ogden ("Answering the Lord's Call," ''Studies in Scripture,'' vol. 7, Salt Lake, Deseret Book, 1987) notes that the remotest kind of wilderness would have been called jeshimon. In ''God and the American Writer,'' Alfred Kazin quotes the Puritan preacher Increase Mather (in "The Mystery of Israel's Salvation") as saying, "God hath led us into a wilderness, and surely it was not because the Lord hated us but because he loved us that he brought us hither into this Jeshimon." He may, however, have been referring to Massachusetts.

There seem to be differences between commentators as to whether Jeshimon refers to a specific place or not (although the broad consensus is that it doesn't, but see for instance [http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=Jeshimon NetBible]). So Jeshimon may or may not be an actual place but is certainly not pleasant to be in, befitting the mysterious, anarchic town of death in AtD

==Page 208==
'''Mortalidad''' 
Spanish for mortality.

==Page 209==

'''"every telegraph pole had a corpse hanging from it"''' 
very reminiscent of the heads on poles in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, an important text for GR.... "worst town Reef ever rode into". And the Belgian Congo, the setting for most of Conrad's novella, is mentioned in "AtD" in terms of the cruelty and exploitation of colonialism. The image of the corpses on telegraph-poles reminds me of a similar image in Stephen King's "The Stand".

'''Towers of Silence''' 
The Towers of Silence (also dakhma or dokhma or doongerwadi) are circular raised structures used by Zoroastrians for exposure of the dead. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_of_Silence Wikipedia]

==Page 210==

'''leave it to hang there by its one foot''' 
The Governor shoots malefactors, then exposes them in this way, which calls to mind the Hanged Man in the Tarot deck.

'''Second Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Church''' 
A small town with ''two'' LCMS congregations really is covered up with churches. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is a traditionalist body with no bishops. Its heritage is strongly German, and half its members today live in the Upper Midwest.

'''more churches here than saloons''' 
A comment on the utility of organized religion in maintaining civilization.

All those churches don't seem to have much effect on civilization...--[[User:Kirkm|Kirkm]] 02:17, 24 February 2007 (PST)

'''accommodations''' 
Decent burial.

'''subornation''' 
The act of inducing (a person) to commit an unlawful or evil act.

Reef learns that for a price even the "laws" here can be bent.

== Page 211 ==

'''arnophilia''' 
A word invented by Pynchon. According to this [http://www.basarchive.org/sample/bswbBrowse.asp?PubID=BSBR&Volume=19&Issue=6&ArticleID=5 website] the greek word ''arnos'' generally refers to a lamb or sheep, but occasionally to a goat, too. Suffixes with the common part -phil- (-phile, -philia, -philic) are used to specify some kind of attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-phil- Wikipedia]

Given Pynchon's penchant for low humor, this is also likely to be a reference to a very old joke: Salesman blows into remote Western town, asks bartender, "What do you do for, um, amusement hereabouts?" Bartender says "We fuck sheep". Salesman after a few days finds a sheepfold and soon finds himself surrounded by(in different versions) (1)laughing locals, who say "You picked an ugly one" (2) deputies, who arrest him saying "That's the Sheriff's girl". This joke was ancient when I heard it in the late 1950s.

'''Lourdes''' 
city in France of Blessed Virgin appearances in the late 1800s to a youth and supposed miraculous cures since. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes Wikipedia entry]

'''a kind of winged God''' 
in various depictions, Satan appears as an angel/godlike-creature with huge wings. One of the most famous examples would be Milton's "Paradise Lost", especially Books 1 and 2.

Also, Satan is depicted as winged in the Rider-Waite Tarot

==Page 212==

'''The upside down star''' 
The upside down star, also known as the ''inverted pentagram,'' (with "two horns exalted"), is an emblem of the Devil.

In ''Mason and Dixon,'' the upside-down star is a symbol of two things that are connected: 1) when M&D are trying to find true north, they look at stars in their telescope to measure when they reach the peak of their arc arcoss the sky. In the telescope the star is upside down. Thus, upside down stars symbolize points which cut through distortion. 2) The star is seen again and again on rifles of both Dutch and American design. They pop up around slavery, a massacre, and an Iron refinery used for making impliments of slavery and war. The rifle is much like a telescope, but differs in that it shoots lead rather then huge sweaping cuts across the landscape. But they are both acts that are branded by evil.

'''apelike trudge''' 
If you suspect someone is the devil, you watch their gait. Cloven hooves inside his boots?

Plus, surely it can't remain unmentioned, this a spot-on piss-take of George 'Dubya' Bush, leader of the Free World (versus the 'Evildoers'), and a former execution-loving Governor.

'''Flagg''' 
In several Stephen King novels, including The Stand, Randall Flagg is an evil antichrist-like character.

==Page 213==

'''''Quieres un cloque''''' 
Spanish: You want a grapple.

'''dusk's reassembly of the broken day''' 
Broken by heat, reassembled as it cools. Or, dusk
bringing darkness, night--"it's always night"--after
another broken day...another 'against the day' allusion?

==Page 214==

'''stole a horse''' 
Reef probably he left in such a hurry, rapelling down "the blood-red wall", that he did not try to find his own horse or felt the Marshall might have gotten to it. Possibly, but unlikely, that TRP 'forgot' about the horse Reef came in on. 
He traveled to Mortalidad by train and must have rented a horse to get to Jeshimon.

'''the McElmo''' 
Watershed territory in Utah and Colorado.

'''an ancient people whose name no one knew''' 
No one knows what the Anasazi or ancient pueblo people called themselves. The name Anasazi is Navaho, ''anaasázi'': enemy ancestors, but most Anglos think it means something like "ancient ones."

'''shouldn't somebody ought to carry on the family business—you might say, become the Kid?''' 
The comic strip ''The Phantom'' stars something like the 22nd inheritor of his family business. The Queen of England is another parallel.

'''"Each explosion was like the text of another sermon"''' 
Cf. "That gun will replace your tongue, and your poetry will be now written with blood" - Nobody towards William Blake, from 1995 movie ''Dead Man'' by Jim Jarmusch ([http://imdb.com/title/tt0112817/ IMDb], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man Wikipedia])

'''voice of the thunder''' 
Twelfth Song of the Thunder

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice above,
The voice of the thunder
Within the dark cloud
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice below,
The voice of the grasshopper
Among the plants
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.

[From Washington Matthews, The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony, 1887]

Voice of the Thunder is also the title of a book by Laurens Van der Post
championing the life of the Australian Aborigines.

And the fifth and final section of T S Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land' is entitled "What the Thunder Said".

'''''The Chums of Chance at the Ends of the Earth''''' 
Not to be confused with ''The Chums of Chance in the Bowels of the Earth'', mentioned at the end of Part 1 ([[ATD_97-118#Page_117|page 117]]). The cover illustration suggests that the events in ''Ends of the Earth'' follow ''Bowels'' directly.

'''[the book], already dog-eared" 
A contributor has mentioned a possible connection to Pugnax, but Pugnax was a neat reader, unlike Reef.
The book was "dog-eared" when Reef got it and I think the connection is to the word and the meaning of reading dogs like Pugnax and the one in Mason & Dixon.

Or, simply, that the book was dog-eared. (One doesn't always need to create connections where they may not exist.) --[[User:Kirkm|Kirkm]] 02:27, 24 February 2007 (PST)

==Page 215==

[[image:bridalveilfalls.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Bridal Veil Falls (c) [http://www.stevegarufi.com/bridal-veil-falls-colorado.htm ColoradoGuy.com]]]

'''"running a game of chance without a license" 
The use of the word 'chance' here is probably no accident. Perhaps this implies that only the Chums of Chance can run a game of chance? Only the author of the Chums books has "[poetic] license? Cf. 'Great Game'and chance.

Or it is simply a game of chance (ie, gambling).

:It seems to be simply tapping on the irony that Reef's being busted for running an unlicensed game of chance is what leads him to discovering a book about the Chums of Chance. Does he just discover the book on the floor of the cell? Ha. [[User:Greenlantern|Greenlantern]] 17:21, 28 February 2007 (PST)

'''North Cape and Franz Josef Land''' 
North Cape, Norway, is one of the northernmost points of Europe. Franz Josef Land is an archipelago in the Arctic Circle that was discovered in 1873 by Austrian polar explorers and named in honour of the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. Today it belongs to Russia.

'''While reading, "he enjoyed a sort of dual existence"''' 
Spar and splitting theme? Pynchon on fiction and readers of? The magic of reading fiction and how it can transport you to other worlds?

Much like the boy Bastian in mid-80's children's fantasy film ''The Neverending Story'' [http://imdb.com/title/tt0088323/ IMdb entry]

'''he thought he saw something familiar''' 
Sensitized by the (cleverly planted?) book, he sees ''Inconvenience'' conducting surveillance.

'''Sleeping Ute''' 
Ute or Sleeping Ute Mountain is near Cortez.

'''Bridal Veil Falls''' 
Waterfall near Telluride, Colorado. At 431 feet, Bridal Veil Falls is Colorado's tallest. The historic structure between the two falls is the former Smuggler-Union hydroelectric plant, which provided Telluride's electricity from 1904 until 1954. [http://www.jeffblaylock.com/window/2004/06/bridal_veil_fal/index.php source]

==Page 216==

'''"Just greasy ashes by the trailside."''' 
Cf. p. 10, "tall smokestacks unceasingly vomiting black grease-smoke."

'''disrespect''' 
Corruption setting in?

'''Joe Hill''' 
1879-1915, immigrant from Sweden, labor organizer and Wobbly ideologue, executed (after being framed) in Utah. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill See the Wikipedia article.]

 Note that this is probably an anachronism. Franklin Rosemont's book on Joe Hill quotes a friend of Hill's, Alexander MacKay, stating he was "pretty damn positive" Joe Hill joined the IWW in 1910. [p. 46 of "Joe Hill - The IWW and the Making of a Revolutionary Working Class Counterculture".] The IWW wasn't even formed until 1905.

==Page 217==

'''in country you don't know how to get back in from''' 
A recurring idea, that you can go somewhere and not be able to get back.

'''Confederate Colt''' 
Webb's Uncle Fletcher's revolver; [[ATD_81-96#Page_88|see annotations to page 88,]] where it is first mentioned.

==Page 218==

'''God . . . laying on tells''' 
"Tell" is poker slang for any signal a player gives that other players can exploit.

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 199-218

2008-01-04T13:39:07Z

Jc: /* Page 205 */ echo of Constance Penhallow, 'dorsal finality'

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 199==

'''headed for Nevada''' 
From Denver or Golden the boys travel westward. Do they reach Nevada or just point in that direction? The scenic description may fit parts of Utah (between Colorado and Nevada) or Nevada proper. It's some 250 miles from Denver to the Utah-Nevada line; we learn that Jeshimon is a day's ride (say 100 miles?) from Nochecita, and also that you go south from Jeshimon to get to Telluride. And there's more: In Nochecita some visitors are identified as "Utahans," which suggests the town is not in Utah. 
The geography seems to work only if Nochecita is in western Colorado, not Nevada.

==Page 200==

'''Nochecita''' 
Spanish: little night. We saw earlier [[ATD_1-25#Page_22|(see annotations to p. 22)]] that bright light is not a source of comfort while darkness can be; Nochecita should be a place of shelter.

'''Estrella''' 
Spanish: star. In New World Spanish the middle syllable is pronounced just about like "Stray."
:and in Old World Spanish too 
She is a star in the "little night."

The name of a character in Dickens' ''Great Expectations.''

==Page 201==
'''natatorium''' 
New Englandish word for "swimming pool" - see [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=natatorium Online Etymology Dictionary], from the Latin ''natare'' - to swim.

'''stand literally ''in a circle'' around the couple as if enforcing the choice and allowing them no other''' 
Weddings in many places and times feature circles (circular ring, guests dancing in a circle, ribbon encircling the couple). A confining circle of guests does not seem to be a custom anywhere. Are these newly made "friends" pursuing some end we can't recognize—for example seeking to ensure a lineage?

'''Family idiot... some emergency drooling done''' 
Frank the self-professed Frankenstein of the Traverse family. 
Frank will not be the last ''AtD'' character to hold himself out as an [[Idiots and Idiocy in Against the Day|idiot]].

==Page 202==

'''Cooper''' 
In the spirit of Icelandic Spar doubling, is it possible that the description of 'young gent Cooper' is Pynchon writing himself into ATD? Pynchon is reportedly shy and one of the supposed reasons given for why he never wanted his picture taken was that his upper teeth protruded and he did not like his portrait. Cooper sits astride a black and gold V-twin (!), produces a "Cornell" model Acme guitar, 'which now and then found strange notes added into the guitar chords, as though Cooper had hit between the wrong frets, only somehow it sounded right,' a pretty good analogy of Pynchon's bizarre but powerful prose style. Cf. Pynchon and his music connections and the trope (from Homer on) of musicians as the archetypal artists. Pynchon reportedly played the ukulele, so perhaps he also plays guitar. Perhaps this Cooper is an amalgam of himself and his
great deceased school friend, Richard Farina?

A Cooper is also a barrel-maker.

On the other hand, Cooper is blonde and blue-eyed, whereas Pynchon has dark brown hair and dark eyes, as near as can be made out from the photos that exist.

Then there is Gary Cooper, debonair American movie star.

A Peter Cooper wrote an early book on Pychon's signs and symbols.

"Young Cooper" is also the appellation of Dale Cooper, the FBI agent who is one of the main characters in David Lynch famous series "Twin Peaks"... Don't know...

:Erase Gary Cooper from your thoughts. Too tall, wrong eye color (though he did have that deceptive upper lip). Nearly every detail about Agent Cooper is wrong too.

:Scaled down just a bit, striking blue eyes, blond hair, "motor-wheelman," "injury . . . in his past." Everything but the name comes out [http://www.stevemcqueen.org.uk/ Steve McQueen] (1930-80). Not an identification but a distant resonance.

'''V-twin with white rubber tires''' 
A V-twin is a two cylinder internal combustion engine where the cylinders are arranged in a V configuration, most often seen in motorcycles. The first motorcycles available for purchase were made in 1894 by Hildebrand & Wolfmüller, but the V-twin layout did not come to market until ca. 1902 (Zedel, Switzerland). The first U.S. V-twin was apparently made by [http://www.ianchadwick.com/motorcycles/triumph/time01.html Indian] (1903). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Davidson Harley-Davidson] got a V-twin motor into production in 1910 or 1911 (prototype 1907).

'''notes... rang like schoolbells''' 
Recalls the lyrics from the famous 1958 Chuck Berry song, "Johnny B. Goode": "But he could play the guitar just like a ringing a bell".

==Page 203==

'''Cooper, cont'd'''

If Cooper ''is'' meant as some kind of parallel of Pynchon, note that Cooper waits "for faces there, or a particular face, to be drawn by the music," and one is-- Sage, who exits the house wearing gray and puts her arm up Cooper's sleeve. Could this be Pynchon's loving memory of meeting his wife?

This is all far too tenous and speculative, surely?

==Page 204==

'''Linnet Dawes''' 
The linnet is ''Carpodacus mexicanus,'' most often called house finch. The species originated in the western U.S. but got spread through the east as a result of releases by bird smugglers. Also a European finch. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linnet Wikipedia]

She is named for two birds. The daw or jackdaw is an Old World bird somewhat resembling the crow in appearance and the grackle in behavior.

Jackdaw in Czech is "Kafka" --[[User:jackmw|jackmw]] 18:28, 04 April 2007 (PST)

'''reading the ''Police Gazette'' or, actually, looking at the pictures''' 
[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1330925 The ''National Police Gazette''] (published 1848-1980s) was the biggest men's magazine in the U.S. at the turn of the century, selling some 150,000 copies. Printed on pink paper, it contained sports reporting as well as crime stories, often with drawings of rumpled female victims. Photos of burlesque performers were a regular feature by the time of the action.

==Page 205==

'''against the daylight''' 
A direct example of ''against the day'' as ''against the light''. Significantly, Frank's attempt to discern Stray's true facial expression is thwarted by the daylight behind her. An object positioned against the daylight, or, in general, between an observer and a light source, is shadowed or silhouetted -- in Pynchon's words of the same sentence, "veiled by its own penumbra". This is suggestive of the idea that light does not always illuminate.

This is also an echo of the 'dorsal finality' framing of Constance Penhallow in Hunter's portrait back in Iceland.

'''"faro boxes"''' 
Card game with anti-cheating mechanism that can be fixed. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faro_(card_game) Wikipedia.] In fact, faro was a big moneymaker—for the house—because rigging the shoe or box was so common.

'''ol' Buck-the-Tiger''' 
"Bucking the tiger" is an old euphemism for playing faro. [http://www.bcvc.net/faro/history.htm bcvc.net]

==Page 206==

'''soul-to-soul''' and '''down Mexico way''' 
Possible allusions to blues-rock guitarists Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, respectively. The first phrase was the title of a Vaughan album and the second is a phrase used in the song "Hey Joe," most famously recorded by Hendrix.

Pynchon must be laughing his tits off at some of this stuff. "Soul to soul" and "down Mexico way" are just expressions - that's how they found their way into songs. TRP is a bright guy and if he'd wanted for some reason to allude to Stevie Ray and Jimi at this particular point (why, for god's sake?) he'd have found a more satisfying way of doing it.

'''everything . . . proceeded down Mexico way''' 
A triple metaphor: (3) to proceed to Mexico from Colorado, you go south. (2) "Go south" evokes "Go west." (1) To go west is an expression from the World War meaning to die. 
The vast system of trenches in the war ran mainly north and south, with the Allies on the west. Going west meant getting finally withdrawn from the never-ending trench war. Soldiers would later say "go home in a bag." [http://www.worldwar1.com/heritage/wordswar.htm ''Gone west'' for "dead"] apparently predates ''gone south'' by a little. 
[http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/26/messages/584.html ''Gone south'' for "deteriorated"] is influenced by the preceding but also relies on customary map orientation: south = down. 
So ''everything proceeded down Mexico way'' means it all came undone, turned to disaster.

'''both sounders and inkers''' 
Two types of telegraph machine. Inkers turn telegraph signals into marks along long ribbons of paper, while sounders only made sounds through a speaker, requiring a human to write down the message.

'''one day it rang while Reef happened to be right next to it''' 
Someone who knew Pynchon in the 60s described their final meeting in the article, [http://theaesthetic.com/NewFiles/pynchon.html Thomas Pynchon and the South Bay]: "I was walking down the street and he was walking toward me. Our paths crossed right in front of a pay phone, our eyes met and we recognized each other. I asked how he was and at that moment the telephone rang. He looked at me and looked at the phone, then turned around and ran down the street, and I never saw him again."

At the 70s pot-commune 'The Farm' in Tennessee, their first phone system (called 'Beatnik Bell') was legendary for working this way (by ESP). [http://www.thefarm.org/lifestyle/albertbates/akbp1b.html more]

'''a turbulent bath of noise that could have been fragments of speech or music surged along the lines''' 
A possible imagistic allusion to the work of Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, specifically their 1948 book ''A Mathematical Theory of Communication''. Shannon and Weaver were engineers working for Bell Systems who posited that information traffic through telephone systems could best be described in mathematical terms normally reserved for the flow of ''turbulent fluids''. Their work, along with that of Norbert Wiener, founds the basis of the American branch of information theory. Wikipedia citations for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon Shannon] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Weaver Weaver], and for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory information theory].

We know from the introduction to Slow Learner that Pynchon read (some--two books mentioned) Norbert Wiener while still in college.

==Page 207==

'''"Bob Meldrum"''' 
1920s outlaw. [http://www.museumnwco.org/lookBackArticle.php?lookBackID=35 cite]

'''Jeshimon''' 
Jeshimon is typically rendered from Hebrew as desert or wasteland. It appears in the Bible, 1 Samuel 26:1, "And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?"

Apparently not the name of a real town. Utahans are known to name towns with words from scripture, though. In the Mormon book of 1 Nephi, the patriarch Lehi is reported to have migrated with his family through a wilderness. D. Kelly Ogden ("Answering the Lord's Call," ''Studies in Scripture,'' vol. 7, Salt Lake, Deseret Book, 1987) notes that the remotest kind of wilderness would have been called jeshimon. In ''God and the American Writer,'' Alfred Kazin quotes the Puritan preacher Increase Mather (in "The Mystery of Israel's Salvation") as saying, "God hath led us into a wilderness, and surely it was not because the Lord hated us but because he loved us that he brought us hither into this Jeshimon." He may, however, have been referring to Massachusetts.

There seem to be differences between commentators as to whether Jeshimon refers to a specific place or not (although the broad consensus is that it doesn't, but see for instance [http://net.bible.org/dictionary.php?word=Jeshimon NetBible]). So Jeshimon may or may not be an actual place but is certainly not pleasant to be in, befitting the mysterious, anarchic town of death in AtD

==Page 208==
'''Mortalidad''' 
Spanish for mortality.

==Page 209==

'''"every telegraph pole had a corpse hanging from it"''' 
very reminiscent of the heads on poles in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, an important text for GR.... "worst town Reef ever rode into". And the Belgian Congo, the setting for most of Conrad's novella, is mentioned in "AtD" in terms of the cruelty and exploitation of colonialism. The image of the corpses on telegraph-poles reminds me of a similar image in Stephen King's "The Stand".

'''Towers of Silence''' 
The Towers of Silence (also dakhma or dokhma or doongerwadi) are circular raised structures used by Zoroastrians for exposure of the dead. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Towers_of_Silence Wikipedia]

==Page 210==

'''leave it to hang there by its one foot''' 
The Governor shoots malefactors, then exposes them in this way, which calls to mind the Hanged Man in the Tarot deck.

'''Second Lutheran (Missouri Synod) Church''' 
A small town with ''two'' LCMS congregations really is covered up with churches. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is a traditionalist body with no bishops. Its heritage is strongly German, and half its members today live in the Upper Midwest.

'''more churches here than saloons''' 
A comment on the utility of organized religion in maintaining civilization.

All those churches don't seem to have much effect on civilization...--[[User:Kirkm|Kirkm]] 02:17, 24 February 2007 (PST)

'''accommodations''' 
Decent burial.

'''subornation''' 
The act of inducing (a person) to commit an unlawful or evil act.

Reef learns that for a price even the "laws" here can be bent.

== Page 211 ==

'''arnophilia''' 
A word invented by Pynchon. According to this [http://www.basarchive.org/sample/bswbBrowse.asp?PubID=BSBR&Volume=19&Issue=6&ArticleID=5 website] the greek word ''arnos'' generally refers to a lamb or sheep, but occasionally to a goat, too. Suffixes with the common part -phil- (-phile, -philia, -philic) are used to specify some kind of attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-phil- Wikipedia]

Given Pynchon's penchant for low humor, this is also likely to be a reference to a very old joke: Salesman blows into remote Western town, asks bartender, "What do you do for, um, amusement hereabouts?" Bartender says "We fuck sheep". Salesman after a few days finds a sheepfold and soon finds himself surrounded by(in different versions) (1)laughing locals, who say "You picked an ugly one" (2) deputies, who arrest him saying "That's the Sheriff's girl". This joke was ancient when I heard it in the late 1950s.

'''Lourdes''' 
city in France of Blessed Virgin appearances in the late 1800s to a youth and supposed miraculous cures since. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lourdes Wikipedia entry]

'''a kind of winged God''' 
in various depictions, Satan appears as an angel/godlike-creature with huge wings. One of the most famous examples would be Milton's "Paradise Lost", especially Books 1 and 2.

Also, Satan is depicted as winged in the Rider-Waite Tarot

==Page 212==

'''The upside down star''' 
The upside down star, also known as the ''inverted pentagram,'' (with "two horns exalted"), is an emblem of the Devil.

In ''Mason and Dixon,'' the upside-down star is a symbol of two things that are connected: 1) when M&D are trying to find true north, they look at stars in their telescope to measure when they reach the peak of their arc arcoss the sky. In the telescope the star is upside down. Thus, upside down stars symbolize points which cut through distortion. 2) The star is seen again and again on rifles of both Dutch and American design. They pop up around slavery, a massacre, and an Iron refinery used for making impliments of slavery and war. The rifle is much like a telescope, but differs in that it shoots lead rather then huge sweaping cuts across the landscape. But they are both acts that are branded by evil.

'''apelike trudge''' 
If you suspect someone is the devil, you watch their gait. Cloven hooves inside his boots?

'''Flagg''' 
In several Stephen King novels, including The Stand, Randall Flagg is an evil antichrist-like character.

==Page 213==

'''''Quieres un cloque''''' 
Spanish: You want a grapple.

'''dusk's reassembly of the broken day''' 
Broken by heat, reassembled as it cools. Or, dusk
bringing darkness, night--"it's always night"--after
another broken day...another 'against the day' allusion?

==Page 214==

'''stole a horse''' 
Reef probably he left in such a hurry, rapelling down "the blood-red wall", that he did not try to find his own horse or felt the Marshall might have gotten to it. Possibly, but unlikely, that TRP 'forgot' about the horse Reef came in on. 
He traveled to Mortalidad by train and must have rented a horse to get to Jeshimon.

'''the McElmo''' 
Watershed territory in Utah and Colorado.

'''an ancient people whose name no one knew''' 
No one knows what the Anasazi or ancient pueblo people called themselves. The name Anasazi is Navaho, ''anaasázi'': enemy ancestors, but most Anglos think it means something like "ancient ones."

'''shouldn't somebody ought to carry on the family business—you might say, become the Kid?''' 
The comic strip ''The Phantom'' stars something like the 22nd inheritor of his family business. The Queen of England is another parallel.

'''"Each explosion was like the text of another sermon"''' 
Cf. "That gun will replace your tongue, and your poetry will be now written with blood" - Nobody towards William Blake, from 1995 movie ''Dead Man'' by Jim Jarmusch ([http://imdb.com/title/tt0112817/ IMDb], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man Wikipedia])

'''voice of the thunder''' 
Twelfth Song of the Thunder

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice above,
The voice of the thunder
Within the dark cloud
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.

The voice that beautifies the land!
The voice below,
The voice of the grasshopper
Among the plants
Again and again it sounds,
The voice that beautifies the land.

[From Washington Matthews, The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony, 1887]

Voice of the Thunder is also the title of a book by Laurens Van der Post
championing the life of the Australian Aborigines.

And the fifth and final section of T S Eliot's poem 'The Waste Land' is entitled "What the Thunder Said".

'''''The Chums of Chance at the Ends of the Earth''''' 
Not to be confused with ''The Chums of Chance in the Bowels of the Earth'', mentioned at the end of Part 1 ([[ATD_97-118#Page_117|page 117]]). The cover illustration suggests that the events in ''Ends of the Earth'' follow ''Bowels'' directly.

'''[the book], already dog-eared" 
A contributor has mentioned a possible connection to Pugnax, but Pugnax was a neat reader, unlike Reef.
The book was "dog-eared" when Reef got it and I think the connection is to the word and the meaning of reading dogs like Pugnax and the one in Mason & Dixon.

Or, simply, that the book was dog-eared. (One doesn't always need to create connections where they may not exist.) --[[User:Kirkm|Kirkm]] 02:27, 24 February 2007 (PST)

==Page 215==

[[image:bridalveilfalls.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Bridal Veil Falls (c) [http://www.stevegarufi.com/bridal-veil-falls-colorado.htm ColoradoGuy.com]]]

'''"running a game of chance without a license" 
The use of the word 'chance' here is probably no accident. Perhaps this implies that only the Chums of Chance can run a game of chance? Only the author of the Chums books has "[poetic] license? Cf. 'Great Game'and chance.

Or it is simply a game of chance (ie, gambling).

:It seems to be simply tapping on the irony that Reef's being busted for running an unlicensed game of chance is what leads him to discovering a book about the Chums of Chance. Does he just discover the book on the floor of the cell? Ha. [[User:Greenlantern|Greenlantern]] 17:21, 28 February 2007 (PST)

'''North Cape and Franz Josef Land''' 
North Cape, Norway, is one of the northernmost points of Europe. Franz Josef Land is an archipelago in the Arctic Circle that was discovered in 1873 by Austrian polar explorers and named in honour of the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph I. Today it belongs to Russia.

'''While reading, "he enjoyed a sort of dual existence"''' 
Spar and splitting theme? Pynchon on fiction and readers of? The magic of reading fiction and how it can transport you to other worlds?

Much like the boy Bastian in mid-80's children's fantasy film ''The Neverending Story'' [http://imdb.com/title/tt0088323/ IMdb entry]

'''he thought he saw something familiar''' 
Sensitized by the (cleverly planted?) book, he sees ''Inconvenience'' conducting surveillance.

'''Sleeping Ute''' 
Ute or Sleeping Ute Mountain is near Cortez.

'''Bridal Veil Falls''' 
Waterfall near Telluride, Colorado. At 431 feet, Bridal Veil Falls is Colorado's tallest. The historic structure between the two falls is the former Smuggler-Union hydroelectric plant, which provided Telluride's electricity from 1904 until 1954. [http://www.jeffblaylock.com/window/2004/06/bridal_veil_fal/index.php source]

==Page 216==

'''"Just greasy ashes by the trailside."''' 
Cf. p. 10, "tall smokestacks unceasingly vomiting black grease-smoke."

'''disrespect''' 
Corruption setting in?

'''Joe Hill''' 
1879-1915, immigrant from Sweden, labor organizer and Wobbly ideologue, executed (after being framed) in Utah. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hill See the Wikipedia article.]

 Note that this is probably an anachronism. Franklin Rosemont's book on Joe Hill quotes a friend of Hill's, Alexander MacKay, stating he was "pretty damn positive" Joe Hill joined the IWW in 1910. [p. 46 of "Joe Hill - The IWW and the Making of a Revolutionary Working Class Counterculture".] The IWW wasn't even formed until 1905.

==Page 217==

'''in country you don't know how to get back in from''' 
A recurring idea, that you can go somewhere and not be able to get back.

'''Confederate Colt''' 
Webb's Uncle Fletcher's revolver; [[ATD_81-96#Page_88|see annotations to page 88,]] where it is first mentioned.

==Page 218==

'''God . . . laying on tells''' 
"Tell" is poker slang for any signal a player gives that other players can exploit.

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 1063-1085

2007-02-01T21:32:46Z

Jc: /* Page 1071 */

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 1063==

'''Rue du Départ''' 
Street in Montparnasse, Paris. The name means "street of departing or setting out." Piet Mondrian had a studio at No. 26. A film titled
''Rue du Départ'' starring Gérard Depardieu was released in 1986.

==Page 1064==

==Page 1065==

'''Reynaldo Hahn''' 
1875-1947, French composer chiefly known for art songs.

'''''Ciboulette''''' 
???

'''''C'est pas Paris, c'est sa banlieue''''' 
French: It isn't Paris, it's a suburb of Paris.

==Page 1066==

'''"J'ai Deux Amants"''' 
French: I have two lovers.

'''Sacha Guitry''' 
1885-1957, French film actor and director.

'''ain't you that La Jarretière?''' 
In ''V.'' she died graphically around the time of the World War. Her stage name is French: The Garter.

'''''succès de scandale''''' 
French, literally: success of scandal. In this case, the hype that the show needed to put customers in the seats.

'''''Mon Dieu! . . . que les hommes sont bêtes''''' 
French: God, how stupid men are.

'''''Fossettes l'Enflammeuse''''' 
French: Dimples, the Inflamer.

'''Jean-Raoul Oeuillade''' 
The surname is the name of a restaurant and a wine grape. It also appears to be a French misspelling of ''œillade'' = wink, leer.

'''''Dimples''''' 
R. Wilshire knows you can print a one-word title in bigger letters than a whole phrase.

'''Solange St.-Emilion''' 
Her surname is the name of a popular French cheese.

'''Casse-cou . . . n'importe quoi!''' 
Daredevil, that's me. / This little don't-give-a-damn. / Daredevil, husband, your women, / All the other men, no matter who!

==Page 1067==

'''"It won't be a stylish marriage"''' 
Quoting from the popular song [[ATD_644-677#Page_647|"Daisy Bell."]]

==Page 1068==

==Page 1069==

'''Italo-Turkish War''' 
Over control of Libya, 1911-12, important precursor of the Balkan Wars. An Italian flyer dropped history's first aerial bomb on Turkish troops.

'''''una picchiata''''' 
Italian: a nosedive as translated in text?

==Page 1070==

'''''Andiamo''''' 
Italian: Let's go.

'''''Macchè''''' 
Italian: Naw.

==Page 1071==

'''a Certain Word that would not quite exist for another year or two''' 
??? 
'Fascism'?

==Page 1072==

'''in uniform all the time. Eagles . . . a prominent motif''' 
???

'''''abrazo''''' 
Spanish: embrace.

'''''teleferiche''''' 
Cars suspended from cables, cableways.

==Page 1073==

'''agnolotti''' 
Italian, literally: priests' hats. A filled pasta similar to ravioli.

'''risotto''' 
The renowned northern Italian rice dish.

'''tagliarini''' 
Long, thin, narrow noodles.

'''Nebbiolo''' 
A wine grape originating in northern Italy.

==Page 1074==

'''''I,'' for Idiot''' 
Another character assuming the character of an idiot—a minor theme of ''AtD.''

'''"The Obliterator"''' 
A figure almost of legend, who causes unwelcome entries in your file to ''vanish without trace.'' But I once knew a bureaucrat, in a university registrar's office, who had the "oblit" code (she used her power only for good). --[[User:Volver|Volver]] 10:38, 31 January 2007 (PST)

==Page 1075==

'''Red Scare . . . Palmer raids''' 
Public and media panic over the ideas of communists, other leftists and Anarchists led to a government crackdown on these elements in the years after the World War. Alexander M. Palmer, U.S. Attorney General under Woodrow Wilson, was a leading figure in the campaign. The Red Scare led more or less directly to the supremacy of the F.B.I., which some may view as [[ATD_1018-1039#Page_1021|"the control of the evil and moronic,"]] and also to the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union.

==Page 1076==

'''Frank and Stray's daughter Ginger and the baby Plebecula''' 
"Ginger" is sometimes a nickname for Virginia but also sometimes for a redheaded person. "Plebecula" can mean "the common people" . . . or a species of ant. Both children (Jesse too, could be) have political given names.

'''Kitsap Peninsula''' 
Dissected peninsula in Puget Sound, Washington state. Not the northernmost point in the 48 states, but maybe the remotest.

==Page 1077==

'''It was Policarpe, an old acquaintance of Kit...Saint Polycarp of Smyrna'''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycarp] was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey) in the second century. He was stabbed and died a martyr after an attempt to burn him at the stake failed.'''

'''Lwow: A city in western Ukraine [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lwow]''' 
The city's emblem shows a lion in front of a castle wall with 3 towers. 
It is strikingly reminiscent of the Tibetan seal on the cover of ATD. 
Recall that Venetia also claims the Lion (the winged Lion of St. Mark) 
as its emblem.'''

'''E. Percy Movay''' 
When the Inquisition compelled Galileo to recant his ideas about the celestial realm (he had blasphemed by reporting that Jupiter's moons orbit the planet and by reasoning that the Earth moves around the Sun too), he left the courtroom muttering, "And yet it ''does'' move." In Italian: ''Eppur si muove.''

==Page 1078==
'''Zermelo's Axiom Of Choice''' 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zermelo]

'''the set of all sets that are not members of themselves''' 
Quick, does it contain itself? Bertrand Russell's pursuit of this paradox forced a major realignment of axiomatic set theory.

'''Q.E.D.''' 
Proofs in geometry and algebra used to end with this statement: ''Quod Erat Demonstrandum'' = which was to be proved.

==Page 1079==

'''Lemberg, Léopol, Lvov, Lviv and Lwów''' 
Names applied to the city by its various rulers. Today it's Lviv, but its citizens are sometimes called Leopolitans.

==Page 1080==

'''Glowny Dworzec''' 
Polish: Main Station.

==Page 1081==

'''since the Spanish Lady passed through''' 
The great influenza epidemic of 1918-20, actually a pandemic. The disease got the name "Spanish flu" because Spain, neutral in the World War and therefore not censoring its press, was the country where the pandemic received the best coverage.

==Page 1082==

'''''bandoneón''''' 
Musical instrument similar to an accordion, named for its inventor Heinrich Band, heavily used in Argentine tango music.

'''the taxis, battered veterans of the mythic Marne''' 
World War, First Battle of the Marne, 1914. To shore up their Sixth Army the French commandeered 600 Paris taxicabs and used them to carry 6000 reserve troops to the front.

==Page 1083==

==Page 1084==

==Page 1085==

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

Cyclomite

2007-01-15T22:26:29Z

Jc: Cyclopropane/tetrahedranes/tetrahedrals/TWIT

Joe Varo reports, on Pynchon-l at [http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0612&msg=112054&sort=date,] regarding Cyclopropane, "At first I thought that this was just something the TP made up. But just for the hell of it I looked it up and found that it is an explosive with anaesthetic properties, or vice versa."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclopropane Wikipedia entry]

Quoting page 184, Varo also asks, " 'From then on, whenever a dynamite blast went off, even far away out of earshot, something concurrent was triggered somewhere in Lew's consciousness...after awhile even if one was only ''about'' [italics in original] to go off. Anywhere.' Am I missing something or reading too much into it? Or does this make cyclomite akin to another pynchonian compound?"

Is Cyclomite somehow related to Imipolex G?

Anville Azote responds to Varo:
[...]
There's a darkly comic scene hinging on this property in the first
episode of James Burke's series **Connections** (1978), wherein the
Great Northeastern Blackout strikes just when a woman is giving birth
to twins --- under cyclopropane anaesthesia. In the darkness, a nurse
walks into the room with a lighted candle. . . .
[...]
[http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0612&msg=112055&sort=date] to

One should perhaps note the triangular shape of cyclopropane. Indeed one should! Only just took the trouble to look at that wikipedia entry, and follow the definitions for Cyclopropane/ tetrahedranes/ tetrahedrals:

"Cyclopropanes taken to the extreme are tetrahedranes and propellanes."

"Tetrahedrane is a hypothetical hydrocarbon with chemical formula C4H4 and a tetrahedral structure."

"A tetrahedron (plural: tetrahedra) is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex."

So no wonder Lew falls in with the TWIT (True Worshippers of the Ineffable Tetractys): "The Tetractys is a triangular figure consisting of ten points arranged in four rows: one, two, three, and four points in each row. As a mystical symbol, it was very important to the followers of the secret worship of the Pythagoreans."

And this is all yet aother instance of the 4 motif. Great stuff.

W

2007-01-13T10:22:06Z

Jc: Foley Walker, Vibe, & Christohper Marlowe?

'''Wackett Punches''' 
53; used to quiet cattle or horses

'''Wagwheel, Tansy''' 
178;

'''Waite, Arthur Edward (1857 - 1942)''' 
225; occultist and co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. "This was notable for being one of the first decks to illustrate all 78 cards fully, as opposed to the 22 major arcana. Golden Dawn member Pamela Colman Smith illustrated the cards. The deck was first published in 1910." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Edward_Waite Wikipedia entry]

'''Walker, Foley''' 
31; special assistant to Scarsdale Vibe, "deputy of Wealth", 99; [[Substitute conscripts during the American Civil War|substitute conscript for Vibes during the Civil War]], subsequently taking a bullet to the head, which gives him the ability to hear "communications from far, far away," 100ff; 156; 330-333; "righteous men who believed it was God they heard whispering" 334; in Göttingen "the angel, if not of death at least of deep shit," 619;

There is a possible connection to playwright Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe (author of Dr Faustus) here, in that Chris 'Kit' Traverse makes a Faustian bargain with Vibe, via Foley Walker, Walker perhaps playing Mephistopheles to Vibe's Lucifer. There's also a hint of bilocation in Mephistopheles's claim to be simultaneously with Faustus and in Hell. Also, the three men present during the fight in which Marlowe was fatally stabbed were Ingram Frizer, Nicholas Skeres and Robert Poley, this last being not too far from 'Foley'. Also, among the sixteen jurors at the inquisition into Marlowe's death was one Adrian Walker. So, Poley and Walker, Foley Walker. Coincidence?

'''Wall o' Death''' 
476; town in Missouri

[[image:Cycledrome.jpg|thumb|Cycledrome, aka Wall of Death|right]]'''Wall of Death''' 
184; The Wall of Death is a circus sideshow featuring a drum- or barrel-shaped wooden board wall around which stunt motorcyclists drive and carry out tricks. The audience views from the top of the drum looking down. The bikes start in the middle at the bottom of the drum and drive up an initial ramped section until they gain enough velocity to drive horizontal to the floor, defying gravity. this is a famous act in British society and is often scene in towns and fairs. In modern society there are only a few remaining tours of the wall of death, the most notable of which is [http://www.wall-of-death.co.uk "the wall of death world tour", created and run by the Fox family]. [http://thewallofdeath.com Wall of Death Website]

'''Wardenclyffe''' 
326; on Long Island, where Tesla built his Tower

'''Washoe process''' 
375;

'''Wave functions''' 
426; 536;

'''Waziri's from Waziristan''' 
23;

'''Weedon''' 
495; at Cambridge

'''Weierstrass, Karl (1815-1897)''' 
500; a German mathematician who is often cited as the "father of modern analysis"; Weierstrass functions, 594; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Weierstrass Wikipedia entry]

'''Wells, Bulkley''' 
179; referred to as "Buck Wells" by Lew Basnight; "mine manager and cavalry commander at Telluride"; 285; "Cap'n Wells"; Wells was the (real life) manager of Smuggler Mine c. 1911 [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/co/sanmiguel/directories/1911-smuggler.txt]; the book, [http://www.spesindeopublications.com/corpse.html ''Corpse on Boomerang Road: Telluride's War on Labor, 1899-1908''] gives a lot more information on Wells and Bob Meldrum.

'''Wells, H. G.''' 
398; 407; 412; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.g._wells Wikipedia entry]

'''Wensleydale''' 
37; confronts Baslight

'''Werfner, Dr.''' 
226; Renfrew's "opposite number"; 499; 602; 680; 719;

'''Western Reserve''' 
59; in Ohio

'''Whiskey Hill''' 
60; in Cleveland; 62;

'''Whistler''' 
578;

'''Whitechapel''' 
678; Whitechapel is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. It is a built-up inner city district located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Hanbury Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and Commercial Road on the south. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper Jack the Ripper], the unidentified serial killer (or killers), was active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London in the latter half of 1888. The name "Jack the Ripper" is taken from a letter to the Central News Agency by someone claiming to be the murderer, published at the time of the killings; Rippercetta, 680; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitechapel Wikipedia entry]]

'''White City, The''' 
[[Image:whitecity.jpg|thumb|The White City, Chicago, 1893|right]]3; Costing over a half billion in today's dollars and covering 686 acres, the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and Fair in Chicago was a grand sight to its 27 million visitors -- a planned layout of large, classically inspired buildings (what we now call the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaux-Arts_architecture Beaux Arts] style) all built on the same scale and all painted white -- hence, the nickname of "The White City." And within and around those white buildings was the most amazing display of 65,000 exhibits depicting (to quote the Exposition promoters) "all of the highest and best achievements of modern civilization; all that was strange, beautiful, artistic, and inspiring; a vast and wonderful university of the arts and sciences, teaching a noble lesson in history, art, science, discovery and invention, designed to stimulate the youth of this and future generations to greater and more heroic endeavor." 10; 36; Dally think about, in Chicago, 336; [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1386.html More from the "Encyclopedia of Chicago"]

'''White City Investigations''' 
36;

'''Whitehall''' 
444; Whitehall is a road in Westminster in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, centre of national government, towards the traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London for its residents and tourists. Along its way it is lined by many government ministries; "Whitehall" is therefore also frequently used as a metonym for governmental administration, as well as being a geographic name for the surrounding district; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall Wikipedia entry]

'''White Wings''' 
150;

'''Whittaker, Edmund''' 
542; English mathematician;

'''Wilde, Oscar''' 
185; 536;[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde Wikipedia entry]; Wilde's lecture tour of the USA in 1882 took him to Leadville; while there he was invited by the mayor to tour the Matchless silver mine and open their new lode. It was in a Leadville bar that Wilde saw the notice,
"Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadville,_Colorado Wikipedia entry (Leadville)]

'''Wilhelm''' 
543;

'''Wilhelmstrausse''' 
686; 690;

'''Williams and Walker''' 
344; "coon review"; Bert Williams and George Walker, in the first decade of the twentieth century, became the most famous black entertainers in the world. They had teamed up in California in 1893, came to New York in 1896 as "Two Real Coons," and two years later were making a dance called the cakewalk all the rage. Williams and Walker, as they were then known, made American theatrical history by bringing the first black musical, In Dahomey, to Broadway in 1902.

'''Windy City''' 
3; aka Chicago the origins of the nickname are in dispute and they are explored in this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windy_City%2C_Origin_of_Name_(Chicago) Wikipedia entry].

'''Wings''' 
"wings cast long shadows," "wing-flapping miracles of ornithurgy," 27; "White Wings," 150; "God's wing," 211; "wings moving against the moon like clouds," 379; 389;

'''Witherspoon Street''' 
159, in Princeton, NJ [[Witherspoon Street|DISCUSSION]]

'''Woevre, Piet''' 
540; formerly of the Force Publique; 558;

'''Wolf-Ferrari''' 
512;

'''Wordsworth''' 
535'

'''''Workers' Own Songbook''''' 
49; [[ Workers' Own Songbook|DISCUSSION ]]

'''World-Island''' 
"the Great Wife-Bazaar of the World-Island,'' 433; 445;

'''World-System''' 
33; Tesla's free power; [[Tesla's_World_System|Read Tesla's "World System of Wireless Transmission of Energy"]]

'''World War I''' 
578;

'''Wyman, Pap''' 
88; Owns the eponymous Pap Wyman's Saloon where Mayva is working when she meets Webb Traverse. Bartenders at the saloon are "Adolph" and "Ernst".

{{ATD_Alpha_Nav}}

ATD 81-96

2007-01-10T09:05:36Z

Jc: Link to excerpt published in Guardian

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 81==
'''July Fourth started hot and grew hotter,...''' 

[[image:Gpynch.jpg|thumb|Guardan Review|right]] On Saturday, 18 November 2006, the UK's Guardian newspaper, in a Review section which featured a drawing of what Pynchon might now look like on its cover, published a full-page excerpt from ''Against the Day''. This comprised pages 81 to 85 (up to "he wondered sometimes if he would've ever signed on."), with the addition of the final paragraph from page 96, ending with "Happy Fourth of July, Webb." This was a much more substantial excerpt than the one which appeared in the Penguin Press catalogue, and was arguably a more alluring one in terms of attracting the general reader. These were the only official excerpts published before ATD itself, on 21 November 2006.

The Guardian excerpt is now online:

[http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1950566,00.html]

'''Feast of St. Barbara''' 
According to legend, Saint Barbara was the extremely beautiful daughter of a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia in Asia Minor, in the 4th Century AD. Because of her singular beauty and fearful that she be demanded in marriage and taken away from him, he jealously shut her up in a tower to protect her from the outside world. When Barbara converted to Christianity, her enraged father killed her and was subsequently struck down by lightening. St. Barbara was venerated as early as the seventh century. The legend of the lightning bolt which struck down her father caused her to be regarded as the patron saint in time of danger from thunderstorms, fires and sudden death. When gunpowder made its appearance in the Western world, Saint Barbara was invoked for aid against accidents resulting from explosions since some of the earlier artillery pieces often blew up instead of firing their projectile, Saint Barbara became the patroness of the artillerymen. [http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pabarbar.htm]

'''Propaganda of the Deed''' 
Anarchist terrorism.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_of_the_deed [Wikipedia]]

'''Zarzuela''' 
Spanish genre of musical theater. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarzuela [Wikipedia]]

==Page 82==
'''Skinner''' 
A person who drives mules.

'''Chinaman''' 
This is the latest of many allusions to China or Chinese in an exotic, oriental way. This may simply be imitating Gilded Age and early 20th century American fiction and films, which often featured mystical Chinese as characters and villains. It also recalls the use of Feng Shui in ''Mason & Dixon''.

'''Cour d'Alene bullpens''' 
Usually 'Coeur'. Striking miners in 1892 were illegally confined in bullpens. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coeur_d'Alene_miners'_dispute [Wikipedia]]

'''Cripple Creek''' 
Cripple Creek was the location of a miner's strike in 1894. It was a significant labor event and it was the first time that a state Militia was called out in support of the miners. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners'_strike_of_1894 Wikipedia entry]

==Page 84==

'''1900''' 
So the current Fourth of July must be 1901 or later (not 1899).

'''''Minneskort''''' 
Modern Finnish word for computer memory cards. (TRP likely saw it on a Nokia phone.)

==Page 85==
'''Innocent Victims...Monsters That Did the Deed''' 
Use of capitals seems to emphasize the fact that these persons are simply convenient stock characters in the forwarding of the owners'/government's agenda.

'''"some of these explosions, the more deadly of them, in fact, were really set off to begin with not by Anarchists but by the owners themselves"''' 
Is this an allusion to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_demolition_hypothesis_for_the_collapse_of_the_World_Trade_Center Controlled demolition hypothesis] for the collapse of the WTC?
NO!

'''"Which left precious few targets except for the railroad."''' 
Frank Norris's 1901 novel ''The Octopus'' is summed up in one short paragraph. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Octopus_%28Frank_Norris%29 Wikipedia entry].

==Page 86==
'''Shorty's Billiard Saloon''' 
This is based on real accounts of billiard balls sparking and exploding in saloons. The balls in question used a then-new thermoplastic compound of cellulose nitrate and camphor developed and patented under the trademark "celluloid" by John Wesley Hyatt as a substitute for ivory. See [http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=C Celluloid] for Wikipedia links to Hyatt and Celluloid.

==Page 87==
Rev. Moss Gatlin's rhetorical question "How can anyone set off a bomb that will take innocent lives?" and its wisecrack response, "Long fuse" seems a calculated echo of Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket.' ("How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy -- don't lead 'em so much.")

'''Emile Henry, Vaillant''' 
Emile Henry (1872 - May 21, 1894) was a French anarchist who on February 12, 1894 detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare killing one person and wounding twenty. Henry was angered over the execution of another Anarchist, Auguste Vaillant, for the destruction of a government building that hurt no one, and took it upon himself to strike back to avenge his fellow revolutionary's death. He saw the Cafe as a representation of the bourgeois itself and his intent was to kill as many people as possible in the bombing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Henry Wikipedia entry].

'''Mason-Dixon line''' 
We learn that the Traverse family had been "an old ridegerunning clan from southern Pennsylvania, close to the Mason-Dixon." No Traverses appear, however, in Pynchon's ''Mason & Dixon'' (except in the sense that the whole M-D survey was conducted by the traverse method), but one can speculate that had they been, the Traverse ancestors may have been victims of the Line's bad Feng Shui. From this, one could infer a connection between the Line and Colorado Anarchism.

'''Civil War''' 
This is the first instance of the term, for a war so far in the novel being referred to as "The Rebellion".

==Page 89==

'''silver-boom babies''' 
Assuming the silver boom of 1890-1892 is meant, Webb's kids were aged about 9 to 16. [[Timeline|Timeline with spoilers]]

'''Bob Ford's Funeral''' 
June 1892 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ford_(outlaw) [Wikipedia]]

'''repeal of the Silver Act''' 

Prior to 1892, both Silver and Gold were used as a metallic standard for currency in the United States. The Sherman Act authorized the treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. This inflated the price of silver, causing eastern investors to start hoarding gold as a hedge. The unrest this caused in the Colorado mines resulted in the repeal of the Act. When this happened, the mining of silver began to rapidly decline, causing further destabilization in the silver mining industry.

==Page 90==

'''before he got shot''' 
1899. [http://www.butchandsundance.com/players/ketchumgang.htm [cite]]

'''Lake''' 
Lake Traverse is between Minnesota and South Dakota. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Traverse Wikipedia]

==Page 91==

'''"Sleep? is when you sleep...." "Only that I wouldn't want it..."''' 
(Looks like typos to me.)

The "sleep?" could also just be a transcription of conversational style. We often include a question in our answer, in this case summarising the question with "sleep?" then immediately answering.

==Page 92==
'''"a mule dropping on the edge of life's mountain trail, ready to be either squashed flat or kicked into the void"''' 
Brings directly in mind a scene from Cormac McCarthy's ''Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness In The West'': "The following evening as they rode up onto the western rim they lost one of the mules. It went skittering off down the canyon wall with the contents of the panniers exploding soundlessly in the hot dry air and it fell through sunlight and through shade, turning in that lonely void until it fell from sight into a sink of cold blue space that absolved it forever of memory in the mind of any living thing that was." (Modern Library Edition 2001, p. 147). The novel is set about 45 years before the beginning of ATD (1849-50) at the Mexico - Texas borderlands. In fact, due to Pynchon's frequent references to ''red'' light and ''west'' (pages 41, 59, 63, 86, 99, 784 so far and counting), I suspect a kind of deeper relation between the two novels, but more evidence is required.

==Page 93==
'''plutes''' 
Plutocrats: members of the wealthy class controlling a government

'''Labor produces all wealth. Wealth belongs to the producer thereof.''' 
Reviewers of ATD have quoted this line, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601252.html] but Pynchon did not make it up. It comes from authentic miner's union literature of the time. [http://laborarts.org/collections/item.cfm?itemid=178]

'''Compassion''' 
With 'Republicans' below, a possible reference to 'compassionate conservatism' of the Bush administration. "...starving, homeless, and dead..." is what the Republicans mean by compassion, demonstrating the need for the "foreign phrase book".

'''Republicans''' 
William McKinley was elected in 1896 on the Republican ticket, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan, ushering in a chain of Republican Presidents until Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1912. Obviously, could also be interpreted as a jab at the current Republican Party.

==Page 94==

'''duster''' 
Long coat. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duster_(clothing) Wikipedia entry]

'''"Don't beg, you hear me? Don't any of you ever, fucking, beg, me or nobody, for nothin." 
Could have easily been TRP's response to interview requests!!!

==Page 95==

'''dynamite rounders''' 
Rounders was a precursor to baseball. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rounders [Wikipedia]]

'''waiting for the rest of the joke''' 
Cf Dally and Lindsay, p27.

==Page 96==

'''"We ready?"''' 
The destruction of the railroad bridge is reminiscent of scenes in Edward Abbey's anarchistic 1975 novel ''The Monkey Wrench Gang.'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_Wrench_Gang Wikipedia entry].

'''Sufficient unto the day''' 

From The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: 6:34. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (The New Testament of the King James Bible)

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 429-459

2006-12-21T21:13:15Z

Jc: gutta-percha

==Page 431==

'''"Turkish Corner"''' 
???

'''Bactrian''' 
???

'''Cameling''' 
???

==Page 432==

'''fatal word''' 
"Wife".

'''Gamomania''' 

A gammomaniac, I guess, means a 'leg man'.

'''H.M.S.F.''' 
His Majesty's Subdesertine Frigate (p425).

'''Balaam's ass''' 
???

'''reported... Polo''' 
???

==Page 433==

'''pan-spectral fields''' 
???

'''"Euphrates" poplars''' 
???

'''aryq''' 
???

'''B.I.N.''' 
Biometric Institute of Neuropathy (p432).

'''seventeen-syllable''' 
???

==Page 434==

'''Eta/Nu Transformators''' 
???

'''pari passu''' 
???

==Page 435==

'''Gurkhas''' 
???

'''General Forrest''' 
???

'''archiepiscopal''' 
???

'''Faberge''' 
Russian jewelers. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Faberg%C3%A9 Wikipedia entry].

'''subarenaceous''' 
???

==Page 436==

'''limen''' 
???

'''transmundane''' 
???

'''lamaseries''' 
???

'''Torriform''' 
???

'''Urban terrain''' 
(But only cities unwisely built on sand.)

'''Stilton Gaspereaux''' 
???

'''Sven Hedin''' 
???

'''Aurel Stein''' 
???

'''first known maps''' 
???

==Page 437==

'''Nernst lamps''' 
???

'''level of encryption''' 
(Cf Heisenberg?)

'''Mount Kailash''' 
???

'''polarize... in time''' 
???

'''Manichaeans''' 
???

==Page 438==

'''expanded sense... Maxwell... Hertz''' 
???

''''Perfects'''' 
???

'''Graeco-Buddhist''' 
???

'''Italo-Islamic''' 
???

==Page 439==

'''Nuovo Rialto''' 
???

'''no earlier than''' 
(Where'd they go?)

'''Passing of the Remarks''' 
???

'''Steeplechase Park''' 
???

==Page 440==

'''screaming''' 
Screaming motif.

'''''chong pir''''' 
???

'''Uyghur''' 
???

'''skeleton rig''' 
Concealed weapon?

'''andante''' 
???

'''Sandman Saloon''' 
???

==Page 441==

'''Leonard and Lyle''' 
???

'''''teke''''' 
???

'''Spindletop''' 
???

'''Groznyi''' 
???

'''calyx bits''' 
???

'''adults''' 
Chums not adults, then?

'''''assalamu alaykum''''' 
???

'''anticline''' 
???

==Page 442==

'''''equine altitude''''' 
High horse.

'''Veneto-Uyghur''' 
???

'''2 percent... most of them''' 
Implies at least 150 in crew.

'''Marco Querini''' 
???

'''Terrenascondite''' 
???

'''Pozzo San Vito''' 
???

==Page 443==

'''peterman option''' 
???

'''Consomme Imperial''' 
???

'''Timbales de Supremes de Volailles''' 
???

'''Gigot Grille a la Sauce Piquante''' 
???

'''aubergines a la Sauce Mousseline''' 
???

'''Pouilly-Fuisse''' 
???

'''Graves''' 
???

==Page 444==

'''Oasi''' 
Plural of "oasis."

'''cataplexy''' 
Sudden loss of muscle power following a strong emotional stimulus.

'''Nobel brothers''' 
Robert and Ludvig Nobel, brothers of Alfred Nobel of dynamite and prize fame, co-founders of Branobel, an important early oil company that controlled a large amount of Russian output. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branobel Wikipedia entry].

'''shaft-alley''' 
???

'''the balloon is up''' 
A phrase also used in ''V.''

'''F.O.''' 
???

'''''Daily Mail''''' 
London tabloid, staunch early supporters of Alolf HItler. Today specialises in stirring up hatred of immigrants and other minorities.

'''"Sands of Inner Asia"''' 
???

'''Taklamakan''' 
???

==Page 445==

'''Kashgar to Urumchi''' 
???

'''fell into the hand of''' 
Cf modern Taliban, etc.

'''World-Island''' 
???

'''discreet summons''' 
Eg "paging Dr Blue".

'''far wicket''' 
???

'''wog''' 
''Chiefly British.'' An ethnic slur used for any dark-skinned peoples. Alleged to stand for "Western Oriental Gentleman", but mainly applied to Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs, and other brown-skinned Asians.

'''Vic removal''' 
???

'''eating an explosive''' 
Cf Lew's Cyclomite.

==Page 446==

'''St Martin le Grand''' 
???

'''Angel Street''' 
???

'''G.P.O. West''' 
???

'''pneumatic dispatches''' 
An extensive 'pneumatic dispatch' system existed on London during the Victorian era, started in 1851 and carrying on at least into the 1930's. By 1886 London had 94 telegram tubes totaling 34 1/2 miles and around 4.5 million telegraph messages were carried in cylinders at around 20mph. At its height the network extended some 57 miles connecting 67 branch offices via a central sorting office. See [http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html] and
[http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm] (with illustrations).

'''drill suits''' 
???

'''chars''' 
???

'''clicks and rests''' 
???

'''Northern Temple of Connexion''' 
???

'''marblework''' 
???

'''Bloggins''' 
???

'''allegro vivatchy''' 
???

==Page 447==

'''grease-paint''' 
Wog-colored.

'''cylinder of gutta-percha''' 
Pneumatic dispatches were carried in cylinders of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutta-percha Gutta-Percha] -- an inelastic latex made from the sap of the Gutta-Percha tree -- covered in felt. See [http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html]. Gutta-percha crops up a number of times in ATD, possibly enough to suggest some sort of motif or connection?

'''its "D" box''' 
The receiving mechanism on the end of pneumatic dispatch pipe.

"The somewhat complicated pattern of double sluice valve originally used at the central stations has been superseded by a simpler form, known as the D box, so named Despatching from the shape of its cross section. This box is of and cast iron, and is provided with a close-fitting, Receiving brass-framed, sliding lid with a glass panel. This Apparatus, lid fits air-tight, and closes the box after a carrier has been inserted into the mouth of the tube; the latter enters at one end of the box and is there bell-mouthed. A supply pipe, to which is connected a 3-way cock, is joined on to the box and allows communication at will with either the pressure or vacuum mains, so that the apparatus becomes available for either sending (by pressure) or receiving (by vacuum) a carrier. Automatic working, by which the air supply is automatically turned on on the introduction of the carrier into a tube and on closing of the D box, and is cut off when the carrier arrives, was introduced in 1909." From the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on Pneumatic Dispatch, cited at [http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm]

'''Holborn''' 
???

'''Saffron Hill''' 
???

'''''tantum dic verbo'' isn't it''' 
???

'''''intact''''' 
(Did I miss this?)

==Page 448==

'''because I'm mad''' 
???

'''half-sovereign case''' 
???

'''Mr. Campbell-Bannerman''' 
???

==Page 449==

'''Clarabella''' 
???

'''Audacity, Iowa''' 
???

==Page 450==

'''DREAMTIME MOVY''' 
Misspelling is dreamlike?

'''log... waterfall''' 
Cf DW Griffith?

'''lens-brother''' 
(Like masonic sign?)

'''Powers movement''' 
???

'''Geneva''' 
???

'''Wilt Flambo''' 
Flambeau = torch (French).

'''acetylene''' 
???

==Page 451==

'''nitro in the film''' 
???

'''the tip''' 
???

'''strange relation''' 
Cf GR on calculus.

'''dark perplexity''' 
Cf Gen X?

'''dilapidated''' 
Why?

'''queen-of-the-prairie''' 
???

==Page 452==

'''Sempitern''' 
???

'''siegecraft of Time''' 
Cf Paris Commune siege, above.

'''between Cleveland and Denver''' 
Merle's idiosyncratic choice of endpoints?

'''automorphic functions''' 
???

==Page 453==

'''Lobatchevskian''' 
???

'''Automorphic Dispensation''' 
???

'''distressing regularity''' 
Explains dilapidation?

'''Thorvald''' 
???

'''''thresher dinners''''' 
???

==Page 454==

'''"gaff"''' 
???

'''Giant Airships of 1896 and '7''' 
[http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Mysterious-airship.jpg Photo and info here]

'''Chick''' 
First Chum to appear in non-Chums chapter?

'''Cleveland... trial''' 
See p67

'''Somble, Strool, and Fleshway''' 
???

''''paranoia querulans'... P.Q.''' 
???

'''blasting agent''' 
???

'''detonans''' 
???

==Page 456==

'''aigrette''' 
???

'''Pencil''' 
???

'''equivalent of a shrug''' 
Nice anthropomorphism.

'''lost mines''' 
(Factual?)

==Page 457==

'''tourbillon''' 
???

'''patent pencils''' 
???

'''zephyr gingham''' 
???

'''lawn''' 
???

'''pongee''' 
???

==Page 458==

'''professors... engineers''' 
Theory vs practice.

'''Latinate token of prestige''' 
PhD, summa cum laude, etc.

'''current... purity''' 
Free of noise?

'''Minkowski''' 
???

'''Three times ten... minus one seconds''' 
???

'''other expression''' 
???

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 429-459

2006-12-21T19:32:01Z

Jc: /* Page 444 */

==Page 431==

'''"Turkish Corner"''' 
???

'''Bactrian''' 
???

'''Cameling''' 
???

==Page 432==

'''fatal word''' 
"Wife".

'''Gamomania''' 

A gammomaniac, I guess, means a 'leg man'.

'''H.M.S.F.''' 
His Majesty's Subdesertine Frigate (p425).

'''Balaam's ass''' 
???

'''reported... Polo''' 
???

==Page 433==

'''pan-spectral fields''' 
???

'''"Euphrates" poplars''' 
???

'''aryq''' 
???

'''B.I.N.''' 
Biometric Institute of Neuropathy (p432).

'''seventeen-syllable''' 
???

==Page 434==

'''Eta/Nu Transformators''' 
???

'''pari passu''' 
???

==Page 435==

'''Gurkhas''' 
???

'''General Forrest''' 
???

'''archiepiscopal''' 
???

'''Faberge''' 
Russian jewelers. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Faberg%C3%A9 Wikipedia entry].

'''subarenaceous''' 
???

==Page 436==

'''limen''' 
???

'''transmundane''' 
???

'''lamaseries''' 
???

'''Torriform''' 
???

'''Urban terrain''' 
(But only cities unwisely built on sand.)

'''Stilton Gaspereaux''' 
???

'''Sven Hedin''' 
???

'''Aurel Stein''' 
???

'''first known maps''' 
???

==Page 437==

'''Nernst lamps''' 
???

'''level of encryption''' 
(Cf Heisenberg?)

'''Mount Kailash''' 
???

'''polarize... in time''' 
???

'''Manichaeans''' 
???

==Page 438==

'''expanded sense... Maxwell... Hertz''' 
???

''''Perfects'''' 
???

'''Graeco-Buddhist''' 
???

'''Italo-Islamic''' 
???

==Page 439==

'''Nuovo Rialto''' 
???

'''no earlier than''' 
(Where'd they go?)

'''Passing of the Remarks''' 
???

'''Steeplechase Park''' 
???

==Page 440==

'''screaming''' 
Screaming motif.

'''''chong pir''''' 
???

'''Uyghur''' 
???

'''skeleton rig''' 
Concealed weapon?

'''andante''' 
???

'''Sandman Saloon''' 
???

==Page 441==

'''Leonard and Lyle''' 
???

'''''teke''''' 
???

'''Spindletop''' 
???

'''Groznyi''' 
???

'''calyx bits''' 
???

'''adults''' 
Chums not adults, then?

'''''assalamu alaykum''''' 
???

'''anticline''' 
???

==Page 442==

'''''equine altitude''''' 
High horse.

'''Veneto-Uyghur''' 
???

'''2 percent... most of them''' 
Implies at least 150 in crew.

'''Marco Querini''' 
???

'''Terrenascondite''' 
???

'''Pozzo San Vito''' 
???

==Page 443==

'''peterman option''' 
???

'''Consomme Imperial''' 
???

'''Timbales de Supremes de Volailles''' 
???

'''Gigot Grille a la Sauce Piquante''' 
???

'''aubergines a la Sauce Mousseline''' 
???

'''Pouilly-Fuisse''' 
???

'''Graves''' 
???

==Page 444==

'''Oasi''' 
Plural of "oasis."

'''cataplexy''' 
Sudden loss of muscle power following a strong emotional stimulus.

'''Nobel brothers''' 
Robert and Ludvig Nobel, brothers of Alfred Nobel of dynamite and prize fame, co-founders of Branobel, an important early oil company that controlled a large amount of Russian output. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branobel Wikipedia entry].

'''shaft-alley''' 
???

'''the balloon is up''' 
A phrase also used in ''V.''

'''F.O.''' 
???

'''''Daily Mail''''' 
London tabloid, staunch early supporters of Alolf HItler. Today specialises in stirring up hatred of immigrants and other minorities.

'''"Sands of Inner Asia"''' 
???

'''Taklamakan''' 
???

==Page 445==

'''Kashgar to Urumchi''' 
???

'''fell into the hand of''' 
Cf modern Taliban, etc.

'''World-Island''' 
???

'''discreet summons''' 
Eg "paging Dr Blue".

'''far wicket''' 
???

'''wog''' 
''Chiefly British.'' An ethnic slur used for any dark-skinned peoples. Alleged to stand for "Western Oriental Gentleman", but mainly applied to Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs, and other brown-skinned Asians.

'''Vic removal''' 
???

'''eating an explosive''' 
Cf Lew's Cyclomite.

==Page 446==

'''St Martin le Grand''' 
???

'''Angel Street''' 
???

'''G.P.O. West''' 
???

'''pneumatic dispatches''' 
An extensive 'pneumatic dispatch' system existed on London during the Victorian era, started in 1851 and carrying on at least into the 1930's. By 1886 London had 94 telegram tubes totaling 34 1/2 miles and around 4.5 million telegraph messages were carried in cylinders at around 20mph. At its height the network extended some 57 miles connecting 67 branch offices via a central sorting office. See [http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html] and
[http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm] (with illustrations).

'''drill suits''' 
???

'''chars''' 
???

'''clicks and rests''' 
???

'''Northern Temple of Connexion''' 
???

'''marblework''' 
???

'''Bloggins''' 
???

'''allegro vivatchy''' 
???

==Page 447==

'''grease-paint''' 
Wog-colored.

'''cylinder of gutta-percha''' 
Pneumatic dispatches were carried in cylinders of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutta-percha Gutta-Percha] -- an inelastic latex made from the sap of the Gutta-Percha tree -- covered in felt. See [http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html].

'''its "D" box''' 
The receiving mechanism on the end of pneumatic dispatch pipe.

"The somewhat complicated pattern of double sluice valve originally used at the central stations has been superseded by a simpler form, known as the D box, so named Despatching from the shape of its cross section. This box is of and cast iron, and is provided with a close-fitting, Receiving brass-framed, sliding lid with a glass panel. This Apparatus, lid fits air-tight, and closes the box after a carrier has been inserted into the mouth of the tube; the latter enters at one end of the box and is there bell-mouthed. A supply pipe, to which is connected a 3-way cock, is joined on to the box and allows communication at will with either the pressure or vacuum mains, so that the apparatus becomes available for either sending (by pressure) or receiving (by vacuum) a carrier. Automatic working, by which the air supply is automatically turned on on the introduction of the carrier into a tube and on closing of the D box, and is cut off when the carrier arrives, was introduced in 1909." From the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on Pneumatic Dispatch, cited at [http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm]

'''Holborn''' 
???

'''Saffron Hill''' 
???

'''''tantum dic verbo'' isn't it''' 
???

'''''intact''''' 
(Did I miss this?)

==Page 448==

'''because I'm mad''' 
???

'''half-sovereign case''' 
???

'''Mr. Campbell-Bannerman''' 
???

==Page 449==

'''Clarabella''' 
???

'''Audacity, Iowa''' 
???

==Page 450==

'''DREAMTIME MOVY''' 
Misspelling is dreamlike?

'''log... waterfall''' 
Cf DW Griffith?

'''lens-brother''' 
(Like masonic sign?)

'''Powers movement''' 
???

'''Geneva''' 
???

'''Wilt Flambo''' 
Flambeau = torch (French).

'''acetylene''' 
???

==Page 451==

'''nitro in the film''' 
???

'''the tip''' 
???

'''strange relation''' 
Cf GR on calculus.

'''dark perplexity''' 
Cf Gen X?

'''dilapidated''' 
Why?

'''queen-of-the-prairie''' 
???

==Page 452==

'''Sempitern''' 
???

'''siegecraft of Time''' 
Cf Paris Commune siege, above.

'''between Cleveland and Denver''' 
Merle's idiosyncratic choice of endpoints?

'''automorphic functions''' 
???

==Page 453==

'''Lobatchevskian''' 
???

'''Automorphic Dispensation''' 
???

'''distressing regularity''' 
Explains dilapidation?

'''Thorvald''' 
???

'''''thresher dinners''''' 
???

==Page 454==

'''"gaff"''' 
???

'''Giant Airships of 1896 and '7''' 
[http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Mysterious-airship.jpg Photo and info here]

'''Chick''' 
First Chum to appear in non-Chums chapter?

'''Cleveland... trial''' 
See p67

'''Somble, Strool, and Fleshway''' 
???

''''paranoia querulans'... P.Q.''' 
???

'''blasting agent''' 
???

'''detonans''' 
???

==Page 456==

'''aigrette''' 
???

'''Pencil''' 
???

'''equivalent of a shrug''' 
Nice anthropomorphism.

'''lost mines''' 
(Factual?)

==Page 457==

'''tourbillon''' 
???

'''patent pencils''' 
???

'''zephyr gingham''' 
???

'''lawn''' 
???

'''pongee''' 
???

==Page 458==

'''professors... engineers''' 
Theory vs practice.

'''Latinate token of prestige''' 
PhD, summa cum laude, etc.

'''current... purity''' 
Free of noise?

'''Minkowski''' 
???

'''Three times ten... minus one seconds''' 
???

'''other expression''' 
???

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 429-459

2006-12-19T15:33:17Z

Jc: /* Page 432 */

==Page 431==

'''"Turkish Corner"''' 
???

'''Bactrian''' 
???

'''Cameling''' 
???

==Page 432==

'''fatal word''' 
"Wife".

'''Gamomania''' 

A gammomaniac, I guess, means a 'leg man'.

'''H.M.S.F.''' 
His Majesty's Subdesertine Frigate (p425).

'''Balaam's ass''' 
???

'''reported... Polo''' 
???

==Page 433==

'''pan-spectral fields''' 
???

'''"Euphrates" poplars''' 
???

'''aryq''' 
???

'''B.I.N.''' 
Biometric Institute of Neuropathy (p432).

'''seventeen-syllable''' 
???

==Page 434==

'''Eta/Nu Transformators''' 
???

'''pari passu''' 
???

==Page 435==

'''Gurkhas''' 
???

'''General Forrest''' 
???

'''archiepiscopal''' 
???

'''Faberge''' 
???

'''subarenaceous''' 
???

==Page 436==

'''limen''' 
???

'''transmundane''' 
???

'''lamaseries''' 
???

'''Torriform''' 
???

'''Urban terrain''' 
(But only cities unwisely built on sand.)

'''Stilton Gaspereaux''' 
???

'''Sven Hedin''' 
???

'''Aurel Stein''' 
???

'''first known maps''' 
???

==Page 437==

'''Nernst lamps''' 
???

'''level of encryption''' 
(Cf Heisenberg?)

'''Mount Kailash''' 
???

'''polarize... in time''' 
???

'''Manichaeans''' 
???

==Page 438==

'''expanded sense... Maxwell... Hertz''' 
???

''''Perfects'''' 
???

'''Graeco-Buddhist''' 
???

'''Italo-Islamic''' 
???

==Page 439==

'''Nuovo Rialto''' 
???

'''no earlier than''' 
(Where'd they go?)

'''Passing of the Remarks''' 
???

'''Steeplechase Park''' 
???

==Page 440==

'''screaming''' 
Screaming motif.

'''''chong pir''''' 
???

'''Uyghur''' 
???

'''skeleton rig''' 
Concealed weapon?

'''andante''' 
???

'''Sandman Saloon''' 
???

==Page 441==

'''Leonard and Lyle''' 
???

'''''teke''''' 
???

'''Spindletop''' 
???

'''Groznyi''' 
???

'''calyx bits''' 
???

'''adults''' 
Chums not adults, then?

'''''assalamu alaykum''''' 
???

'''anticline''' 
???

==Page 442==

'''''equine altitude''''' 
High horse.

'''Veneto-Uyghur''' 
???

'''2 percent... most of them''' 
Implies at least 150 in crew.

'''Marco Querini''' 
???

'''Terrenascondite''' 
???

'''Pozzo San Vito''' 
???

==Page 443==

'''peterman option''' 
???

'''Consomme Imperial''' 
???

'''Timbales de Supremes de Volailles''' 
???

'''Gigot Grille a la Sauce Piquante''' 
???

'''aubergines a la Sauce Mousseline''' 
???

'''Pouilly-Fuisse''' 
???

'''Graves''' 
???

==Page 444==

'''Oasi''' 
Typo?

'''cataplexy''' 
???

'''Nobel brothers''' 
???

'''shaft-alley''' 
???

'''the balloon is up''' 
???

'''F.O.''' 
???

'''''Daily Mail''''' 
???

'''"Sands of Inner Asia"''' 
???

'''Taklamakan''' 
???

==Page 445==

'''Kashgar to Urumchi''' 
???

'''fell into the hand of''' 
Cf modern Taliban, etc.

'''World-Island''' 
???

'''discreet summons''' 
Eg "paging Dr Blue".

'''far wicket''' 
???

'''wog''' 
???

'''Vic removal''' 
???

'''eating an explosive''' 
Cf Lew's Cyclomite.

==Page 446==

'''St Martin le Grand''' 
???

'''Angel Street''' 
???

'''G.P.O. West''' 
???

'''pneumatic dispatches''' 
An extensive 'pneumatic dispatch' system existed on London during the Victorian era, started in 1851 and carrying on at least into the 1930's. By 1886 London had 94 telegram tubes totaling 34 1/2 miles and around 4.5 million telegraph messages were carried in cylinders at around 20mph. At its height the network extended some 57 miles connecting 67 branch offices via a central sorting office. See [http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html] and
[http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm] (with illustrations).

'''drill suits''' 
???

'''chars''' 
???

'''clicks and rests''' 
???

'''Northern Temple of Connexion''' 
???

'''marblework''' 
???

'''Bloggins''' 
???

'''allegro vivatchy''' 
???

==Page 447==

'''grease-paint''' 
Wog-colored.

'''cylinder of gutta-percha''' 
Pneumatic dispatches were carried in cylinders of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutta-percha Gutta-Percha] -- an inelastic latex made from the sap of the Gutta-Percha tree -- covered in felt. See [http://www.capsu.org/history/telegram_conveyors.html].

'''its "D" box''' 
The receiving mechanism on the end of pneumatic dispatch pipe.

"The somewhat complicated pattern of double sluice valve originally used at the central stations has been superseded by a simpler form, known as the D box, so named Despatching from the shape of its cross section. This box is of and cast iron, and is provided with a close-fitting, Receiving brass-framed, sliding lid with a glass panel. This Apparatus, lid fits air-tight, and closes the box after a carrier has been inserted into the mouth of the tube; the latter enters at one end of the box and is there bell-mouthed. A supply pipe, to which is connected a 3-way cock, is joined on to the box and allows communication at will with either the pressure or vacuum mains, so that the apparatus becomes available for either sending (by pressure) or receiving (by vacuum) a carrier. Automatic working, by which the air supply is automatically turned on on the introduction of the carrier into a tube and on closing of the D box, and is cut off when the carrier arrives, was introduced in 1909." From the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica entry on Pneumatic Dispatch, cited at [http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/COMMS/pneumess/pneumess.htm]

'''Holborn''' 
???

'''Saffron Hill''' 
???

'''''tantum dic verbo'' isn't it''' 
???

'''''intact''''' 
(Did I miss this?)

==Page 448==

'''because I'm mad''' 
???

'''half-sovereign case''' 
???

'''Mr. Campbell-Bannerman''' 
???

==Page 449==

'''Clarabella''' 
???

'''Audacity, Iowa''' 
???

==Page 450==

'''DREAMTIME MOVY''' 
Misspelling is dreamlike?

'''log... waterfall''' 
Cf DW Griffith?

'''lens-brother''' 
(Like masonic sign?)

'''Powers movement''' 
???

'''Geneva''' 
???

'''Wilt Flambo''' 
Flambeau = torch (French).

'''acetylene''' 
???

==Page 451==

'''nitro in the film''' 
???

'''the tip''' 
???

'''strange relation''' 
Cf GR on calculus.

'''dark perplexity''' 
Cf Gen X?

'''dilapidated''' 
Why?

'''queen-of-the-prairie''' 
???

==Page 452==

'''Sempitern''' 
???

'''siegecraft of Time''' 
Cf Paris Commune siege, above.

'''between Cleveland and Denver''' 
Merle's idiosyncratic choice of endpoints?

'''automorphic functions''' 
???

==Page 453==

'''Lobatchevskian''' 
???

'''Automorphic Dispensation''' 
???

'''distressing regularity''' 
Explains dilapidation?

'''Thorvald''' 
???

'''''thresher dinners''''' 
???

==Page 454==

'''"gaff"''' 
???

'''Giant Airships of 1896 and '7''' 
???

'''Chick''' 
First Chum to appear in non-Chums chapter?

'''Cleveland... trial''' 
See p67

'''Somble, Strool, and Fleshway''' 
???

''''paranoia querulans'... P.Q.''' 
???

'''blasting agent''' 
???

'''detonans''' 
???

==Page 456==

'''aigrette''' 
???

'''Pencil''' 
???

'''equivalent of a shrug''' 
Nice anthropomorphism.

'''lost mines''' 
(Factual?)

==Page 457==

'''tourbillon''' 
???

'''patent pencils''' 
???

'''zephyr gingham''' 
???

'''lawn''' 
???

'''pongee''' 
???

==Page 458==

'''professors... engineers''' 
Theory vs practice.

'''Latinate token of prestige''' 
PhD, summa cum laude, etc.

'''current... purity''' 
Free of noise?

'''Minkowski''' 
???

'''Three times ten... minus one seconds''' 
???

'''other expression''' 
???

==Annotation Index==
{{ATD PbP}}

ATD 525-556

2006-12-15T13:03:13Z

Jc: haar rekening, ja? - kit marlowe reference?

==Page 540==

'''"haar rekening, ja?"''' 

Given the presence of Chris 'Kit' Traverse here, this very much suggests a reference to Christopher 'Kit' Marlowe, Elizabethan poet, playwright and contemporary of Shakespeare. Marlowe was stabbed to death in 1593, in murky circumstances, ostensibly over a bill or 'recokning', though he was widely believed to have been involved in some form of espionage.

ATD 489-524

2006-12-06T20:34:23Z

Jc: /* Page 494 */

==Page 494==

'''George Grossmith...and that jolly Weedon''' 

George and Weedon Grossmith, authors of the sublime, hillarious 'Diary of a Nobody', which gave the world the adjective 'pooterish'. Undoubtedly an influence on Pynchon's depictions of the 'oh dear' side of Englishness. Pooter is a 'nobody' who decides to publish his diaries, even though he is of no interest and nothing of any note occurs. A prototypical blogger, some might suggest. Originally published in Punch magazine (I think), set in late 19th Century. Don't know if the Grossmiths went to Cambridge, will check....

[plenty of info here: http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/english/DON/Diary_Home.htm]

ATD 489-524

2006-12-06T20:24:32Z

Jc: George and Weedon Grossmith

==Page 494==

'''George Grossmith...and that jolly Weedon''' 

George and Weedon Grossmith, authors of the sublime, hillarious 'Diary of a Nobody', which gave the world the adjective 'pooterish'. Undoubtedly an influence on Pynchon's depictions of the 'oh dear' side of Englishness. Pooter is a 'nobody' who decides to publsih his diaries, even though he is of no interest and nothing of any note occurs. A prototypical blogger, some might suggest. Originally published in Punchh magazine (I think), set in late 19th Century. Don't know if the Grossmiths went to Cambridge, will check....

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-Nobody-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140437320/sr=1-2/qid=1165436282/ref=sr_1_2/026-4911031-4605219?ie=UTF8&s=books]

Talk:ATD 1-25

2006-12-05T22:34:47Z

Jc: /* Cut contribs- let's talk about them */

11-30-06. Have added the tilda (˜) over the n in Richard Fariña's name in the dedication comment. That tilda makes the ñ a completely different letter and pronunciation than the 'n.' It's important to get all the diacritical marks right for Pynchon's sake (he obsesses over these, like he did over things like the shape of the ampersand on the Mason & Dixon cover)--and also because Fariña's name is Spanish, not the English word for a kind of finely ground breakfast cereal. --[[User:Pschmid1|Pschmid1]] 19:59, 30 November 2006 (PST)
: no need to add sucha discussion to the talk page: just change it. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:24, 5 December 2006 (PST)

==Cut contribs- let's talk about them==

OK, these are some cuts I made in accordance with the Spoiler policy. Basically, gently referencing a later page is OK but these page-by-page annotations are meant to be followed along through the first reading of the book. The first cut below runs counter to that policy-- the reader has no idea on the first page what The Light Over the Ranges will come to refer to, and we don't want to tell them before they've encountered that information themselves. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:22, 5 December 2006 (PST)

1) '''The Light Over the Ranges''' 
- This exact phrase recurs on page 198 (Book 2) seen by Webb. It also suggests Tesla's 03 July 1899 'vision'. (The singular 'range' seems called for-- so why plural here?)

:At least move it to the notes for 198.--[[User:Robot|Robot]] 13:31, 5 December 2006 (PST)
::OK, it's moved. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 13:52, 5 December 2006 (PST)

2) 'Lad' implies all are under 18 years old.
: This was cut not for spoiler reasons, but b/c "lad" can also mean a young man (not necessarily under 18) and, in general, be used by a commanding officer toward his underlings of many ages. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:22, 5 December 2006 (PST)
::placed this discussion back in. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 13:52, 5 December 2006 (PST)

3) '''southerly wind''' 
- Blowing from the south to the north. Most likely they're leaving from the New Orleans area (see eg page 29).

: This is minor-- it could go back in, if anyone wants. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:22, 5 December 2006 (PST)

4) -''recently opened''' 
- 01 May 1893. But page 52 makes it sound later.

: Again, a minor one. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:22, 5 December 2006 (PST)

5) Page 4:

'''Professor''' 
- On page 10 this is repeated in quotes.

: I stick by this cut. It's a minor point, but especially on page 10 we want a reader following along with the guide to feel that the guide is not getting ahead of him, which could ruin the experience and make him abandon use fo the guide. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:22, 5 December 2006 (PST)

6) Page 5:

'''perpetual-motion machine''' 
- We'll learn on page 8 that it generates its own hydrogen, but how this is powered is not explained.

:Agains, let's put this on page 8, then. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 12:22, 5 December 2006 (PST)

::Feeling like someone is looking for excuses to trim your work makes one much less enthusiastic about bothering. So don't trim things unless you really believe they degrade the enterprise.--[[User:Robot|Robot]] 13:36, 5 December 2006 (PST)
:::Robot, your contribs are great! please just keep within the spoiler-free spirit of the Page-by-Page and there will never be a problem. Also, if you'd like to add analysis that doesn't need to worry about spoilers, you can add them in the Alpha guide. Thanks, [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 13:43, 5 December 2006 (PST)

:::I feel the same way about editing. Err on the side of keeping it pretty open. Also, I suggest communicating directly with someone you're about to trim. I've only been reformatting -- making things work correctly or look prettier -- and allowing the info to flow. But if there's a dispute about anything, just communicate directly.

:::Also, re spoilers, I don't think we should get *too* hung up on them. Frankly, I can't really imagine anyone saying anything about what's coming later in the novel that would compromise my enjoyment. Pynchon, for me, is way more about the journey. I wouldn't want someone laying out exactly how it ends, or saying something like, When Frank kills Lake..., or When the Chums of Chance die in a horrible crash, but the subtler things, stuff that might ruin a mystery novel or a heavily plot-driven novel, I'm personally not too concerned about and I don't we should expend too much emotional capital on avoiding them, beyond what's reasonable [[User:WikiAdmin|WikiAdmin]] 13:50, 5 December 2006 (PST)

:I disagree. When i saw a comment *ON PAGE 1* of the Page by Page that said Webb was gonna be killed i was furious. If I were using this wiki for the first time, I would probably never return to it. That said, the spoiler warning at the top will hopefully set the tone. I don't wanna be a Nazi about this, but it's why the Page by Page section was created. [[User:Bleakhaus|Bleakhaus]] 14:01, 5 December 2006 (PST)

::Man, I hope these are hypothetical examples: "...I wouldn't want someone laying out exactly how it ends, or saying something like, When Frank kills Lake..., or When the Chums of Chance die in a horrible crash..."

==Ragtime==

Doctorow fictionalises the same era, including anarchists, bombings, early Hollywood.--[[User:Robot|Robot]] 13:31, 5 December 2006 (PST)

ATD 243-272

2006-12-05T22:28:39Z

Jc: /* Page 246 */

:'''<big>Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.</big>''' 

==Page 246==

'''"with all the spaghetti-joints in this town to choose from, are you saying those dadblame Russians have come in ''here''?"''' 
reminiscent of a similar line from the film ''Casablanca'', spoken by Humphrey Bogart: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."

==Page 269==

'''the dirt, the blood-red dirt''' 
This line recalls Homer's "wine-dark sea" first found in The Iliad (Bk VII) in a scene in which Achilles grieves for the death of Patroclus. Given the context here, it might be thought of as "mock-heroic."

ATD 81-96

2006-12-03T21:55:01Z

Jc: /* Page 81 */

==Page 81==
'''July Fourth started hot and grew hotter,...''' 

On Saturday, 18 November 2006, the UK's Guardian newspaper, in a Review section which featured a drawing of what Pynchon might now look like on its cover[[image:Gpynch.jpg|thumb|Guardan Review|right]], published a full-page excerpt from 'Against the Day'. This comprised pages 81 to 85 (up to ",he wondered sometimes if he would've ever signed on."), with the addition of the final paragraph from page 96, ending with "Happy Fourth of July, Webb." This was a much more substantial excerpt than the one which appeared in the Penguin Press catalogue, and was arguably a more alluring one in terms of attracting the general reader. These were the only official excerpts published before ATD itself, on 21 November 2006.

'''Feast of St. Barbara''' 
According to legend, Saint Barbara was the extremely beautiful daughter of a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia in Asia Minor, in the 4th Century AD. Because of her singular beauty and fearful that she be demanded in marriage and taken away from him, he jealously shut her up in a tower to protect her from the outside world. When Barbara converted to Christianity, her enraged father killed her and was subsequently struck down by lightening. St. Barbara was venerated as early as the seventh century. The legend of the lightning bolt which struck down her father caused her to be regarded as the patron saint in time of danger from thunderstorms, fires and sudden death. When gunpowder made its appearance in the Western world, Saint Barbara was invoked for aid against accidents resulting from explosions since some of the earlier artillery pieces often blew up instead of firing their projectile, Saint Barbara became the patroness of the artillerymen. [http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pabarbar.htm]

==Page 82==
'''Skinner''' 
A person who drives mules.

'''Chinaman''' 
This is the latest of many allusions to China or Chinese in an exotic, oriental way. This may simply be imitating Gilded Age and early 20th century American fiction and films, which often featured mystical Chinese as characters and villains. It also recalls the use of Feng Shui in ''Mason & Dixon''.

'''Cripple Creek''' 
Cripple Creek was the location of a miner's strike in 1894. It was a significant labor event and it was the first time that a state Militia was called out in support of the miners. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners'_strike_of_1894 Wikipedia entry]

==Page 85==
'''Innocent Victims...Monsters That Did the Deed''' 
Use of capitals seems to emphasize the fact that these persons are simply convenient stock characters in the forwarding of the owners'/government's agenda.

==Page 87==
Rev. Moss Gatlin's rhetorical question "How can anyone set off a bomb that will take innocent lives?" and its wisecrack response, "Long fuse" seems a calculated echo of Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket.' ("How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy -- don't lead 'em so much.")

'''Emile Henry, Vaillant''' 
Emile Henry (1872 - May 21, 1894) was a French anarchist who on February 12, 1894 detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare killing one person and wounding twenty. Henry was angered over the execution of another Anarchist, Auguste Vaillant, for the destruction of a government building that hurt no one, and took it upon himself to strike back to avenge his fellow revolutionary's death. He saw the Cafe as a representation of the bourgeois itself and his intent was to kill as many people as possible in the bombing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Henry Wikipedia entry].

'''Mason-Dixon line''' 
We learn that the Traverse family had been "an old ridegerunning caln from southern Pennsylvania, close to the Mason-Dixon." No Traverses appear, however, in Pynchon's ''Mason & Dixon,'' but one can speculate that had they been, the Traverse ancestors may have been victims of the Line's bad Feng Shui. From this, one could infer a connection between the Line and Colorado Anarchism.

==Page 89==
'''Repeal of the Silver Act of 1893''' 

Prior to 1893, both Silver and Gold were used as a metallic standard for currency in the United States. The Sherman Act authorized the treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. This inflated the price of silver, causing eastern investors to start hoarding gold as a hedge. The unrest this caused in the Colorado mines resulted in the repeal of the Act. When this happened, the mining of silver began to rapidly decline, causing further destabilization in the silver mining industry.

==Page 93==
'''plutes''' 
Plutocrats: members of the wealthy class controlling a government

'''Labor produces all wealth. Wealth belongs to the producer thereof.''' 
Reviewers of ATD have quoted this line, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601252.html] but Pynchon did not make it up. It comes from authentic miner's union literature of the time. [http://laborarts.org/collections/item.cfm?itemid=178]

'''Republicans''' 
William McKinley was elected in 1896 on the Republican ticket, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan, ushering in a chain of Republican Presidents until Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1912. Obviously, could also be interpreted as a jab at the current Republican Party.

==Page 96==

'''Sufficient unto the day''' 

From The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: 6:34. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (The New Testament of the King James Bible)

ATD 81-96

2006-12-03T21:44:14Z

Jc: /* Page 81 */

==Page 81==
'''July Fourth started hot and grew hotter,...''' 

On Saturday, 18 November 2006, the UK's Guardian newspaper, in a Review section which featured a drawing of what Pynchon might now look like on its cover [[Gpynch.jpg‎]], published a full-page excerpt from 'Against the Day'. This comprised pages 81 to 85 (up to ",he wondered sometimes if he would've ever signed on."), with the addition of the final paragraph from page 96, ending with "Happy Fourth of July, Webb." This was a much more substantial excerpt than the one which appeared in the Penguin Press catalogue, and was arguably a more alluring one in terms of attracting the general reader. These were the only official excerpts published before ATD itself, on 21 November 2006.

'''Feast of St. Barbara''' 
According to legend, Saint Barbara was the extremely beautiful daughter of a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia in Asia Minor, in the 4th Century AD. Because of her singular beauty and fearful that she be demanded in marriage and taken away from him, he jealously shut her up in a tower to protect her from the outside world. When Barbara converted to Christianity, her enraged father killed her and was subsequently struck down by lightening. St. Barbara was venerated as early as the seventh century. The legend of the lightning bolt which struck down her father caused her to be regarded as the patron saint in time of danger from thunderstorms, fires and sudden death. When gunpowder made its appearance in the Western world, Saint Barbara was invoked for aid against accidents resulting from explosions since some of the earlier artillery pieces often blew up instead of firing their projectile, Saint Barbara became the patroness of the artillerymen. [http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pabarbar.htm]

==Page 82==
'''Skinner''' 
A person who drives mules.

'''Chinaman''' 
This is the latest of many allusions to China or Chinese in an exotic, oriental way. This may simply be imitating Gilded Age and early 20th century American fiction and films, which often featured mystical Chinese as characters and villains. It also recalls the use of Feng Shui in ''Mason & Dixon''.

'''Cripple Creek''' 
Cripple Creek was the location of a miner's strike in 1894. It was a significant labor event and it was the first time that a state Militia was called out in support of the miners. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners'_strike_of_1894 Wikipedia entry]

==Page 85==
'''Innocent Victims...Monsters That Did the Deed''' 
Use of capitals seems to emphasize the fact that these persons are simply convenient stock characters in the forwarding of the owners'/government's agenda.

==Page 87==
Rev. Moss Gatlin's rhetorical question "How can anyone set off a bomb that will take innocent lives?" and its wisecrack response, "Long fuse" seems a calculated echo of Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket.' ("How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy -- don't lead 'em so much.")

'''Emile Henry, Vaillant''' 
Emile Henry (1872 - May 21, 1894) was a French anarchist who on February 12, 1894 detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare killing one person and wounding twenty. Henry was angered over the execution of another Anarchist, Auguste Vaillant, for the destruction of a government building that hurt no one, and took it upon himself to strike back to avenge his fellow revolutionary's death. He saw the Cafe as a representation of the bourgeois itself and his intent was to kill as many people as possible in the bombing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Henry Wikipedia entry].

'''Mason-Dixon line''' 
We learn that the Traverse family had been "an old ridegerunning caln from southern Pennsylvania, close to the Mason-Dixon." No Traverses appear, however, in Pynchon's ''Mason & Dixon,'' but one can speculate that had they been, the Traverse ancestors may have been victims of the Line's bad Feng Shui. From this, one could infer a connection between the Line and Colorado Anarchism.

==Page 89==
'''Repeal of the Silver Act of 1893''' 

Prior to 1893, both Silver and Gold were used as a metallic standard for currency in the United States. The Sherman Act authorized the treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. This inflated the price of silver, causing eastern investors to start hoarding gold as a hedge. The unrest this caused in the Colorado mines resulted in the repeal of the Act. When this happened, the mining of silver began to rapidly decline, causing further destabilization in the silver mining industry.

==Page 93==
'''plutes''' 
Plutocrats: members of the wealthy class controlling a government

'''Labor produces all wealth. Wealth belongs to the producer thereof.''' 
Reviewers of ATD have quoted this line, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601252.html] but Pynchon did not make it up. It comes from authentic miner's union literature of the time. [http://laborarts.org/collections/item.cfm?itemid=178]

'''Republicans''' 
William McKinley was elected in 1896 on the Republican ticket, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan, ushering in a chain of Republican Presidents until Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1912. Obviously, could also be interpreted as a jab at the current Republican Party.

==Page 96==

'''Sufficient unto the day''' 

From The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: 6:34. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (The New Testament of the King James Bible)

ATD 81-96

2006-12-03T21:43:22Z

Jc: /* Page 81 */

==Page 81==
'''July Fourth started hot and grew hotter,...''' 

On Saturday, 18 November 2006, the UK's Guardian newspaper, in a Review section which featured a drawing of what Pynchon might now look like on its cover ([[Gpynch.jpg‎]]), published a full-page excerpt from 'Against the Day'. This comprised pages 81 to 85 (up to ",he wondered sometimes if he would've ever signed on."), with the addition of the final paragraph from page 96, ending with "Happy Fourth of July, Webb." This was a much more substantial excerpt than the one which appeared in the Penguin Press catalogue, and was arguably a more alluring one in terms of attracting the general reader. These were the only official excerpts published before ATD itself, on 21 November 2006.

'''Feast of St. Barbara''' 
According to legend, Saint Barbara was the extremely beautiful daughter of a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia in Asia Minor, in the 4th Century AD. Because of her singular beauty and fearful that she be demanded in marriage and taken away from him, he jealously shut her up in a tower to protect her from the outside world. When Barbara converted to Christianity, her enraged father killed her and was subsequently struck down by lightening. St. Barbara was venerated as early as the seventh century. The legend of the lightning bolt which struck down her father caused her to be regarded as the patron saint in time of danger from thunderstorms, fires and sudden death. When gunpowder made its appearance in the Western world, Saint Barbara was invoked for aid against accidents resulting from explosions since some of the earlier artillery pieces often blew up instead of firing their projectile, Saint Barbara became the patroness of the artillerymen. [http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pabarbar.htm]

==Page 82==
'''Skinner''' 
A person who drives mules.

'''Chinaman''' 
This is the latest of many allusions to China or Chinese in an exotic, oriental way. This may simply be imitating Gilded Age and early 20th century American fiction and films, which often featured mystical Chinese as characters and villains. It also recalls the use of Feng Shui in ''Mason & Dixon''.

'''Cripple Creek''' 
Cripple Creek was the location of a miner's strike in 1894. It was a significant labor event and it was the first time that a state Militia was called out in support of the miners. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners'_strike_of_1894 Wikipedia entry]

==Page 85==
'''Innocent Victims...Monsters That Did the Deed''' 
Use of capitals seems to emphasize the fact that these persons are simply convenient stock characters in the forwarding of the owners'/government's agenda.

==Page 87==
Rev. Moss Gatlin's rhetorical question "How can anyone set off a bomb that will take innocent lives?" and its wisecrack response, "Long fuse" seems a calculated echo of Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket.' ("How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy -- don't lead 'em so much.")

'''Emile Henry, Vaillant''' 
Emile Henry (1872 - May 21, 1894) was a French anarchist who on February 12, 1894 detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare killing one person and wounding twenty. Henry was angered over the execution of another Anarchist, Auguste Vaillant, for the destruction of a government building that hurt no one, and took it upon himself to strike back to avenge his fellow revolutionary's death. He saw the Cafe as a representation of the bourgeois itself and his intent was to kill as many people as possible in the bombing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Henry Wikipedia entry].

'''Mason-Dixon line''' 
We learn that the Traverse family had been "an old ridegerunning caln from southern Pennsylvania, close to the Mason-Dixon." No Traverses appear, however, in Pynchon's ''Mason & Dixon,'' but one can speculate that had they been, the Traverse ancestors may have been victims of the Line's bad Feng Shui. From this, one could infer a connection between the Line and Colorado Anarchism.

==Page 89==
'''Repeal of the Silver Act of 1893''' 

Prior to 1893, both Silver and Gold were used as a metallic standard for currency in the United States. The Sherman Act authorized the treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. This inflated the price of silver, causing eastern investors to start hoarding gold as a hedge. The unrest this caused in the Colorado mines resulted in the repeal of the Act. When this happened, the mining of silver began to rapidly decline, causing further destabilization in the silver mining industry.

==Page 93==
'''plutes''' 
Plutocrats: members of the wealthy class controlling a government

'''Labor produces all wealth. Wealth belongs to the producer thereof.''' 
Reviewers of ATD have quoted this line, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111601252.html] but Pynchon did not make it up. It comes from authentic miner's union literature of the time. [http://laborarts.org/collections/item.cfm?itemid=178]

'''Republicans''' 
William McKinley was elected in 1896 on the Republican ticket, defeating Democrat William Jennings Bryan, ushering in a chain of Republican Presidents until Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1912. Obviously, could also be interpreted as a jab at the current Republican Party.

==Page 96==

'''Sufficient unto the day''' 

From The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: 6:34. "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (The New Testament of the King James Bible)

File:Gpynch.jpg

2006-12-03T21:40:02Z

Jc:

ATD 1-25

2006-12-01T14:37:34Z

Jc: /* Page 3 */

'''Dedication''' 
Most of Pynchon's novels contain dedications-- ''Mason & Dixon'' ("For Melanie, and for Jackson") , ''Vineland'' ("For my mother and father"), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' ("For Richard Fariña")-- but not so ''Against the Day,'' as published. Advance reading copies of the book did contain the words "Dedication TK" in italics, but this is simply [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Come publisher-speak] for "dedication to come." It is unknown whether Pynchon ever considered inclusion of a dedication or whether the publisher simply left the page open just in case, but the ultimate lack of a dedication may suggest that Pynchon feels he's thanked everyone he needs to thank.

'''"It's always night, or we wouldn't need light."''' 
Epigraph by Thelonious Monk. Jazz and particularly bebop seem to be a lifelong interest of Pynchon’s, appearing in some form in all his works and what biographical snippets exist. As a college student, Pynchon “spent a lot of time in jazz clubs, nursing the two-beer minimum,” by his own admission (''Slow Learner'', Introduction).

==Page 3==

'''"Now single up all lines!"''' 
Pynchon was in the Navy for a spell and "single up all lines" is a common enough nautical term. But the opening line has many possible connotations. The Modern Word's Quail [http://www.themodernword.com/reviews/pynchon_atd.html writes] that "it is simultaneously a self-directive and a call to the reader; suggesting that ''Against the Day'' is a culmination of his previous work, and also charging the reader to find meaning within its twisting labyrinth. It may also be a sly, preemptive joke on the book’s initial critics, as the novel begins with the launch of a bloated gasbag bearing a somewhat provocative name." For more on lines, see page 146. One may also want to pay attention to sections on 'vectors' (represented by arrows). "Single up all lines" is used in its normal nautical context in ''V.'', 11; ''COL49'', 31; ''Gravity's Rainbow'', 489; and ''Mason & Dixon'', 258, 260. Perhaps we can understand this "line" as a text-string linking Pynchon's novels together (all but ''Vineland''?)--in preparation for a voyage to . . . .?

'''"Cheerly now...handsomely...very well!!"''' 
Just as 'single up all lines' is used in nautical context in ''V.'', so 'cheerly' appears on page 54 of ''Mason & Dixon'' ("Cheerly. Cheerly, then, Lads...").

'''The Chums of Chance''' 
Cameraderie and isolation are two recurring topics in Pynchon's works. The Chums are a band of heroes like those commonly featured in the 19th century boys' fiction that Pynchon evokes, but also recall Pynchon's high school fictions, [http://themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_hamster.html Voice of the Hamster] and [http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_boys.html The Boys], in which the teenage Pynchon lovingly portrayed his group of high school chums, known as, simply, "The Boys."

'''World's Columbian Exposition''' 
also called The Chicago World's Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of hosting the fair. The fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self image and American industrial optimism. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Columbian_Exposition Wikipedia entry].

==Page 5==

'''Pugnax''' 
The name meaning, in Latin, "likes to fight." Pugnax's fantastic intelligence recalls another intelligent dog, the Learned English Dog in ''Mason & Dixon''. Pugnax's manner of speech is also reminiscent of the mystery-solving cartoon dog "Scooby-Doo."

'''"...during a confidential assignment in Our Nation's Capitol (see ''The Chums of Chance and the Evil Halfwit)..."'' 
This could be seen as a criticism of American Presidents present or past, or perhaps the Vietnam War, which Pynchon himself opposed.

May also refer to President Bush, considering the Pynchon-authored Amazon.com book description which included “With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, and evil intent in high places. No reference to the present day is intended or should be inferred.”

==Page 6==

'''"...anemometer of the Robinson's type"''' 
Cup anemometer invented in 1846 by Dr. John Thomas Romney Robinson. Cup anemometers are still commonly used to measure wind speed because of their simplicity and reliability in a variety of environmental conditions.

==Page 7==
'''"'Dick' Counterfly had absquatulated...."''' 
Means to move away quickly, usually to avoid capture. Apparently a mock-Latinate formation, "to go off and squat somewhere else." Great verb!

==Page 8==

'''"which directs us never to interfere with legal customs of any locality down at which we may happen to have touched"''' 
Like the Prime Directive in ''Star Trek''.

==Page 9==

'''"Do not imagine, that in coming aboard ''Inconvenience'' you have escaped into any realm of the counterfactual..."''' 
This may be Pynchon directly addressing the reader. Given that his introductory blurb proclaims the world of AtD as what the world might be with a minor adjustment or two, this paragraph seems to indicate that Pynchon, like all great fantasy or sci-fi writers, does not intend to create a world where anything goes. Rather, he will create a world that differs from ours but then obey the rules and constraints he's already established.

'''"Going up is like going north."''' 
Anyone understand this statement by Randolph?? This simply seems to use the notion that most maps put north at the top, so moving north is moving 'up' the page. Once you pass the pole, you are going south, or back 'down' the map.

:This may be an allusion to the change in climate from warm southern climates to cold northern climates. The contrast from southern california to northern california is apt, sunny beaches south...rainy foggy beaches north. Population thins out similar to the oxygen the further North you get. Alaska being the ideal extreme. One can see this as another of the many echoes to themes from "Gravity's Rainbow" in the "Light Over the Ranges" section. Ascending (in an airship or rocket) is like moving Northward to colder and less habitable environments, until one crosses the Pole (literally going 'Beyond the Zero.')

:Also, it may further drive home the point, to Chick, that up does not lead to "any realm of the counterfactual": the comparison with going north should remind him that up is just another direction, strange and uncomfortable as it may be for him.

:Are we reading too deeply into this statement? Perhaps it only means that the air gets cooler as the ship ascends into higher altitudes, and therefore is like travelling northward.

::Importantly, going up (in altitude) is an '''expedited''' means of going to a place that is “like” the North (in latitude). For example, say you are at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on a summer day in Colorado. While the snowline on the mountains may only be a few miles ''up'', the snowline on land of the same or similar elevation to the land you stand on is likely a 1000+ miles ''north''. The sudden increase in altitude accompanying a flight aboard the Inconvenience does not allow one to acclimatize gradually to the northern feel -- thus Chick’s need for a “transitional” “foul-weather cloak”. Interestingly, in terms of gravity, going up is like going ''south'': [http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=465 gravity is relatively stronger at points of low altitude and high latitude].

:::I think the more interesting part is the comment that there is a secret that we must not talk about where going further upwards creates an experience much like gover OVER the pole- i.e. warmer and marmer. This is the real question.

==Page 12==

'''Liverpool Kiss''' 
A head butt.

'''Herr Riemann''' 
Riemann, Georg Friedrich Bernhard (1826-1866) (pronounced REE mahn or in IPA: ['ri:man]) was a German mathematician who made important contributions to analysis and differential geometry, some of them paving the way for the later development of general relativity. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann Wikipedia entry].

==Page 13==
'''"...quite as if were some giant eyeball, perhaps that of Society itself, ever scrutinizing from above, in a spirit of constructive censure."''' 
This is strikingly reminiscent of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilon_Redon Odilon Redon's] 1882 Lithograph ''L'Oeil, comme un ballon bizarre se dirige vers l'infini (The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity).'' [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3ADE%3AI%3A2&page_number=4&template_id=1&sort_order=1 At MoMa's Online Collection]

Reference also to ATD Pg. 51 and "The Unsleeping Eye", an apparent reference to Pinkerton's competing PI agency.

==Page 14==

'''Jacob's-ladder''' 
Used here as "a marine ladder of rope or chain with wooden or iron rungs" (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged) but is suggestive of Jacob's ladder in Genesis:

Genesis 28:12 And he [jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (King James version)

==Page 15==

'''ukelele''' 
Ukeleles also appear in ''Gravity's Rainbow''. According to Jules Siegel's article, "Who is Thomas Pynchon, and why did he take off with my wife?", Pynchon himself played the ukelele in college.

==Page 17==

'''cubeb''' 
The name for the berry and for the oil obtained from the unripe berry of the East Indian climbing shrub ''P. cubeba''. The dried fruits are sometimes used as a condiment or are ground and smoked in cigarette form as a catarrh remedy. The oil is used medicinally and also in soap manufacture. The masticated roots of kava, ''P. methysticum,'' widely grown in its native Pacific islands, are made into a beverage called kavakava, which contains soporific alkaloids. It is an integral part of religious and social life there. A preparation of kava for commerce, also called kavakava, is sold widely as an herbal remedy for anxiety and insomnia. -- From [http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/pepper The Free Dictionary]

Also appears in ''Gravity's Rainbow,'' page 118.

'''"...goldurn Keeley Cure"''' 
A treatment for alcohol, nicotine and narcotic addiction involving injections of "bichloride" or "double chloride" of gold, and also known as the "gold cure". Named for Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, who opened the first of many Keeley Institutes in 1879.

==Page 18==

'''Tzigane''' 
Meaning "gypsy".

==Page 24==

'''Epworth League''' 
A Methodist youth organization founded around 1899.

==Page 25==

'''Haymarket bomb''' 
The Haymarket Riot on May 4, 1886, in Chicago may be the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the caricature of "a bomb-throwing anarchist." The causes of the incident are still controversial, although deeply polarized attitudes separating the business class and the working class in late 19th century Chicago are generally acknowledged as having precipitated the tragedy and its aftermath. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing Wikipedia entry].

'''duck soup''' 
Meaning "an easy task," but also the name of a Marx Bros. movie. Perhaps relevant, given the cameo by Groucho promised on the book sleeve.

Dr. Oyswharf

2006-12-01T12:54:17Z

Jc:

Osywharf carries an echo of "Owsley" - August Owsley Styanley III, described as the "undisputed king of the illicit LSD trade" in Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond, by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain.

Lew's hallucinations after failing to wash his hands recall the legend of Dr. Albert Hofman's discovery of the effects of LSD, after accidentally absorbing a small dose through his skin, according to Lee and Shlain. The "Beavers of the Brain" episode that follows sounds like something out of an LSD trip, those "ever-more-polycrystalline luminosities of meaning" [183].

Osywharf also recalls Osbie Feel, a doper in Gravity's Rainbow. And Hofmann's discovery is mentioned in GR: "Jamf at the time was working for a Swiss outfit called Psycho-chemie AG, originally known as the Grössli Chemical Corporation, a spinoff from Sandoz (where, as every schoolchild knows, the legendary Dr. Hofmann made his important discovery)."

Against the Day Title

2006-12-01T00:20:02Z

Jc: /* Other books of the same title */

'''Note: please keep this analysis general and spoiler-free.'''

==Contra Jour==

''Contra Jour'' is a photographic term meaning, literally, 'Against the Day' or 'Against the Light'. This seems particularly relevant given that light is a major theme in the book.

==Other books of the same title==

''Against the Day'' is also the title of a book by Michael Cronin, dealing with an alternate history of World War II.

==Biblical connotations==

In his review of ''Against the Day'' in the ''Wall Street Journal'', Alexander Theroux (author of [http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDarconvilles-Cat-Alexander-Theroux%2Fdp%2F0805043659&tag=hyperartspynchon&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325 ''Darconville's Cat''] and the upcoming [http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLaura-Warholic-Intellectual-Alexander-Theroux%2Fdp%2F1560977981%2Fsr%3D11-1%2Fqid%3D1164652830&tag=hyperartspynchon&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325 ''Laura Warholic; or The Sexual Intellectual'']) traces the title of Pynchon's novel back to the Bible, 2 Peter 3:7.:

:(5) For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God;

:(6) by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

:(7) but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved '''against the day''' of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

:(8) But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

(Source: [http://www.spcm.org/english/ASB/B61C003.htm American Standard Bible])

Theroux's review can be found in [http://online.wsj.com/home/us The Wall Street Journal], November 24, 2006, Page W8. (The website is only accessible for subscribers).

'''Romans 2:5'''

"Against the Day" is a fairly common phrase and probably not limited to one meaning, but this passage from the King James Bible is particularly resonant, especially considering the great amount of religious and pseudo-religious imagery in the book:

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans 2:5 "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath ''against the day'' of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (King James Bible)

The bookends of the word "wrath" around "against the day" make this particularly suggestive of judgement day or the day of wrath. The passages around this one and around Matthew: 6:34 where Webb's "Sufficient unto the day" (p.96) appears dwell on judgement: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

==The themes of the book==

The title, ''Against the Day,'' contains references to many of the primary themes of the novel: light, opposites, mirror imagery...

ATD 358-373

2006-11-30T23:35:05Z

Jc:

==Page 365==

'''Borrasca''' 
Borrasca in Spanish means storm, squall, depression, or area of low pressure. But apparently it can also mean an exhausted mine, and 'Going borrasca' means "becoming mined-out". Interestingly, this is very close to the English word 'borassic', ie. out of cash. This comes from Cockney Rhyming Slang: 'boracic lint' meaning 'skint', ie without any money.

ATD 81-96

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Jc: /* Page 81 */

==Page 81==
'''July Fourth started hot and grew hotter,...''' 

On Saturday, 18 November 2006, the UK's Guardian newspaper, in a Review section which featured a drawing of what Pynchon might now look like on its cover, published a full-page excerpt from 'Against the Day'. This comprised pages 81 to 85 (up to ",he wondered sometimes if he would've ever signed on."), with the addition of the final paragraph from page 96, ending with "Happy Fourth of July, Webb." This was a much more substantial excerpt than the one which appeared in the Penguin Press catalogue, and was arguably a more alluring one in terms of attracting the general reader. These were the only official excerpts published before ATD itself, on 21 November 2006.

'''Feast of St. Barbara''' 
According to legend, Saint Barbara was the extremely beautiful daughter of a wealthy heathen named Dioscorus, who lived near Nicomedia in Asia Minor, in the 4th Century AD. Because of her singular beauty and fearful that she be demanded in marriage and taken away from him, he jealously shut her up in a tower to protect her from the outside world. When Barbara converted to Christianity, her enraged father killed her and was subsequently struck down by lightening. St. Barbara was venerated as early as the seventh century. The legend of the lightning bolt which struck down her father caused her to be regarded as the patron saint in time of danger from thunderstorms, fires and sudden death. When gunpowder made its appearance in the Western world, Saint Barbara was invoked for aid against accidents resulting from explosions since some of the earlier artillery pieces often blew up instead of firing their projectile, Saint Barbara became the patroness of the artillerymen. [http://sill-www.army.mil/pao/pabarbar.htm From this website.]

==Page 82==
'''Skinner''' 
A person who drives mules.

'''Chinaman''' 
This is the latest of many allusions to China or Chinese in an exotic, oriental way. This may simply be imitating Gilded Age and early 20th century American fiction and films, which often featured mystical Chinese as characters and villains. It also recalls the use of Feng Shui in ''Mason & Dixon''.

'''Cripple Creek''' 
Cripple Creek was the location of a miner's strike in 1894. It was a significant labor event and it was the first time that a state Militia was called out in support of the miners. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Creek_miners'_strike_of_1894 Wikipedia entry]

==Page 85==
'''Innocent Victims...Monsters That Did the Deed''' 
Use of capitals seems to emphasize the fact that these persons are simply convenient stock characters in the forwarding of the owners'/government's agenda.

==Page 87==
Rev. Moss Gatlin's rhetorical question "How can anyone set off a bomb that will take innocent lives?" and its wisecrack response, "Long fuse" seems a calculated echo of Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket.' ("How can you shoot women and children?" "Easy -- don't lead 'em so much.")

'''Emile Henry, Vaillant''' 
Emile Henry (1872 - May 21, 1894) was a French anarchist who on February 12, 1894 detonated a bomb at the Café Terminus in the Parisian Gare Saint-Lazare killing one person and wounding twenty. Henry was angered over the execution of another Anarchist, Auguste Vaillant, for the destruction of a government building that hurt no one, and took it upon himself to strike back to avenge his fellow revolutionary's death. He saw the Cafe as a representation of the bourgeois itself and his intent was to kill as many people as possible in the bombing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Henry Wikipedia entry].

'''Mason-Dixon line''' 
We learn that the Traverse family had been "an old ridegerunning caln from southern Pennsylvania, close to the Mason-Dixon." No Traverses appear, however, in Pynchon's ''Mason & Dixon,'' but one can speculate that had they been, the Traverse ancestors may have been victims of the Line's bad Feng Shui. From this, one could infer a connection between the Line and Colorado Anarchism.

==Page 89==
'''Repeal of the Silver Act of 1893''' 

Prior to 1893, both Silver and Gold were used as a metallic standard for currency in the United States. The Sherman Act authorized the treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. This inflated the price of silver, causing eastern investors to start hoarding gold as a hedge. The unrest this caused in the Colorado mines resulted in the repeal of the Act. When this happened, the mining of silver began to rapidly decline, causing further destabilization in the silver mining industry.

==Page 93==
'''plutes''' 
plutocrats: members of the wealthy class controlling a government

==Page 96==

'''Sufficient unto the day''' 

From The Gospel According to Saint Matthew: 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall
take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (The New Testament of the King James Bible)

User:Jc

2006-11-29T22:14:11Z

Jc:

John Carvill

ATD 1-25

2006-11-29T21:52:36Z

Jc: /* Page 3 */

'''Dedication''' 
Most of Pynchon's novels contain dedications-- ''Mason & Dixon'' ("For Melanie, and for Jackson") , ''Vineland'' ("For my mother and father"), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' ("For Richard Farina")-- but not so ''Against the Day,'' as published. Advance reading copies of the book did contain the words "Dedication TK" in italics, but this is simply [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Come publisher-speak] for "dedication to come." It is unknown whether Pynchon ever considered inclusion of a dedication or whether the publisher simply left the page open just in case, but the ultimate lack of a dedication may suggest that Pynchon feels he's thanked everyone he needs to thank.

'''"It's always night, or we wouldn't need light."''' 
Epigraph by Thelonious Monk. Jazz and particularly bebop seem to be a lifelong interest of Pynchon’s, appearing in some form in all his works and what biographical snippets exist. As a college student, Pynchon “spent a lot of time in jazz clubs, nursing the two-beer minimum,” by his own admission (''Slow Learner'', Introduction).

==Page 3==

'''"Now single up all lines!"''' 
Pynchon was in the Navy for a spell and "single up all lines" is a common enough nautical term. But the opening line has many possible connotations. The Modern Word's Quail [http://www.themodernword.com/reviews/pynchon_atd.html writes] that "it is simultaneously a self-directive and a call to the reader; suggesting that ''Against the Day'' is a culmination of his previous work, and also charging the reader to find meaning within its twisting labyrinth. It may also be a sly, preemptive joke on the book’s initial critics, as the novel begins with the launch of a bloated gasbag bearing a somewhat provocative name." For more on lines, see page 146. One may also want to pay attention to sections on 'vectors' (represented by arrows). "Single up all lines" is used in its normal nautical context in ''V.'', 11 and ''Gravity's Rainbow'', 489.

'''"Cheerly now...handsomley...very well!!"''' 
Just as 'single up all lines' is used in nautical context in 'V.', so 'cheerly now' appears on page 54 of 'Mason & Dixon' ("Cheerly. Cheerly, then, Lads..."). In fact, 'single up all lines' also appears in 'Mason & Dixon'.

'''The Chums of Chance''' 
Cameraderie and isolation are two recurring topics in Pynchon's works. The Chums are a band of heroes like those commonly featured in the 19th century boys' fiction that Pynchon evokes, but also recall Pynchon's high school fictions, [http://themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_hamster.html Voice of the Hamster] and [http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_boys.html The Boys], in which the teenage Pynchon lovingly portrayed his group of high school chums, known as, simply, "The Boys."

'''World's Columbian Exposition''' 
also called The Chicago World's Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of hosting the fair. The fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self image and American industrial optimism. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Columbian_Exposition Wikipedia entry].

==Page 5==

'''Pugnax''' 
The name meaning, in Latin, "likes to fight." Pugnax's fantastic intelligence recalls another intelligent dog, the Learned English Dog in ''Mason & Dixon''. Pugnax's manner of speech is also reminiscent of the mystery-solving cartoon dog "Scooby-Doo."

'''"...during a confidential assignment in Our Nation's Capitol (see ''The Chums of Chance and the Evil Halfwit)..."'' 
This could be seen as a criticism of American Presidents present or past, or perhaps the Vietnam War, which Pynchon himself opposed.

May also refer to President Bush, considering the Pynchon-authored Amazon.com book description which included “With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, and evil intent in high places. No reference to the present day is intended or should be inferred.”

==Page 8==

'''"which directs us never to interfere with legal customs of any locality down at which we may happen to have touched"''' 
Like the Prime Directive in ''Star Trek''.

==Page 9==

'''"Do not imagine, that in coming aboard ''Inconvenience'' you have escaped into any realm of the counterfactual..."''' 
This may be Pynchon directly addressing the reader. Given that his introductory blurb proclaims the world of AtD as what the world might be with a minor adjustment or two, this paragraph seems to indicate that Pynchon, like all great fantasy or sci-fi writers, does not intend to create a world where anything goes. Rather, he will create a world that differs from ours but then obey the rules and constraints he's already established.

'''"Going up is like going north."''' 
Anyone understand this statement by Randolph?? This simply seems to use the notion that most maps put north at the top, so moving north is moving 'up' the page. Once you pass the pole, you are going south, or back 'down' the map.

This may be an allusion to the change in climate from warm southern climates to cold northern climates. The contrast from southern california to northern california is apt, sunny beaches south...rainy foggy beaches north. Population thins out similar to the oxygen the further North you get. Alaska being the ideal extreme. One can see this as another of the many echoes to themes from "Gravity's Rainbow" in the "Light Over the Ranges" section. Ascending (in an airship or rocket) is like moving Northward to colder and less habitable environments, until one crosses the Pole (literally going 'Beyond the Zero.')

Also, it may further drive home the point, to Chick, that up does not lead to "any realm of the counterfactual": the comparison with going north should remind him that up is just another direction, strange and uncomfortable as it may be for him.

Are we reading too deeply into this statement? Perhaps it only means that the air gets cooler as the ship ascends into higher altitudes, and therefore is like travelling northward.
----
Importantly, going up (in altitude) is an '''expedited''' means of going to a place that is “like” the North (in latitude). For example, say you are at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on a summer day in Colorado. While the snowline on the mountains may only be a few miles ''up'', the snowline on land of the same or similar elevation to the land you stand on is likely a 1000+ miles ''north''. The sudden increase in altitude accompanying a flight aboard the Inconvenience does not allow one to acclimatize gradually to the northern feel -- thus Chick’s need for a “transitional” “foul-weather cloak”. Interestingly, in terms of gravity, going up is like going ''south'': [http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=465 gravity is relatively stronger at points of low altitude and high latitude].
----
I think the more interesting part is the comment that there is a secret that we must not talk about where going further upwards creates an experience much like gover OVER the pole- i.e. warmer and marmer. This is the real question.

==Page 12==

'''Herr Riemann''' 
Riemann, Georg Friedrich Bernhard (1826-1866) (pronounced REE mahn or in IPA: ['ri:man]) was a German mathematician who made important contributions to analysis and differential geometry, some of them paving the way for the later development of general relativity. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann Wikipedia entry].

==Page 13==
'''"...quite as if were some giant eyeball, perhaps that of Society itself, ever scrutinizing from above, in a spirit of constructive censure."''' 
This is strikingly reminiscent of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilon_Redon Odilon Redon's] 1882 Lithograph ''L'Oeil, comme un ballon bizarre se dirige vers l'infini (The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity).'' [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3ADE%3AI%3A2&page_number=4&template_id=1&sort_order=1 At MoMa's Online Collection]

Reference also to ATD Pg. 51 and "The Unsleeping Eye", an apparent reference to Pinkerton's competing PI agency.

==Page 14==

'''Jacob's-ladder''' 
Used here as "a marine ladder of rope or chain with wooden or iron rungs" (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged) but is suggestive of Jacob's ladder in Genesis:

Genesis 28:12 And he [jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (King James version)

==Page 15==

'''ukelele''' 
Ukeleles also appear in ''Gravity's Rainbow''. According to Jules Siegel's article, "Who is Thomas Pynchon, and why did he take off with my wife?", Pynchon himself played the ukelele in college.

==Page 18==

'''Tzigane''' 
Meaning "gypsy".

==Page 24==

'''Epworth League''' 
A Methodist youth organization founded around 1899.

==Page 25==

'''Haymarket bomb''' 
The Haymarket Riot on May 4, 1886, in Chicago may be the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the caricature of "a bomb-throwing anarchist." The causes of the incident are still controversial, although deeply polarized attitudes separating the business class and the working class in late 19th century Chicago are generally acknowledged as having precipitated the tragedy and its aftermath. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing Wikipedia entry].

'''duck soup''' 
Meaning "an easy task," but also the name of a Marx Bros. movie. Perhaps relevant, given the cameo by Groucho promised on the book sleeve.

ATD 1-25

2006-11-29T21:48:01Z

Jc: /* Page 3 */

'''Dedication''' 
Most of Pynchon's novels contain dedications-- ''Mason & Dixon'' ("For Melanie, and for Jackson") , ''Vineland'' ("For my mother and father"), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' ("For Richard Farina")-- but not so ''Against the Day,'' as published. Advance reading copies of the book did contain the words "Dedication TK" in italics, but this is simply [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Come publisher-speak] for "dedication to come." It is unknown whether Pynchon ever considered inclusion of a dedication or whether the publisher simply left the page open just in case, but the ultimate lack of a dedication may suggest that Pynchon feels he's thanked everyone he needs to thank.

'''"It's always night, or we wouldn't need light."''' 
Epigraph by Thelonious Monk. Jazz and particularly bebop seem to be a lifelong interest of Pynchon’s, appearing in some form in all his works and what biographical snippets exist. As a college student, Pynchon “spent a lot of time in jazz clubs, nursing the two-beer minimum,” by his own admission (''Slow Learner'', Introduction).

==Page 3==

'''"Now single up all lines!"''' 
Pynchon was in the Navy for a spell and "single up all lines" is a common enough nautical term. But the opening line has many possible connotations. The Modern Word's Quail [http://www.themodernword.com/reviews/pynchon_atd.html writes] that "it is simultaneously a self-directive and a call to the reader; suggesting that ''Against the Day'' is a culmination of his previous work, and also charging the reader to find meaning within its twisting labyrinth. It may also be a sly, preemptive joke on the book’s initial critics, as the novel begins with the launch of a bloated gasbag bearing a somewhat provocative name." For more on lines, see page 146. One may also want to pay attention to sections on 'vectors' (represented by arrows). "Single up all lines" is used in its normal nautical context in ''V.'', 11 and ''Gravity's Rainbow'', 489.

'''"Cheerly now...handsomley...very well!!"''' 
Just as 'single up all lines' is used in nautical context in 'V.', so 'cheerly now' appears on page 54 of 'Mason & Dixon' ("Cheerly. Cheerly, then, Lads...").

'''The Chums of Chance''' 
Cameraderie and isolation are two recurring topics in Pynchon's works. The Chums are a band of heroes like those commonly featured in the 19th century boys' fiction that Pynchon evokes, but also recall Pynchon's high school fictions, [http://themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_hamster.html Voice of the Hamster] and [http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/pynchon_boys.html The Boys], in which the teenage Pynchon lovingly portrayed his group of high school chums, known as, simply, "The Boys."

'''World's Columbian Exposition''' 
also called The Chicago World's Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of hosting the fair. The fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self image and American industrial optimism. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Columbian_Exposition Wikipedia entry].

==Page 5==

'''Pugnax''' 
The name meaning, in Latin, "likes to fight." Pugnax's fantastic intelligence recalls another intelligent dog, the Learned English Dog in ''Mason & Dixon''. Pugnax's manner of speech is also reminiscent of the mystery-solving cartoon dog "Scooby-Doo."

'''"...during a confidential assignment in Our Nation's Capitol (see ''The Chums of Chance and the Evil Halfwit)..."'' 
This could be seen as a criticism of American Presidents present or past, or perhaps the Vietnam War, which Pynchon himself opposed.

May also refer to President Bush, considering the Pynchon-authored Amazon.com book description which included “With a worldwide disaster looming just a few years ahead, it is a time of unrestrained corporate greed, false religiosity, moronic fecklessness, and evil intent in high places. No reference to the present day is intended or should be inferred.”

==Page 8==

'''"which directs us never to interfere with legal customs of any locality down at which we may happen to have touched"''' 
Like the Prime Directive in ''Star Trek''.

==Page 9==

'''"Do not imagine, that in coming aboard ''Inconvenience'' you have escaped into any realm of the counterfactual..."''' 
This may be Pynchon directly addressing the reader. Given that his introductory blurb proclaims the world of AtD as what the world might be with a minor adjustment or two, this paragraph seems to indicate that Pynchon, like all great fantasy or sci-fi writers, does not intend to create a world where anything goes. Rather, he will create a world that differs from ours but then obey the rules and constraints he's already established.

'''"Going up is like going north."''' 
Anyone understand this statement by Randolph?? This simply seems to use the notion that most maps put north at the top, so moving north is moving 'up' the page. Once you pass the pole, you are going south, or back 'down' the map.

This may be an allusion to the change in climate from warm southern climates to cold northern climates. The contrast from southern california to northern california is apt, sunny beaches south...rainy foggy beaches north. Population thins out similar to the oxygen the further North you get. Alaska being the ideal extreme. One can see this as another of the many echoes to themes from "Gravity's Rainbow" in the "Light Over the Ranges" section. Ascending (in an airship or rocket) is like moving Northward to colder and less habitable environments, until one crosses the Pole (literally going 'Beyond the Zero.')

Also, it may further drive home the point, to Chick, that up does not lead to "any realm of the counterfactual": the comparison with going north should remind him that up is just another direction, strange and uncomfortable as it may be for him.

Are we reading too deeply into this statement? Perhaps it only means that the air gets cooler as the ship ascends into higher altitudes, and therefore is like travelling northward.
----
Importantly, going up (in altitude) is an '''expedited''' means of going to a place that is “like” the North (in latitude). For example, say you are at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on a summer day in Colorado. While the snowline on the mountains may only be a few miles ''up'', the snowline on land of the same or similar elevation to the land you stand on is likely a 1000+ miles ''north''. The sudden increase in altitude accompanying a flight aboard the Inconvenience does not allow one to acclimatize gradually to the northern feel -- thus Chick’s need for a “transitional” “foul-weather cloak”. Interestingly, in terms of gravity, going up is like going ''south'': [http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=465 gravity is relatively stronger at points of low altitude and high latitude].
----
I think the more interesting part is the comment that there is a secret that we must not talk about where going further upwards creates an experience much like gover OVER the pole- i.e. warmer and marmer. This is the real question.

==Page 12==

'''Herr Riemann''' 
Riemann, Georg Friedrich Bernhard (1826-1866) (pronounced REE mahn or in IPA: ['ri:man]) was a German mathematician who made important contributions to analysis and differential geometry, some of them paving the way for the later development of general relativity. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann Wikipedia entry].

==Page 13==
'''"...quite as if were some giant eyeball, perhaps that of Society itself, ever scrutinizing from above, in a spirit of constructive censure."''' 
This is strikingly reminiscent of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilon_Redon Odilon Redon's] 1882 Lithograph ''L'Oeil, comme un ballon bizarre se dirige vers l'infini (The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity).'' [http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3ADE%3AI%3A2&page_number=4&template_id=1&sort_order=1 At MoMa's Online Collection]

Reference also to ATD Pg. 51 and "The Unsleeping Eye", an apparent reference to Pinkerton's competing PI agency.

==Page 14==

'''Jacob's-ladder''' 
Used here as "a marine ladder of rope or chain with wooden or iron rungs" (Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged) but is suggestive of Jacob's ladder in Genesis:

Genesis 28:12 And he [jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (King James version)

==Page 15==

'''ukelele''' 
Ukeleles also appear in ''Gravity's Rainbow''. According to Jules Siegel's article, "Who is Thomas Pynchon, and why did he take off with my wife?", Pynchon himself played the ukelele in college.

==Page 18==

'''Tzigane''' 
Meaning "gypsy".

==Page 24==

'''Epworth League''' 
A Methodist youth organization founded around 1899.

==Page 25==

'''Haymarket bomb''' 
The Haymarket Riot on May 4, 1886, in Chicago may be the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the caricature of "a bomb-throwing anarchist." The causes of the incident are still controversial, although deeply polarized attitudes separating the business class and the working class in late 19th century Chicago are generally acknowledged as having precipitated the tragedy and its aftermath. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_bombing Wikipedia entry].

'''duck soup''' 
Meaning "an easy task," but also the name of a Marx Bros. movie. Perhaps relevant, given the cameo by Groucho promised on the book sleeve.

ATD 26-56

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Jc: /* Page 48 */

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Egypt_(dancer) Wikipedia entry] Also a 1961 [[Little_Egypt|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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sudan_(1884-1898) Wikipedia entry].

==Page 36==

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

A detective named 'Lew' reminds us of Ross Macdonald's character Lew Archer which in turn recalls another detective, Miles Archer, partner of Sam Spade in San Francisco detective agency Spade & Archer.

==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 travel and hunting (it is estimated that he shot more than 5,000 deer in his lifetime). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria Wikipedia entry]. He did indeed attend the Chicago Exposition. [http://columbus.iit.edu/bookfair/ch27.html]

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserlich_und_königlich 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.

Franz was eventually assassinated in Sarajevo. Coincidentally (?), fellow assassinee JFK was initially claimed to have been a victim of Lee Harvey Oswald's Mannlicher rifle.

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mantle 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardy_third 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''.

L

2006-11-25T12:22:22Z

Jc:

'''L.&O.L.''' 
649;

'''labor unions''' 
43; 50; Western Federation of Miners, 92; 98; St. Petersburg Strike, 595;

'''La Foam, Happy Jack''' 
477; local pharmicist in Wall o' Death; 485;

'''Lafrisée, Pléiade''' 
537; ''sphinxe Khnopffiene'' in Kursaal in Ostend; with Woevre, 560; Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff (1858-1921) was a Belgian symbolist painter. A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human (or bird) and the body of a cat; A ''sphinxe Khnopffiene'' would then be someone cat-like in the style of Khnopff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_Khnopff Wikipedia entry];

[[image:khnopff.jpg|center|thumb|500px|''The Caress'', Khnopff's most famous painting]]

'''Lambert, Joe''' 
283; shot by Hair-Trigger Bob

'''Laplacian''' 
239; bar in Cambridge;

'''Lard Scandal of the '80s, the great''' 
406; there actually ''was'' a lard scandal during the Taft Administration, in 1912;

'''lateener''' 
250; a ship rigged with a lateen which is a triangular sail, suspended by a long yard at an angle of 45° to the mast.

'''Latewood, Cyprian''' 
489; [[Cambridge Apostles|"embryo Apostlet"]], a sod (short for "sodomite", i.e., gay man) at Cambridge; to Trieste, 705; talking gibberish, 713;

'''"laying on tells"''' 
218; God, in poker game; "tells" are gestures or words by a player that give away the value of his/her hand;

'''League of Prizren''' 
653; created on June 10, 1878 in a mosque in Prizren, Kosovo, by 300 Albanian nationalist leaders, mostly from Kosovo, Albania, Western part of former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Muslim leaders from Bosnia-Hercegovina and the Sandzak, in order to achieve an autonomous Albanian state, representing the former Ottoman vilayets of Shkodër or Skutari centered near Montenegro, the Illyria region, the Chameria region, Janina or Janjevo centered in Northern Epirus, Bitola in Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Prizren Wikipedia entry]

'''Lee, Tom''' 
339; his "tong, the On Leong"

'''Leghorn strawhats''' 
42;

'''Leonard and Lyle''' 
441; "oil prospectors" in Sandman Saloon

'''Leopold''' 
528; King of the Belgians; 543;

'''Levi''' 
473; Hope Kindred's husband

'''Levi, Eliphaz (1810-1875)''' 
232; or Eliphas; pseudonym of French occultist and magician Alphonse Louis Constant. Levi incorporated the Tarot cards into his magical system, and as a result the Tarot has been an important part of the paraphernalia of Western magicians. He had a deep impact on the magic of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and later Aleister Crowley (who believed himself to be the reincarnation of Levi), and it was largely through this impact that Lévi is remembered as one of the key founders of the twentieth century revival of magic; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abb%C3%A9_Constant Wikipedia entry]

'''Lieutenants of Industry Scholarship Program''' 
100;

'''light''' 
59; "corner light" 61; 62; electric v. gas in London, 232; 431; 437-38; and film, 451; its future, in California, 456; counter-light, 581; 687-88;

'''lightning''' 
72; sentient ball lightning, 72;

'''Lincrusta-Walton''' 
610; Lincrusta is an embossed fabric used for covering walls, similar in style to anaglypta. It was invented by Frederick Walton in 1877 and is also called Lincrusta-Walton or Lincrusta Walton. It was designed to emulate more expensive materials and hence be more oriented to a mass market. These materials were used to enrich the interiors of late Victorian architecture and now used for historic restoration projects.

'''lines of force''' 
55; 122;

'''Little Egypt''' 
26; at the Chicago World's Fair; 29; 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; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Egypt_(dancer) Wikipedia entry]; [[Little_Egypt|And then there was that song by The Coasters...]]

[[image:goose-girl.jpg|thumb|Little Goose-Girls Statue in Göttingen|right]]'''little goose-girl statue''' 
597; in Göttingen;

'''Little Hellkite''' 
76; mine in Colorado

'''''Little Nemo''''' 
352; Little Nemo is the main fictional character in a series of weekly comic strips by Winsor McCay (1871-1934) that appeared in the New York Herald and William Randolph Hearst's New York American newspapers from October 15, 1905—April 23, 1911 and April 30, 1911—1913; respectively; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Nemo Wikipedia entry]

'''Loafsley, "Plug"''' 
397; "street-Arab" who delivers note to Chums of Chance

'''Lobatchevskian''' 
453; function worked up by Vectorists and Quaternionists; named for the Russian mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky (1792-1856) who developed non-Euclidean geometry; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Ivanovich_Lobachevsky Wikipedia entry]

'''Lodge, Sir Oliver Joseph (1851-1940)''' 
58; Born at Penkhull near Stoke-on-Trent and educated at Adams' Grammar School, Sir Oliver Lodge was a physicist and writer involved in the development of the wireless telegraph; 228; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Lodge Wikipedia entry]

'''Lois''' 
468; little girl in Mayva's ice-cream parlor, Cone Amor

'''Lollipop Lounge''' 
398; personal headquarters of Plug - a "child bordello"

'''Lombroso, Dr. Cesare (1835-1909)''' 
172; Born in Verona, Italy, Dr. Lombroso, using concepts drawn from Physiognomy, early Eugenics, Psychiatry and Social Darwinism, devised the theory that criminality was inherited, and that the born criminal could be identified by physical defects, which confirmed a criminal as savage, or atavistic; 252; 606; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Lombroso Wikipedia entry]

In Vineland, arch-villain FBI agent Brock Vond is a fan of Lombroso's work.

'''Longfellow''' 
536;

'''Lorelei''' 
493; blond at Cambridge

'''Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon (1853-1928)''' 
565; Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and elucidation of the Zeeman effect. In 1895 in an attempt to explain the Michelson-Morley experiment, Lorentz proposed that moving bodies contract in the direction of motion ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Length_contraction see length contraction]; George FitzGerald had already arrived at this conclusion, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzGerald-Lorentz_Contraction see FitzGerald-Lorentz Contraction]). He introduced the term local time which expresses the relativity of simultaneity between reference frames in relative motion; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Lorentz Wikipedia entry]

'''Lost City''' 
435;

'''Lottchen''' 
621; girl at chloro party in Göttingen;

'''Louis XV''' 
544;

'''Lowry, Nellie''' 
60; Blinky Morgan's "lady friend"

'''Lübeck''' 
520; City in northern Germany at the Baltic sea

'''Lucia''' 
246; waitress in Osteria in San Polo;

'''Luigi''' 
446;

'''Lupita's''' 
286; in Telluride, "where the menudo can't be beat"

'''Lutine''' 
122;

{{ATD_Alpha_Nav}}

ATD 26-56

2006-11-25T08:39:43Z

Jc: /* Page 36 */

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Egypt_(dancer) Wikipedia entry] Also a 1961 [[Little_Egypt|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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sudan_(1884-1898) Wikipedia entry].

==Page 36==

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

A detcetive named 'Lew' reminds us of Ross Macdonald's character Lew Archer which in turn recalls another detective, Miles Archer, partner of Sam Spade in San Francisco detective agency Spade & Archer.

==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 travel and hunting (it is estimated that he shot more than 5,000 deer in his lifetime). [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria Wikipedia entry]. He did indeed attend the Chicago Exposition. [http://columbus.iit.edu/bookfair/ch27.html]

==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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiserlich_und_königlich 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mantle 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. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picardy_third 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''.