Chapter 36: 362-370
Contents
Page 362
The Driver, having observed through the low clouds, candle-lit Windows in the Distance ... The rush of the Weather past the smooth outer Shell ... Link-men waiting in a double line ... their torches sparking intensely yellow
Is the coach flying? Are the Link-men's torches illuminating the outer-edges of a landing strip?
Cremona Violin
Cremona is a town in Italy. "From the 16th century onwards, Cremona was renowned as a centre of musical instrument manufacture, beginning with the violins of the Amati family, and later included the products of the Guarneri and Stradivari shops. To the present day, their work is widely considered to be the summit of achievement in string instrument making" -- Wikipedia
Zouks ???
Page 363
"Another bonny gahn-on tha've got us into"
Reference to Laurel and Hardy ("That's another fine mess you've gotten us into!")?
Page 364
in strata
This image of layering appears frequently in the text--compare this image, for example, with the descriptions of Cape Town which also had a multifaceted society, with various groups layered, operating with large degrees of independence. See, also, "as above, so below" (ch. 50, p. 487) and Great Chain of Being.
trans-Elemental Uncle Toby
Uncle Toby is a character created by Laurence Sterne in his major novel.
Laurence Sterne (November 24, 1713 – March 18, 1768) was an Irish-born English novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.
Sparks Notes notes that "after sustaining a groin-wound in battle, he [Uncle Toby] retires to a life of obsessive attention to the history and science of military fortifications." Mr. Mr. Knockwood was also obsessed with fortifying his home front, though his concerns were directed towards the element of water.
Page 365
The Assembly Room is not Bath
???
Land-Jobbers
I cannot find a good definition, but the term appears to refer to professional land dealers or developers; the terms seems to often have negative connotations, associated with underhanded dealings.
A jobber is a merchant middleman between producers and retailers. A wholesaler which buys in lots, "jobs", and resells to those who retail to end users.
Labor Crimps
maritime labor brokers; in addition to signing up volunteers and negotiating for deserters, crimps routinely shanghaied "unfree" labor.
"Until 1915 unfree labor was widely used aboard American merchant ships. A person conscripted to such work was said to have been shanghaied when coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence were used. Those engaged in this form of kidnapping were known as crimps. The related term press gang refers specifically to impressment practices in the British Royal Navy" -- Wikipedia
Check out this interesting article on the topic: "Down to the Sea in Ships" (The San Francisco Flyer 9/25/97).
Note that Pynchon (Wicks) uses the term "Body-jobbers" on p. 443 to refer to non-naval crimps.
crepuscular
twilight; here used figuratively: dim or indistinct
Pleiades
star cluster in Taurus, commonly called the Seven Sisters
Legerdemain
"Sleight of hand; "magic" trickery" -- Wiktionary
dyspeptic
indigestive
Page 366
Apiary
"a place where bees are kept" -- Wiktionary
Hanger
strap on a sword belt that holds a sword or dagger, often ornate
brumal
"Of, relating to, or occurring in winter ... Here's one of Pynchon's puns: Squire Haligast states 'Tis a brumal night, for behold it sweepeth by' -- Toby Levy's Mason & Dixon 3 Pages a Day Project
gnomic
"mysterious and often incomprehensible yet seemingly wise" -- Wiktionary
Page 367
batterie des couteaux
battery of knives
Eponym
From Wiktionary:
- A person whose name has become identified with a particular object or activity.
- A word formed from a person’s name, e.g. stentorian after the Greek herald Stentor.
In this case, the Earl of Sandwich, who, like Lord Lepton, was a member of the Hellfire Club.
Wilkesite
Follower of John Wilkes?
"John Wilkes (17 October 1725–26 December 1797) was an English radical, journalist and politician. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters — rather than the House of Commons — to determine their representatives. In 1771 he was instrumental in obliging the government to concede the right of printers to publish verbatim accounts of parliamentary debates. In 1776 he introduced the first Bill for parliamentary reform in the British Parliament. Wilkes' increasing conservatism as he grew older caused dissatsifaction among radicals and was instrumental in the loss of his Middlesex seat at the 1790 general election. Wilkes then retired from politics and took no part in the growth of radicalism in the 1790s" -- Wikipedia
John Wilkes, like the Earl of Sandwich and Lord Lepton, a member of the Hellfire Club.
consubstantiate
The union of the "actual, substantial presence of the body of Christ with the bread and wine of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper" (Wiktionary) as opposed to transubstantiate.
Page 369
the Frenchman sweeps off his Toque
Toque – “(Canada) a winter hat that is often a woolen, cotton, or acrylic, tightly knit triangular shaped hat with a small pom-pom affixed at the top. Similar to military watch-cap” – Wiktionary
incipient case of the Green Pip
???
Page 370
Iliad of Inconvenience
Another example of "inconvenience" meaning life, the unplannable details of one's life with others in the world. See Inconvenience in the Alphabetic Index listing for other page references. As well as ATD, of course.
