Chapter 7: 58-76

Revision as of 13:14, 15 February 2007 by MKOHUT (Talk | contribs) (Page 70)

Page 58

sepia-shadow'd
???

Herren XVII
Modern Dutch spelling "de Heeren XVII," the 17 Lords, board of governors of the V.O.C.

Eighteenth Lord... never be acknowledg'd
???

V.O.C.
Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the Dutch East India Company.

Page 59

Slaves
Pynchon appears to have cast around for a politically correct subtheme for the Capetown episodes, and picked slavery for want of anything more Pynchonian
He picks slavery because it is the underbelly of the enlightenment. It is the centeral rift that forms along the Mason-Dixon Line, and it is the paradox of America, i.e. libery for some. What could be more Pynchonian than that?

set against
Imperialist strategy of divide-and-conquer.

Page 60

Droster
???

Vroom
vroo*

Jethro's Tent
???

Nimrods
???

Page 61

Fascination
Pynchon needed a personality-contrast between M and D, and chose (arbitarily?) to make M melancholy but charismatic (cf Byron?) and Dixon the opposite. It's hard to see from TRP's descriptions what women see in M.
The Journal of Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon is full of passages where Mason's normally scientific writtings give way to poetic and gothic images of ghosts and devils. In the Journals he frequents massacre sites.

Portable Soup... Slabs
An extremely reduced meat stock (not freeze-dried, just boiled down and then dried) in cakes or slabs. Heat in a pan of water and you have soup. Most users regarded it as a necessity rather than a pleasure.

Emerson... Darlington Market
???

Page 62

Kezia
???

Kerenhappuch
???

Page 63

Imp from Hell
Cf. Imp allusions and Poe story cited. Three uses so far in M & D. Here Eels impulsiveness is an apt allusion to impishness, overstated as in speech.

Rattle-Watch
???

English Tea-Pot
Free associating, Mason to English to English tea to teapot?

Page 64

Vrou
Dutch: lady, woman, wife. Vroom Vroom!

fatally but not yet mortally
???

Page 65

Dagga
???

Page 66

dorsal 'Scape
Dorsal landscape = shapely rear end.

five Sprites
The women?

Asian parlor-game
???

Page 67

Indifference-Draught
Traditionally saltpetre. Mason wants a drug to reduce his libido. Anaphrodisiac

Page 69

Velleity
???

Rix-Dollar
Reichsdollar, a Dutch coin.

German Reichsthaler, Dutch Rijksdaalder; current throughout the European colonies.

Late Blow
???

Butter-Bag Castle
???

Page 70

karis
The word was later adapted into English as curries.'

Senoi
This tribe is/was real, although I did not think they were known about until the later age of anthropological study. They did share dreams and conquered their fears this way. If a child had a dream of falling, say, when shared with all, the adults would tell him to just fly next time--and he would. Their dream life was incorporates into their whole life and they were a happy, contented people. Researching.

Page 71

Routs and Ridottoes
???

Page 72

Blight
???

terre mauvais
???

Page 73

two Punches in a Droll-booth
As in Punch-and-Judy slapstick puppets.

Jesuits... Invisible College
???

Nervus Probandi
???

Mr. Peach
???

Spotted Cubes
Dice.

Sector Wallah
"Wallah," in British India, a specialist or tradesman. Sector Wallah, the person in charge of the Sector.

Page 74

Stuffata
???

dating back to Walpole
???

Clive
Clive of India.

Maskelyne
Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne. Astronomer, Lunarian, enimy of John Harrison, 5th Astronomer Royal.

Robert Waddington
???

Bleak
???

Piggotts... A long stare
???

Page 75

Bodkin
???

History is the Dance of our Hunt for Christ
Nice.

Annotation Index

One:
Latitudes and Departures

1: 5-11, 2: 12-13, 3: 14-29, 4: 30-41, 5: 42-46, 6: 47-57, 7: 58-76, 8: 77-86, 9: 87-93, 10: 94-104, 11: 105-115, 12: 116-124, 13: 125-145, 14: 146-157, 15: 158-166, 16: 167-174, 17: 175-182, 18: 183-189, 19: 190-198, 20: 199-206, 21: 207-214, 22: 215-227, 23: 228-237, 24: 238-245, 25: 245-253


Two:
America

26: 257-265, 27: 266-274, 28: 275-288, 29: 289-295, 30: 296-301, 31: 302-314, 32: 315-326, 33: 327-340, 34: 341-348, 35: 349-361, 36: 362-370, 37: 371-381, 38: 382-390, 39: 391-398, 40: 399-409, 41: 410-421, 42: 422-435, 43: 436-439, 44: 440-447, 45: 448-451, 46: 452-459, 47: 460-465, 48: 466-475, 49: 476-483, 50: 484-490, 51: 491-498, 52: 499-510, 53: 511-524, 54: 525-541, 55: 542-553, 56: 554-561, 57: 562-569, 58: 570-574, 59: 575-584, 60: 585-596, 61: 597-607, 62: 608-617, 63: 618-622, 64: 623-628, 65: 629-632, 66: 633-645, 67: 646-657, 68: 658-664, 69: 665-677, 70: 678-686, 71: 687-693, 72: 694-705, 73: 706-713

Three:
Last Transit

74: 717-732, 75: 733-743, 76: 744-748, 77: 749-757, 78: 758-773

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