Subject
Fw: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3453 C\Pale Fire Canto 2 (mostly)
From
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 11:53 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3453
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:51:00 -0400
> From: "charles albert" <calbert@hslboxmaster.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto One: first stanza
>
> Fowler does.....it's just another element of the same essay.......I'll get
> typing......
>
>
> love,
> cfa
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jbor" <jbor@bigpond.com>
> To: <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 6:38 PM
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto One: first stanza
>
>
> > on 29/7/03 2:32 AM, cfalbert at calbert@hslboxmaster.com wrote:
> >
> > > You argue that "consonant dissonance" (or some such thing) works
against
> Nab.s
> > > purposes in the opening lines.......in the first couplet, there are
TWO
> > > "conspicuous" consonants, the "x" in waxwing and the "p" in
> > > windowpane........these two hardly a dissonant stew generate........in
> fact,
> > > as MalignD suggests, and I and Boyd insist - these lines scan
> exquisitely....
> >
> > I noted that the phrase "smudge of ashen fluff" unleashes dissonance to
no
> > worthwhile effect. And it's the prosaic "I was ... ", "I was ... ",
which
> > mars what could otherwise have been a very poetic image. Imo.
> >
> > But thanks for the quote from Fowler. You had previously written that
> Fowler
> > suggests that Nabokov had intended to respond to the excesses of Eliot
in
> > composing Shade's 'Pale Fire', but perhaps that isn't the case.
> >
> > best
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 15:24:37 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Shade's maths
>
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> To: <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 12:49 AM
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Shade's maths
>
>
> > > <<"We have been married forty years. At least
> > > Four thousand times your pillow has been creased
> > > By our two heads..."
> >
> > I read this as, "In forty years we made love at least 4,000 times."
> >
> > The other times his head was on his own pillow.
> >
>
> If my memory serves me well in Japanese "to share the pillow" means making
> love (Shogun).
>
> Otto
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:17:09 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> 182: ⌠A cicada sings■
> See also ⌠cigales■ in line 242
> http://saltthesandbox.org/cicada_hunt/
> http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/cicada.html
> There are two main kinds of periodical cicadas in the United States. One
kind
> spends 17 years as a nymph feeding on tree roots while living below
ground, and
> the other lives underground for 13 years! Then each type, as if on some
signal,
> emerges at the same time from the ground. They change into adults, lay
eggs,
> and after a few weeks, they die. We don't see the next generation until 13
or
> 17 years later!
> After cicada eggs hatch, the tiny, antlike nymphs quickly drop from the
trees
> and burrow five to 46 centimeters (two to 18 inches) underground in search
of
> tree roots to feed upon. For the next 13 to 17 years they feed on the
juicy
> roots of plants. After 13 or 17 years, a natural "clock," which remains a
> mystery to scientists, tells them that it is time to come out of the
ground. In
> the weeks before the nymphs emerge, periodical cicadas dig their tunnels
to the
> soil surface and prepare to leave the ground. Amazingly all the cicadas
seem to
> come out of the ground at the same time in enormous numbers. The nymphs
leave
> the ground and begin to climb trees and poles. As they climb, they molt,
or
> grow out of their exoskeleton. They split open the back of their brown and
> brittle exoskeletons, wiggle out, and abandon them, empty and still
clinging to
> the trees. They continue to climb to the treetops to begin their constant
> buzzing calls, trying to attract a mate. If they are successful, mating
occurs,
> eggs are laid and the cycle begins again.
>
> 183: ⌠scissors [┘] A dazzling synthesis of sun and star■
> The Sun is a star, so the contrast is between night and day, eternal,
cyclical
> time. The shape of scissors might be the reference. A lemniscate is
formed
> (sort of) when the scissors are closed. Any other ideas?
>
> 189: ⌠Starover Blue■
> See line 627 (and Comentary to 627).
>
> 194: Scarf skin■
> Any ideas?
>
> 221: ⌠vulgar laughter■
> Remember earlier use of this adjective in Canto One.
>
> 238: ⌠Empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed, / Hugging the trunk■
> Does anyone have a clue what this is?
>
> 240: ⌠Englishman in Nice, / A proud and happy linguist: je nourris / Les
> pauvres cigales
> Translation: ⌠I nourish The poor cicadas■ Except he meant ⌠seagulls.■
>
> 244: ⌠Lafontaine■
> Does anyone know this reference?
>
> 257: ⌠star of trillium■
> http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/trilliumgran.html
>
> http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/plants/wildflower/trillium.html
> Trilliums are a common wildflower in the north county, usually in
scattered
> colonies but occasionally covering large areas of the forest floor.
Trilliums
> demand moist, very humus rich soil in wooded areas.
>
> 270: ⌠my dark Vanessa, crimson barred.■
> http://www.geocities.com/europeanbutterflies/Deutsch/atalanta.htm
>
> http://www3.pei.sympatico.ca/~david.fraser/vatalant.htm
> Vanessa Atlanta: Red Admiral Butterfly
> http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/usa/224.htm
> The characteristic coloration of the Red Admiral Butterfly is a black
hindwing
> with a red-orange marginal band; the dorsal forewing is also black with
white
> markings near the apex. The wing span of the Red Admiral ranges between
1.75
> and 3 inches.
>
> (forgot the line): Melancholy trees:
> 1. Weeping Willow
>
http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/web/Species/pwillowweeping.html
> Blue, blue is the grass about the river
> And the willows have overfilled the close garden.
> And within, the mistress, in the midmost of her youth,
> White, white of face, hesitates, passing the door.
> Slender, she puts forth a slender hand."
> - -Ezra Pound, 1885-1972, from The Beautiful Toilet
>
> 2. Yew http://www.3pintsgone.com/Enhanced/YewTree.htm
> Yews are a symbol of immortality. Ancient peoples were in the habit of
planting
> yew trees as acts of sanctification near to where they expected to be
buried.
> Over the centuries, it has been widely planted in churchyards as an
ornamental
> tree. The tree has a reputation for living longer than almost any other
species
> in the UK. There is an old yew at Fortingall in Glen Lyon, Scotland which
might
> be 2000 years old.
>
> 310: ⌠elves/Mother Time■
> Does anyone know of a story with these characters?
>
> 316: ⌠Toothwort white■
> http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/cardaminediph.html
> http://www.primefocus-iowa.com/CutLeavedToothwort.html
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:19:07 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (2)
>
> 318: ⌠cygnet/woodduck■
> Sarcastic lament. The cygnet is also known as the ⌠ugly duckling■ AKA
baby
> swan. But Hazel never even turns into a common duck, let alone a swan.
>
> 370: ⌠Grim Pen■
> Prison cell? Also a swamp/bog (where hazel ends up): see Jasper▓s
earlier
> note.
>
> 373: ⌠chthonic■
> Main Entry: chthon╥ic
> Pronunciation: 'thД-nik
> Function: adjective
> Etymology: Greek chthon-, chthOn earth --
> : of or relating to the underworld : INFERNAL <chthonic deities>
>
> "Driven by dФmonic, chthonic Powers." --T.S. Eliot
>
> 375: ⌠sempiternal■
> Main Entry: sem╥pi╥ter╥nal
> Pronunciation: "sem-pi-'t&r-n&l
> Function: adjective
> Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin sempiternalis, from Latin
> sempiternus, from semper ever, always, from sem- one, same (akin to Old
Norse
> samr same) + per through
> Date: 15th century
> : of never-ending duration : ETERNAL
>
> *Side Note: Does this asking for word meanings remind anyone of Ulysses?
>
> 384: ⌠book on Pope■
> http://members.aol.com/basfawlty/pope.htm
> ⌠Any successful writer is bound to make enemies simply by succeeding. Of
> course, Pope▓s imprudence in making reflections in the Essay on Criticism
on
> John Dennis, a critic with more than the usual choler who was apparently
> somewhat paranoid, probably contributed to Dennis▓ wild attacks on him for
many
> years thereafter. To Dennis, not only were the poems of Pope utterly
worthless,
> but Pope▓s religion, parentage, and personal deformity (e.g., "As there is
no
> Creature so venomous, there is nothing so stupid and impotent as a
hunch-back▓d
> Toad"{14}) were assaulted in a manner that it would be too kind to excuse
as
> senile lunacy. Further attacks followed after the Odyssey debacle and
Lewis
> Theobald▓s exposure of Pope▓s careless editing of Shakespeare--the latter
to
> some extent justified, though Theobald plainly wrote with malice and
> self-aggrandizement in mind. ⌠
>
> 401: ⌠Lochanhead■
> ⌠Loch■ noun Scottish lake or narrow inlet of the sea.
> A town in southern Scotland.
>
> 450: ⌠famous film, ▒Remorse▓■
>
> This below doesn't seem correct. Any other ideas?
>
> http://users.chariot.net.au/~rjnoye/Film/Films_sa.htm
> The film was first screened at the Wondergraph Theatre in Adelaide on 3
January
> 1917, and while the fact that about forty local people were in the cast
may
> have been a drawcard, the main attraction was no doubt the fact that the
film
> was restricted to adults and that there was, by the standards of the time,
> something suggestive about the film▓s subject and its advertising. The
subject
> of the film was syphilis, the venereal disease that was referred to in
public
> only as The Red Plague.
> The day after the premiere the Adelaide Register gave an outline of the
plot of
> Remorse. ▒The story deals with the adventures of Jack Rundle (Mr Cyril
Mackay),
> who works on a station, and learns to love Nellie Fallon, his father's
ward
> (Miss Mabel Dyson). When he leaves the station to go to the city on
business it
> is not long before he is tempted into associating with dangerous society.
After
> he has been in the city for some time he realises that he has ruined his
life
> and returns, a sorrowful and downcast man, to his home. But from his
father▓s
> household he finds himself an outcast. When, after several year▓s absence,
he
> again returns to his old home, he finds that the faithful Ted Rundle, his
> brother, has married Nellie Fallon. Once more he wanders away and a
dramatic
> end is reached when the unfortunate victim of the undercurrent of society
takes
> his own life, and thus concludes a worthless career.▓
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:26:30 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto Two -- Ant & Grasshopper
>
> - --- T <pyramid@maxwellsdemon.org> wrote:
> > Re: Lines 236-44, Ant and Grasshopper:
> >
> >
> > The fable of the "Ondt and the Gracehoper" from _Finnegans Wake_>
>
> Intresting reference, which seems to fit so well. Supposedly VN didn't
like
> FW.
>
> > "chthonic" is misspelled in the American Library edition.
>
> Mine too.
>
> DM
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:59:38 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: RE: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> > Behalf Of David Morris
> >
> > 238: Empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed, / Hugging the trunk
> > Does anyone have a clue what this is?
> >
>
> Maybe Kinbote is correct that it's a cicada's cast skin (exuvia):
>
> http://www.hortnet.co.nz/key/keys/bugkey2a/cast1.htm
>
> These tend to be brown where I live, but the ones in the photos on this
site
> could be called emerald I suppose (probably depends on the species).
> Incidentally, juvenile cicadas are called "nymphs", and burrow underground
> for usually 13 or 17 years (depends on species, but always tends to be a
> primary number for some reason), then lives only 2-6 weeks as an adult.
>
> Also, the male cicada apparently makes the loudest sound of all insects.
>
> Also, the letters P or W can often be made out on a cicada's wings, and
> there's some folklore that maintains a P indicates peace, while a W
> indicates war.
>
> Also, cicadas are not locusts, as they are sometimes confused.
>
>
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan_cicadas/Periodical/Index.ht
> ml
>
> http://www.dancentury.com/cicada/faq.html
>
> Jasper
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:50:03 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: RE: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> - --- Jasper Fidget <jasper@hatguild.org> wrote:
> > > Behalf Of David Morris
> > >
> > > 238: Empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed, / Hugging the trunk
Does
> anyone have a clue what this is?
> >
> > Maybe Kinbote is correct that it's a cicada's cast skin (exuvia):
> >
> > http://www.hortnet.co.nz/key/keys/bugkey2a/cast1.htm
> >
> > These tend to be brown where I live, but the ones in the photos on this
site
> could be called emerald I suppose (probably depends on the species).
>
> Yes, I think you're correct. It's not a grasshopper. The only shells
I've
> seen are brown, but they are "frog-eyed" and they do hug the side of a
tree
> trunk.
>
> The cicada would exemplify a resurrection of sorts: emergence from the
earth,
> shedding of an old skin, reproduction cycle, begin again.
>
> David Morris
>
> __________________________________
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:18:19 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> 194: Scarf skin"
>
> Epidermis; especially : that forming the cuticle of a nail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:30:40 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 Incest Motif
>
> >>>On the quotation below, let me just briefly note that VN seems to be
> talking about dreams of a prophetic nature rather than psychological
> revelations. His view seems to be that one can transcend material
> actuality within the space of one's dreams. (Robert Graves had similar
> ideas, and his statements about proleptic vision would be illuminating in
> this context.) I don't think his uncanny is Freud's - in fact, quickly
> googling about suggests he may actually have been famous for loathing
> Freud, for reasons that further conflict with the argument you are making.
> I wonder if the following quotation is relevant ...<<<
>
> My reading has nothing to do with Freud, and I read the quote
> through my hypothesis that ADA has clues for interpreting PF.
> I.e., seeing ADA as the dot-arrow pointing back to PF.
>
> "Learn to distinguish banality. Remember that mediocrity thrives on
'ideas.'
> Beware of the modish message. Ask yourself if the symbol you have detected
> is not your own footprint. Ignore allegories. By all means place the 'how'
> above the 'what' but do not let it be confused with the 'so what.' Rely on
> the sudden erection of your small dorsal hairs. Do not drag in Freud at
this
> point. All the rest depends on personal talent." - Vladimir Nabokov
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 17:39:54 +0100
> From: "James Kyllo" <jkyllo@clara.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> >244: "Lafontaine"
> >Does anyone know this reference?
>
>
> It's the Ant and the Grasshopper fable, which you've already mentioned:
>
> http://www.lascahobas.org/Poemes/Lafontaine/JLCglFrm.htm
>
> James
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:42:08 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Dunne On Time
>
> "Not infrequently the menace is well concealed, and the innocent incident
> will turn out to possess, if jotted down and looked up later, the kind of
> precognitive flavor that Dunne has explained by the action of "reverse
> memory"; (ADA)
>
>
> http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/p/precognition.html
> Despite the difficulty in understanding precognition, it is the easiest
form
> of extrasensory perception to test in the laboratory. J. W. Dunne, a
British
> aeronautics engineer, undertook the first systematic study of precognition
> in the early twentieth century. In 1927, he published the classic An
> Experiment with Time, which contained his findings and theories. Dunne's
> study was based on his personal precognitive dreams, which involved both
> trivial incidents in his own life and major news events appearing in the
> press the day after the dream. When first realizing that he was seeing the
> future in his dreams, Dunne worried that he was "a freak." His worries
soon
> eased when discovering that precognitive dreams are common; he concluded,
> that many people have them without realizing it, perhaps because the do
not
> recall the details or fail to properly interpret the dream symbols.
>
> Dunne's Theory of Serial Time proposes that time exists in layers on
> dimensions, each of which may be viewed in different perspectives from
> different layers. The origin of all layers is Absolute Time, created by
God.
> Needless to say, the scientific community rejected Dunne's theory.
>
> http://www.espresearch.com/experimentwithtime/
> An Experiment With Time
> by J.W. Dunne
> Preface by Russell Targ
>
> The general reader will find that this book demands from him
no
> previous knowledge of science, mathematics, philosophy, or psychology. It
is
> considerably easier to understand that are, say, the rules of Contract
> Bridge.
>
> The 'Infinite Regress', I may explain to the uninitiated, is
a
> curious logical development which appears immediately one begins to study
> 'self-consciousness' or 'will' or 'time'. A self-conscious person is one
> 'who knows that he knows'; a willer is one who, after all the motives
which
> determine choice have been taken into account, can choose between those
> motives; and time is [sic] but this book is about that.
>
> The usual philosophic method of dealing with any regress is
to
> dismiss it, with the utmost promptitude, as something 'full of
> contradictions and obscurities.' Now, at the outset of my own perplexing
> experiences, I supposed that this attitude was justified. But the glaring
> regress in the notion of 'time' was a thing which had intrigued me since I
> was a child of nine (I had asked my nurse about it).
>
> At the end, I found myself confronted with the astonishing
> facts that the regressions of 'consciousness,' 'will' and 'time' were
> perfectly logical, perfectly valid, and the true foundations of all
> epistemology.
>
> The book contains the first analysis of the Time Regress ever
> completed. Incidentally, it contains the first scientific argument for
human
> immortality. This, I may say, was entirely unexpected. Indeed, for a large
> part of the time that I was working, I believed that I was taking away
man's
> last hope of survival in a greater world.
>
> From the Introduction, J.W. Dunne, March 15, 1934
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:46:33 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Golden Paste
>
> From the N-list:
>
> From: "Phillip Iannarelli" <iann88us@yahoo.com>
> >
> > Yes, I remember eating the paste. When you used it
> > you'd get some excess on your fingers and it would
> > harden into a second skin which you would lick off
> > like scales.Also the rubber tip reminded me of a
> > sensuous flexible nipple.
> >
> > Phil Iannarelli
> > --- "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
> > > EDNOTE. "How fully I fdelt nature glued to me /
> > > And how my childish palate loved the taste /
> > > Half-fish, half-honey of that golden paste! / My
> > > picture book was at an early age.
> > > ------------------
> > > I believe the golden paste is simply the glue that was called mucilage
that
> used to be common in school rooms and used by kids at home through most of
this
> century and probably the last for pasting together their art junk.
> > >
> > > It came in a bottle with a reddish rubber sort of a nipple that you
rubbed
> on whatever surface you were going to stick something to, say, a photo
snipped
> from Life magazine into a scrap book.
> > >
> > > I would bet almost every kid who used this stuff tasted it at some
time.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 13:50:14 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: VLVL2 Zoyd's work
>
> http://130.179.92.25/Arnason_DE/Deleuze.html)
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:59:06 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 "gum-logged aunt"
>
> http://9.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MU/MUCILAGE.htm
> MUCILAGE (from Late Lat. mucilago, a mouldy juice, from mucere, to be
> mouldy), a term which denotes a viscid or glutinous mixture of water and
any
> gummy vegetable substance (see GUM). Mucilages are useful in medicine as
> vehicles for various insoluble and other drugs, and in the arts as
> thickeners (in calico-printing, dyeing, &c.). The British pharmacopoeia
> contains the mucilages of acacia and tragacanth.
>
> Paul's medicine, artful glue, and other trappings of bizarre Aunt Maud (
who
> 'brought up' Johnny Shade).
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:17:48 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 - Mucilage Glue (was: "gum-logged aunt")
>
> Remember these:
>
> http://www.hui-sin.com.tw/570.htm
>
> Make your own:
>
> http://www.leighswishingwell.com/sdj/cr08.htm
>
> Seal and Envelope Mucilage (Glue)
> Submitted by: Jan Donovan (N. Carolina)
>
> Materials needed:
>
> 6 TBS. pure white vinegar
> 4 packs (1 oz.) unflavored gelatin
> 1 TBS. lemon extract
>
> Instructions:
>
> 1) Bring vinegar to boil in a pan and add the gelatin, stirring until
> completely dissolved.
>
> 2) Add lemon extract and stir well.
>
> Makes about 1/2 cup of mucilage. Store in a capped bottle or jar. Use
paint
> brush to apply to envelope lip or flap. allow to dry. Moisten to seal.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:52:51 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Ada's mirroring
>
> From the N-list:
>
> "The Mirrored Self: Incestuous Fictions in Nabokov's Ada"
>
> Claudia Rattazzi Papka,
> Columbia University
> <crp4@columbia.edu>
>
> Vladimir Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle takes
> place around the turn of the century in a world called Antiterra, a
> planet resembling our own as an mirrored image does. Reflection is
> indeed one of the central images of the novel, most simply explicable as a
> metaphor for the incestuous love of Van and Ada Veen which the doublings,
> anagrams, and allusions which permeate the novel, however, it becomes
possible
> to argue that the incestuous relationship itself is but a reflection, and
a
> metaphor, in turn, for the fiction-writing process.
> The Veen family tree, presented in epic fashion at the novel's
> beginning, conceals Van and Ada's true, shared parentage, but reveals a
> suspicious mirroring in the names and birth dates of their putative
parents,
> which has led one critic to suggest that the two sets of parents are
simply one
> set "seen from different perspectives."[1] That this creation of two from
one
> may be the central _modus operandi_ of the "sibling planet"[2] casts doubt
upon
> Antiterra's own reality, and thus upon the reliability, and sanity, of the
> narrator himself, Van Veen. Led by this doubt, I examine the scene of Van
and
> Ada's adolescent consummation and find in its refelections and
> doublings,including the narrative doubling in which Van and Ada debate "in
the
> margins" about Van's recreation of their shared past, the foundation for
> another doubt: Does Ada herself really exist, or is she but a creation of
> Van's mirroring mind?
> The answers to these questions are found in the madness that runs
through
> the impossible mirrorings of Van's family tree; in the echoes of Van's
first
> summer with Ada in his second, where several scenes are replayed with the
> crucial substitution of his real cousin, Lucette, for Ada; and in the
mirroring
> Antiterran parodies of literary works by Paul Verlaine and Guy de
Maupassant,
> as elucidated by the anagrammatic alter ego of Nabokov himself in _Notes
to_
> Ada _by Vivian Darkbloom_. The clues are scattered throughout Van's
memoir,and
> lead me to conclude that the metatextual analogy Van uses to describe his
> youthful maniambulation act is indeed an accurate description of the
nature of
> Ada's existence--as Ada:
> The essence of the satisfaction belonged rather to the
> same order as the one he later derived from self-imposed,
> extravagantly difficult, seemingly absurd tasks when V.V.
> sought to express something, which until expressed had
> only a twilight existence (or even none at all--nothing
> but the illusion of the backward shadow of its immanent
> impression).[3]
>
> Van has had a incestuous encounter with his cousin, Lucette, and this
> transgression has led not only to her suicide, but also to Van's madness.
This
> madness inspires the rewriting of Van's life, his family, and his world
through
> a series of doublings which create
> Antiterra, Van's antifamily (which includes his sister and double,
> Ada), and, finally, the novel itself.
>
> Notes
>
> 1. Charles Nicol, "Ada or Disorder," in _Nabokov's Fifth Arc_, eds.
> J. E. Rivers and C. Nicol (Austin: U. of Texas Press, 1982), 240.
>
> 2. Vladimir Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (New York:
> McGraw Hill, 1969), 244.
>
> 3. ibid 196
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3453
> ********************************
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to waste@waste.org
> with "unsubscribe pynchon-l-digest" in the message body.
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 11:53 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3453
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:51:00 -0400
> From: "charles albert" <calbert@hslboxmaster.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto One: first stanza
>
> Fowler does.....it's just another element of the same essay.......I'll get
> typing......
>
>
> love,
> cfa
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jbor" <jbor@bigpond.com>
> To: <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2003 6:38 PM
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto One: first stanza
>
>
> > on 29/7/03 2:32 AM, cfalbert at calbert@hslboxmaster.com wrote:
> >
> > > You argue that "consonant dissonance" (or some such thing) works
against
> Nab.s
> > > purposes in the opening lines.......in the first couplet, there are
TWO
> > > "conspicuous" consonants, the "x" in waxwing and the "p" in
> > > windowpane........these two hardly a dissonant stew generate........in
> fact,
> > > as MalignD suggests, and I and Boyd insist - these lines scan
> exquisitely....
> >
> > I noted that the phrase "smudge of ashen fluff" unleashes dissonance to
no
> > worthwhile effect. And it's the prosaic "I was ... ", "I was ... ",
which
> > mars what could otherwise have been a very poetic image. Imo.
> >
> > But thanks for the quote from Fowler. You had previously written that
> Fowler
> > suggests that Nabokov had intended to respond to the excesses of Eliot
in
> > composing Shade's 'Pale Fire', but perhaps that isn't the case.
> >
> > best
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 15:24:37 +0200
> From: "Otto" <ottosell@yahoo.de>
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Shade's maths
>
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> To: <pynchon-l@waste.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 12:49 AM
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Shade's maths
>
>
> > > <<"We have been married forty years. At least
> > > Four thousand times your pillow has been creased
> > > By our two heads..."
> >
> > I read this as, "In forty years we made love at least 4,000 times."
> >
> > The other times his head was on his own pillow.
> >
>
> If my memory serves me well in Japanese "to share the pillow" means making
> love (Shogun).
>
> Otto
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:17:09 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> 182: ⌠A cicada sings■
> See also ⌠cigales■ in line 242
> http://saltthesandbox.org/cicada_hunt/
> http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/cicada.html
> There are two main kinds of periodical cicadas in the United States. One
kind
> spends 17 years as a nymph feeding on tree roots while living below
ground, and
> the other lives underground for 13 years! Then each type, as if on some
signal,
> emerges at the same time from the ground. They change into adults, lay
eggs,
> and after a few weeks, they die. We don't see the next generation until 13
or
> 17 years later!
> After cicada eggs hatch, the tiny, antlike nymphs quickly drop from the
trees
> and burrow five to 46 centimeters (two to 18 inches) underground in search
of
> tree roots to feed upon. For the next 13 to 17 years they feed on the
juicy
> roots of plants. After 13 or 17 years, a natural "clock," which remains a
> mystery to scientists, tells them that it is time to come out of the
ground. In
> the weeks before the nymphs emerge, periodical cicadas dig their tunnels
to the
> soil surface and prepare to leave the ground. Amazingly all the cicadas
seem to
> come out of the ground at the same time in enormous numbers. The nymphs
leave
> the ground and begin to climb trees and poles. As they climb, they molt,
or
> grow out of their exoskeleton. They split open the back of their brown and
> brittle exoskeletons, wiggle out, and abandon them, empty and still
clinging to
> the trees. They continue to climb to the treetops to begin their constant
> buzzing calls, trying to attract a mate. If they are successful, mating
occurs,
> eggs are laid and the cycle begins again.
>
> 183: ⌠scissors [┘] A dazzling synthesis of sun and star■
> The Sun is a star, so the contrast is between night and day, eternal,
cyclical
> time. The shape of scissors might be the reference. A lemniscate is
formed
> (sort of) when the scissors are closed. Any other ideas?
>
> 189: ⌠Starover Blue■
> See line 627 (and Comentary to 627).
>
> 194: Scarf skin■
> Any ideas?
>
> 221: ⌠vulgar laughter■
> Remember earlier use of this adjective in Canto One.
>
> 238: ⌠Empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed, / Hugging the trunk■
> Does anyone have a clue what this is?
>
> 240: ⌠Englishman in Nice, / A proud and happy linguist: je nourris / Les
> pauvres cigales
> Translation: ⌠I nourish The poor cicadas■ Except he meant ⌠seagulls.■
>
> 244: ⌠Lafontaine■
> Does anyone know this reference?
>
> 257: ⌠star of trillium■
> http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/trilliumgran.html
>
> http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/plants/wildflower/trillium.html
> Trilliums are a common wildflower in the north county, usually in
scattered
> colonies but occasionally covering large areas of the forest floor.
Trilliums
> demand moist, very humus rich soil in wooded areas.
>
> 270: ⌠my dark Vanessa, crimson barred.■
> http://www.geocities.com/europeanbutterflies/Deutsch/atalanta.htm
>
> http://www3.pei.sympatico.ca/~david.fraser/vatalant.htm
> Vanessa Atlanta: Red Admiral Butterfly
> http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/usa/224.htm
> The characteristic coloration of the Red Admiral Butterfly is a black
hindwing
> with a red-orange marginal band; the dorsal forewing is also black with
white
> markings near the apex. The wing span of the Red Admiral ranges between
1.75
> and 3 inches.
>
> (forgot the line): Melancholy trees:
> 1. Weeping Willow
>
http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/web/Species/pwillowweeping.html
> Blue, blue is the grass about the river
> And the willows have overfilled the close garden.
> And within, the mistress, in the midmost of her youth,
> White, white of face, hesitates, passing the door.
> Slender, she puts forth a slender hand."
> - -Ezra Pound, 1885-1972, from The Beautiful Toilet
>
> 2. Yew http://www.3pintsgone.com/Enhanced/YewTree.htm
> Yews are a symbol of immortality. Ancient peoples were in the habit of
planting
> yew trees as acts of sanctification near to where they expected to be
buried.
> Over the centuries, it has been widely planted in churchyards as an
ornamental
> tree. The tree has a reputation for living longer than almost any other
species
> in the UK. There is an old yew at Fortingall in Glen Lyon, Scotland which
might
> be 2000 years old.
>
> 310: ⌠elves/Mother Time■
> Does anyone know of a story with these characters?
>
> 316: ⌠Toothwort white■
> http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/cardaminediph.html
> http://www.primefocus-iowa.com/CutLeavedToothwort.html
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
> http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:19:07 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (2)
>
> 318: ⌠cygnet/woodduck■
> Sarcastic lament. The cygnet is also known as the ⌠ugly duckling■ AKA
baby
> swan. But Hazel never even turns into a common duck, let alone a swan.
>
> 370: ⌠Grim Pen■
> Prison cell? Also a swamp/bog (where hazel ends up): see Jasper▓s
earlier
> note.
>
> 373: ⌠chthonic■
> Main Entry: chthon╥ic
> Pronunciation: 'thД-nik
> Function: adjective
> Etymology: Greek chthon-, chthOn earth --
> : of or relating to the underworld : INFERNAL <chthonic deities>
>
> "Driven by dФmonic, chthonic Powers." --T.S. Eliot
>
> 375: ⌠sempiternal■
> Main Entry: sem╥pi╥ter╥nal
> Pronunciation: "sem-pi-'t&r-n&l
> Function: adjective
> Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin sempiternalis, from Latin
> sempiternus, from semper ever, always, from sem- one, same (akin to Old
Norse
> samr same) + per through
> Date: 15th century
> : of never-ending duration : ETERNAL
>
> *Side Note: Does this asking for word meanings remind anyone of Ulysses?
>
> 384: ⌠book on Pope■
> http://members.aol.com/basfawlty/pope.htm
> ⌠Any successful writer is bound to make enemies simply by succeeding. Of
> course, Pope▓s imprudence in making reflections in the Essay on Criticism
on
> John Dennis, a critic with more than the usual choler who was apparently
> somewhat paranoid, probably contributed to Dennis▓ wild attacks on him for
many
> years thereafter. To Dennis, not only were the poems of Pope utterly
worthless,
> but Pope▓s religion, parentage, and personal deformity (e.g., "As there is
no
> Creature so venomous, there is nothing so stupid and impotent as a
hunch-back▓d
> Toad"{14}) were assaulted in a manner that it would be too kind to excuse
as
> senile lunacy. Further attacks followed after the Odyssey debacle and
Lewis
> Theobald▓s exposure of Pope▓s careless editing of Shakespeare--the latter
to
> some extent justified, though Theobald plainly wrote with malice and
> self-aggrandizement in mind. ⌠
>
> 401: ⌠Lochanhead■
> ⌠Loch■ noun Scottish lake or narrow inlet of the sea.
> A town in southern Scotland.
>
> 450: ⌠famous film, ▒Remorse▓■
>
> This below doesn't seem correct. Any other ideas?
>
> http://users.chariot.net.au/~rjnoye/Film/Films_sa.htm
> The film was first screened at the Wondergraph Theatre in Adelaide on 3
January
> 1917, and while the fact that about forty local people were in the cast
may
> have been a drawcard, the main attraction was no doubt the fact that the
film
> was restricted to adults and that there was, by the standards of the time,
> something suggestive about the film▓s subject and its advertising. The
subject
> of the film was syphilis, the venereal disease that was referred to in
public
> only as The Red Plague.
> The day after the premiere the Adelaide Register gave an outline of the
plot of
> Remorse. ▒The story deals with the adventures of Jack Rundle (Mr Cyril
Mackay),
> who works on a station, and learns to love Nellie Fallon, his father's
ward
> (Miss Mabel Dyson). When he leaves the station to go to the city on
business it
> is not long before he is tempted into associating with dangerous society.
After
> he has been in the city for some time he realises that he has ruined his
life
> and returns, a sorrowful and downcast man, to his home. But from his
father▓s
> household he finds himself an outcast. When, after several year▓s absence,
he
> again returns to his old home, he finds that the faithful Ted Rundle, his
> brother, has married Nellie Fallon. Once more he wanders away and a
dramatic
> end is reached when the unfortunate victim of the undercurrent of society
takes
> his own life, and thus concludes a worthless career.▓
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
up today!
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 07:26:30 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto Two -- Ant & Grasshopper
>
> - --- T <pyramid@maxwellsdemon.org> wrote:
> > Re: Lines 236-44, Ant and Grasshopper:
> >
> >
> > The fable of the "Ondt and the Gracehoper" from _Finnegans Wake_>
>
> Intresting reference, which seems to fit so well. Supposedly VN didn't
like
> FW.
>
> > "chthonic" is misspelled in the American Library edition.
>
> Mine too.
>
> DM
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:59:38 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <jasper@hatguild.org>
> Subject: RE: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> > From: owner-pynchon-l@waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l@waste.org] On
> > Behalf Of David Morris
> >
> > 238: Empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed, / Hugging the trunk
> > Does anyone have a clue what this is?
> >
>
> Maybe Kinbote is correct that it's a cicada's cast skin (exuvia):
>
> http://www.hortnet.co.nz/key/keys/bugkey2a/cast1.htm
>
> These tend to be brown where I live, but the ones in the photos on this
site
> could be called emerald I suppose (probably depends on the species).
> Incidentally, juvenile cicadas are called "nymphs", and burrow underground
> for usually 13 or 17 years (depends on species, but always tends to be a
> primary number for some reason), then lives only 2-6 weeks as an adult.
>
> Also, the male cicada apparently makes the loudest sound of all insects.
>
> Also, the letters P or W can often be made out on a cicada's wings, and
> there's some folklore that maintains a P indicates peace, while a W
> indicates war.
>
> Also, cicadas are not locusts, as they are sometimes confused.
>
>
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan_cicadas/Periodical/Index.ht
> ml
>
> http://www.dancentury.com/cicada/faq.html
>
> Jasper
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 08:50:03 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: RE: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> - --- Jasper Fidget <jasper@hatguild.org> wrote:
> > > Behalf Of David Morris
> > >
> > > 238: Empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed, / Hugging the trunk
Does
> anyone have a clue what this is?
> >
> > Maybe Kinbote is correct that it's a cicada's cast skin (exuvia):
> >
> > http://www.hortnet.co.nz/key/keys/bugkey2a/cast1.htm
> >
> > These tend to be brown where I live, but the ones in the photos on this
site
> could be called emerald I suppose (probably depends on the species).
>
> Yes, I think you're correct. It's not a grasshopper. The only shells
I've
> seen are brown, but they are "frog-eyed" and they do hug the side of a
tree
> trunk.
>
> The cicada would exemplify a resurrection of sorts: emergence from the
earth,
> shedding of an old skin, reproduction cycle, begin again.
>
> David Morris
>
> __________________________________
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:18:19 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> 194: Scarf skin"
>
> Epidermis; especially : that forming the cuticle of a nail
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:30:40 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 Incest Motif
>
> >>>On the quotation below, let me just briefly note that VN seems to be
> talking about dreams of a prophetic nature rather than psychological
> revelations. His view seems to be that one can transcend material
> actuality within the space of one's dreams. (Robert Graves had similar
> ideas, and his statements about proleptic vision would be illuminating in
> this context.) I don't think his uncanny is Freud's - in fact, quickly
> googling about suggests he may actually have been famous for loathing
> Freud, for reasons that further conflict with the argument you are making.
> I wonder if the following quotation is relevant ...<<<
>
> My reading has nothing to do with Freud, and I read the quote
> through my hypothesis that ADA has clues for interpreting PF.
> I.e., seeing ADA as the dot-arrow pointing back to PF.
>
> "Learn to distinguish banality. Remember that mediocrity thrives on
'ideas.'
> Beware of the modish message. Ask yourself if the symbol you have detected
> is not your own footprint. Ignore allegories. By all means place the 'how'
> above the 'what' but do not let it be confused with the 'so what.' Rely on
> the sudden erection of your small dorsal hairs. Do not drag in Freud at
this
> point. All the rest depends on personal talent." - Vladimir Nabokov
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 17:39:54 +0100
> From: "James Kyllo" <jkyllo@clara.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF - Canto Two Notes (1)
>
> >244: "Lafontaine"
> >Does anyone know this reference?
>
>
> It's the Ant and the Grasshopper fable, which you've already mentioned:
>
> http://www.lascahobas.org/Poemes/Lafontaine/JLCglFrm.htm
>
> James
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:42:08 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Dunne On Time
>
> "Not infrequently the menace is well concealed, and the innocent incident
> will turn out to possess, if jotted down and looked up later, the kind of
> precognitive flavor that Dunne has explained by the action of "reverse
> memory"; (ADA)
>
>
> http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/p/precognition.html
> Despite the difficulty in understanding precognition, it is the easiest
form
> of extrasensory perception to test in the laboratory. J. W. Dunne, a
British
> aeronautics engineer, undertook the first systematic study of precognition
> in the early twentieth century. In 1927, he published the classic An
> Experiment with Time, which contained his findings and theories. Dunne's
> study was based on his personal precognitive dreams, which involved both
> trivial incidents in his own life and major news events appearing in the
> press the day after the dream. When first realizing that he was seeing the
> future in his dreams, Dunne worried that he was "a freak." His worries
soon
> eased when discovering that precognitive dreams are common; he concluded,
> that many people have them without realizing it, perhaps because the do
not
> recall the details or fail to properly interpret the dream symbols.
>
> Dunne's Theory of Serial Time proposes that time exists in layers on
> dimensions, each of which may be viewed in different perspectives from
> different layers. The origin of all layers is Absolute Time, created by
God.
> Needless to say, the scientific community rejected Dunne's theory.
>
> http://www.espresearch.com/experimentwithtime/
> An Experiment With Time
> by J.W. Dunne
> Preface by Russell Targ
>
> The general reader will find that this book demands from him
no
> previous knowledge of science, mathematics, philosophy, or psychology. It
is
> considerably easier to understand that are, say, the rules of Contract
> Bridge.
>
> The 'Infinite Regress', I may explain to the uninitiated, is
a
> curious logical development which appears immediately one begins to study
> 'self-consciousness' or 'will' or 'time'. A self-conscious person is one
> 'who knows that he knows'; a willer is one who, after all the motives
which
> determine choice have been taken into account, can choose between those
> motives; and time is [sic] but this book is about that.
>
> The usual philosophic method of dealing with any regress is
to
> dismiss it, with the utmost promptitude, as something 'full of
> contradictions and obscurities.' Now, at the outset of my own perplexing
> experiences, I supposed that this attitude was justified. But the glaring
> regress in the notion of 'time' was a thing which had intrigued me since I
> was a child of nine (I had asked my nurse about it).
>
> At the end, I found myself confronted with the astonishing
> facts that the regressions of 'consciousness,' 'will' and 'time' were
> perfectly logical, perfectly valid, and the true foundations of all
> epistemology.
>
> The book contains the first analysis of the Time Regress ever
> completed. Incidentally, it contains the first scientific argument for
human
> immortality. This, I may say, was entirely unexpected. Indeed, for a large
> part of the time that I was working, I believed that I was taking away
man's
> last hope of survival in a greater world.
>
> From the Introduction, J.W. Dunne, March 15, 1934
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 09:46:33 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Golden Paste
>
> From the N-list:
>
> From: "Phillip Iannarelli" <iann88us@yahoo.com>
> >
> > Yes, I remember eating the paste. When you used it
> > you'd get some excess on your fingers and it would
> > harden into a second skin which you would lick off
> > like scales.Also the rubber tip reminded me of a
> > sensuous flexible nipple.
> >
> > Phil Iannarelli
> > --- "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
> > > EDNOTE. "How fully I fdelt nature glued to me /
> > > And how my childish palate loved the taste /
> > > Half-fish, half-honey of that golden paste! / My
> > > picture book was at an early age.
> > > ------------------
> > > I believe the golden paste is simply the glue that was called mucilage
that
> used to be common in school rooms and used by kids at home through most of
this
> century and probably the last for pasting together their art junk.
> > >
> > > It came in a bottle with a reddish rubber sort of a nipple that you
rubbed
> on whatever surface you were going to stick something to, say, a photo
snipped
> from Life magazine into a scrap book.
> > >
> > > I would bet almost every kid who used this stuff tasted it at some
time.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 13:50:14 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: VLVL2 Zoyd's work
>
> http://130.179.92.25/Arnason_DE/Deleuze.html)
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 10:59:06 -0700
> From: "s~Z" <keithsz@concentric.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 "gum-logged aunt"
>
> http://9.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MU/MUCILAGE.htm
> MUCILAGE (from Late Lat. mucilago, a mouldy juice, from mucere, to be
> mouldy), a term which denotes a viscid or glutinous mixture of water and
any
> gummy vegetable substance (see GUM). Mucilages are useful in medicine as
> vehicles for various insoluble and other drugs, and in the arts as
> thickeners (in calico-printing, dyeing, &c.). The British pharmacopoeia
> contains the mucilages of acacia and tragacanth.
>
> Paul's medicine, artful glue, and other trappings of bizarre Aunt Maud (
who
> 'brought up' Johnny Shade).
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:17:48 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 - Mucilage Glue (was: "gum-logged aunt")
>
> Remember these:
>
> http://www.hui-sin.com.tw/570.htm
>
> Make your own:
>
> http://www.leighswishingwell.com/sdj/cr08.htm
>
> Seal and Envelope Mucilage (Glue)
> Submitted by: Jan Donovan (N. Carolina)
>
> Materials needed:
>
> 6 TBS. pure white vinegar
> 4 packs (1 oz.) unflavored gelatin
> 1 TBS. lemon extract
>
> Instructions:
>
> 1) Bring vinegar to boil in a pan and add the gelatin, stirring until
> completely dissolved.
>
> 2) Add lemon extract and stir well.
>
> Makes about 1/2 cup of mucilage. Store in a capped bottle or jar. Use
paint
> brush to apply to envelope lip or flap. allow to dry. Moisten to seal.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 11:52:51 -0700 (PDT)
> From: David Morris <fqmorris@yahoo.com>
> Subject: NPPF - Ada's mirroring
>
> From the N-list:
>
> "The Mirrored Self: Incestuous Fictions in Nabokov's Ada"
>
> Claudia Rattazzi Papka,
> Columbia University
> <crp4@columbia.edu>
>
> Vladimir Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle takes
> place around the turn of the century in a world called Antiterra, a
> planet resembling our own as an mirrored image does. Reflection is
> indeed one of the central images of the novel, most simply explicable as a
> metaphor for the incestuous love of Van and Ada Veen which the doublings,
> anagrams, and allusions which permeate the novel, however, it becomes
possible
> to argue that the incestuous relationship itself is but a reflection, and
a
> metaphor, in turn, for the fiction-writing process.
> The Veen family tree, presented in epic fashion at the novel's
> beginning, conceals Van and Ada's true, shared parentage, but reveals a
> suspicious mirroring in the names and birth dates of their putative
parents,
> which has led one critic to suggest that the two sets of parents are
simply one
> set "seen from different perspectives."[1] That this creation of two from
one
> may be the central _modus operandi_ of the "sibling planet"[2] casts doubt
upon
> Antiterra's own reality, and thus upon the reliability, and sanity, of the
> narrator himself, Van Veen. Led by this doubt, I examine the scene of Van
and
> Ada's adolescent consummation and find in its refelections and
> doublings,including the narrative doubling in which Van and Ada debate "in
the
> margins" about Van's recreation of their shared past, the foundation for
> another doubt: Does Ada herself really exist, or is she but a creation of
> Van's mirroring mind?
> The answers to these questions are found in the madness that runs
through
> the impossible mirrorings of Van's family tree; in the echoes of Van's
first
> summer with Ada in his second, where several scenes are replayed with the
> crucial substitution of his real cousin, Lucette, for Ada; and in the
mirroring
> Antiterran parodies of literary works by Paul Verlaine and Guy de
Maupassant,
> as elucidated by the anagrammatic alter ego of Nabokov himself in _Notes
to_
> Ada _by Vivian Darkbloom_. The clues are scattered throughout Van's
memoir,and
> lead me to conclude that the metatextual analogy Van uses to describe his
> youthful maniambulation act is indeed an accurate description of the
nature of
> Ada's existence--as Ada:
> The essence of the satisfaction belonged rather to the
> same order as the one he later derived from self-imposed,
> extravagantly difficult, seemingly absurd tasks when V.V.
> sought to express something, which until expressed had
> only a twilight existence (or even none at all--nothing
> but the illusion of the backward shadow of its immanent
> impression).[3]
>
> Van has had a incestuous encounter with his cousin, Lucette, and this
> transgression has led not only to her suicide, but also to Van's madness.
This
> madness inspires the rewriting of Van's life, his family, and his world
through
> a series of doublings which create
> Antiterra, Van's antifamily (which includes his sister and double,
> Ada), and, finally, the novel itself.
>
> Notes
>
> 1. Charles Nicol, "Ada or Disorder," in _Nabokov's Fifth Arc_, eds.
> J. E. Rivers and C. Nicol (Austin: U. of Texas Press, 1982), 240.
>
> 2. Vladimir Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (New York:
> McGraw Hill, 1969), 244.
>
> 3. ibid 196
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3453
> ********************************
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to waste@waste.org
> with "unsubscribe pynchon-l-digest" in the message body.