Difference between revisions of "Pages 371-383"

Revision as of 23:18, 12 February 2008

This page-by-page annotation is organized by sections, as delineated by the seven squares (sprockets) which separate each section. The page numbers for this page-by-page annotation are for the original Viking edition (760 pages). Editions by other publishers vary in pagination — the newer Penguin editions are 776 pages; the Bantam edition is 886 pages.

Contributors: Please use a 760-page edition (either the original Viking edition with the orange cover or the Penguin USA edition with the blue cover and rocket diagram — there are plenty on Ebay for around $10) or search the Google edition for the correct page number. Readers: To calculate the Bantam edition use this formula: Bantam page # x 1.165. Before p.50 it's about a page earlier; as you get later in the book, add a page.

Finally, profound thanks to Prof. Don Larsson for providing the foundation for this page-by-page annotation.

Page 372

Berliner Luft
German: "air of Berlin." It is an often-used phrase, in the sense of the special Berlin atmosphere.

Page 376

p. 376.31-33 the knight who leaps perpetually -- across the chessboard of the zone
In Through the Looking Glass, Alice attempts to get to the other end of the chessboard to become a queen herself. Along the way she is helped, without much success by the White Knight.
The conversation and reactions here between Saure and Slothrop is almost a pastiche of the Alice stories. By 1973, when GR appeared, "acid" and Alice were of course linked forever in the popular consciousness -- largely thanks to Jefferson Airplane.

Douglas Fairbanks starred in The Mark of Zorro in 1920, not 1932, as in Weisenburger's first Companion edition, corrected in the second ed.. Tyrone (!) Power starred in a sound remake in 1940. As noted at p. 752, Britt Reid, the secret identity of The Green Hornet, was the son of Dan Reid, the nephew of the Lone Ranger.

Page 377

377.1-2 The wrong word was Schwarzgerat.
Yes, the mythical White Woman is scared away by mention of the "black tool." Clever innuendo/double entendre here.

Page 378

Jubilee Jim
Slothrop’s song evokes the pre-industrial peddler Jim Fisk mentioned in The Berkshire Hills.

Page 380

Haupstufe!
Compare the radio Superman’s words as he is about to fly: "Up, up, and away!"

Page 382

Mickey Rooney
Rooney was in Germany, attached to an Army entertainment unit, at the time of the Potsdam Conference but was unable to go to Potsdam and meet Truman himself. However, there is a more likely, if more obscure, reason for the movie star’s presence here: Rocketman’s second magazine, Hello, Pal Comics, only lasted for three issues. The Comic Buyer’s Guide notes, though, that the comic was unusual because it featured a photograph of a movie star on the cover of each issue. The cover of issue #1 was devoted to Mickey Rooney! Also see my article: "Rooney and the Rocketman" Pynchon Notes n 24-25 (1989): 113-115. See note at 366.