Difference between revisions of "Pages 617-626"

Revision as of 13:04, 11 July 2009

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 617

What? - Richard M. Nixon
The uncorrected proofs of Gravity's Rainbow sent in advance to book critics featured a different epigraph here. source. Instead of the Nixon quote, it used the following:

“She has brought them to her senses,
They have laughed inside her laughter,
Now she rallies her defenses,
For she fears someone will ask her
For eternity —
And she’s so busy being free….” — Joni Mitchell.

These lyrics come from the song "Cactus Tree," from Mitchell's 1968 album, "Song To A Seagull." Full lyrics and sample at (fansite) Jonimitchell.com.

Page 622

The Shadow Waltz

Is actually titled "The Shadow Waltz," composed by Al Dubin and Harry Warren for The Gold Diggers of 1933 (not Footlight Parade). The song in the film gives way to a typically bizarre Busby Berkeley musical production in which women on roller skates play violins outlined with neon lights.

Page 625

625.10 gnaedige Frau:
The literal meaning of the usual polite form of address of a lady of a high rank ("merciful" or "benevolent Madam") has got a new value here.

Page 626

626.02 Chapter 81 work
This obscure reference comes (again) from The Berkshire Hills. As the authors note:

" ... the one occupation which survives all depressions in the small Berkshire villages is road work. Regardless of bad financial conditions, citizens sidetrack other appropriations to continue voting to raise and appropriate the sum of --- dollars for Chapter 81 highways..." (p. 214).

"Chapter 81 work is for road improvement, during which a scraper removes sod and dirt from ditches and shoulders, followed by workers who clean out the ditches and replace culverts and drains" (p. 216).