Pages 72-83
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 75
75.30 Dr. Porkyevitch
Another suggestion of one of Pynchon’s favorite motifs, the little cartoon hero Porky Pig. See note at V545.04-05
PAGE 78
78.12 Cecil Beaton’s photograph of Margot Asquith
Another example of the Turning Head motif.
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PAGE 79
79.13 Webley Silvernail
Webley is the name of the British gun manufacturer. The Berkshire Hills cites Silvernail House in West Stockbridge as one of the oldest houses in that town (TBH 99).
79.18 Geza Rozsavolgyi
Geza’s first name also suggests the Hungarian-American psychologist Geza Roheim, who was one of the first to employ psychoanalytic critiques of culture. Rozsavolgyi is the name of a famous Budapest music store founded in 1850, which also published works by Liszt, Bartok and Kodaly, among others.
PAGE 80
80.21-22 "Would You Rather Be a Colonel with an Eagle on Your Shoulder, or a Private with a Chicken on Your Knee?"
The World War I song was composed by the team of Sidney Mitchell and Archie Gottlieb in 1918. (Note: This is a correction of my earlier error in attributing the song to the team of Harold Arlen and "Yip" Harburg, who also composed the songs for The Wizard of Oz.)
PAGE 81
81.17 The Reverend Paul de la Nuit
A double pun: "Pall [dark and gloomy covering] of the night"; also "Pall de l’ennui [of boredom]."
PAGE 82
82.01 his most famous compatriot
Rozsavolgyi’s fellow countryman would be, of course, Bela Lugosi, whose speech patterns are suggested by Pynchon’s punctuation of Rozsavolgyi’s dialogue.
82.11 Dr. Aaron Thowster
Aaron was the brother of and spokesperson for Moses. A throwster is one who makes threads out of silk. The name is fairly common in Britain.
