Pages 329-336
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.
Contents
Page 329
329.26-27 Crazy Sue Dunham
This character is apparently real. Pynchon found out about her from The Berkshire Hills. The description of her in "The Secret Integration" is a close paraphrase of several paragraphs in the book. [1]
329.28 Snodd’s Mountain
Although Pynchon undoubtedly wants the reference to be to the Snodd family, the mountain would not be named for the young Grover of "The Secret Integration," as Weisenburger suggests, since Grover himself would not be born until the 1950s.
329.32 headed for Rhode Island
In addition to fleeing to the relative tolerance found in that colony, Amy Sprue’s journey has another significance. The Berkshire Hills mentions several times that much of the region was settled by people from Rhode Island. Her journey then is another example of (in this case, literally) arrested hysteron proteron, the device of the reversal of a process mentioned several times by Weisenburger.
Page 330
330.07 depicted as hags
The description of witches fits not just the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. In another passage in The Berkshire Hills, Crazy Sue Dunham, whom some believed to be a witch, is referred to as "the Berkshire wandering hag." [2]
330.29 it’s the Specter
- "Of the stories and legends about Old Greylock, the one about the 'Specter' is most popular. [...] The phenomenon of a gigantic shadow of an object reflected in a cloud is so well known as to have a German name, Brockengespenst (Specter of the Brocken) from Brocken, the highest peak of the Hartz [sic] Mountains. As Greylockgespenst would be a bit unwieldy for Berkshire, here it is simply called the Specter." [3]
Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts.
Page 332
332.06-07 surely an interlock somewhere with Lyle Bland
Though generally used to mean "an interconnection," the term "interlock" is also used in cinema, especially in reference to a device that keeps sound and visual tracks in synch.
332.17 Schnorp
Another comic-book sound, suggesting a noisy sucking in, as of spaghetti through the mouth or mucous through the nose.
332.23 nobody bothers a balloon
Dorothy attempts, but fails, to escape from Oz in a balloon. A balloon is also used by W.C. Fields and the dummy Charlie McCarthy in You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (1939).
References
| 1 Beyond the Zero |
3-7, 7-16, 17-19, 20-29, 29-37, 37-42, 42-47, 47-53, 53-60, 60-71, 71-72, 72-83, 83-92, 92-113, 114-120, 120-136, 136-144, 145-154, 154-167, 167-174, 174-177 |
|---|---|
| 2 Un Perm' au Casino Herman Goering |
181-189, 189-205, 205-226, 226-236, 236-244, 244-249, 249-269, 269-278 |
| 3 In the Zone |
279-295, 295-314, 314-329, 329-336, 336-359, 359-371, 371-383, 383-390, 390-392, 392-397, 397-433, 433-447, 448-456, 457-468, 468-472, 473-482, 482-488, 488-491, 492-505, 505-518, 518-525, 525-532, 532-536, 537-548, 549-557, 557-563, 563-566, 567-577, 577-580, 580-591, 591-610, 610-616 |
| 4 The Counterforce |
617-626, 626-640, 640-655, 656-663, 663-673, 674-700, 700-706, 706-717, 717-724, 724-733, 733-735, 735-760 |
