Pages 626-640
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 626
626.20 Double-declutchingly, heel and toe...
Another concealed poem (others on 167, 451, and 508). See also Inherent Vice p. 134.
Page 627
627.28-29 Commas, brimstones, painted ladies
Three taxa of butterflies. The Comma (Polygonia c-album) is one of the anglewings; sulfur-yellow brimstones are in the genus Gonepteryx in the family Pieridae; painted ladies are in the genus Vanessa. The Comma is named for a so-shaped white mark on the underside of its hindwing; a similarly-marked North American congener is called the Question Mark (P. interrogationis).
Page 637
637.10 aficionados of the chase scene, those who cannot look at the Taj Mahal, the Uffizi, the Statue of Liberty...
The Uffizi chase scene Pynchon is referencing here may be from one of the six vignettes that comprise Roberto Rossellini's Paisà (1946), a military travelogue, following Allied (mainly American) soldiers during the 1943 invasion of Italy as they eventually wrest the country from Fascist control. In one of the vignettes, a nurse and her friend are running through the maze-like Uffizi, its treasures packed in crates, trying to cross into occupied Florence.
The Statue of Liberty references the final chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur (1942).
637.11 Douglas Fairbanks scampering across that moon minaret
Refers to the 1924 film The Thief of Baghdad in which swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks plays a thief who falls in love with the Caliph's beautiful daughter.
637.37-38 Dick Whittington
According to popular legend, Whittington (c. 1350-1423) was one of the preterite who made good, a penniless boy who was about to leave London when he heard the city’s bells calling, "Turn back, Dick Whittington, Lord Mayor of London!" Wikipedia entry
| 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 |
