Synopsis of GR--corrections

[Bonnie Surfus (ENG)]

On Wed, 25 Jan 1995, Tim Ware wrote:

> Hi Bonnie:
> 
> "Saure" means "acid" in German, thus giving the character the translated 
> name of Acid Bummer -- GET IT??
> 
> Tim Ware
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ timware at crl.com
> If you are dealt a lemon ... play lemonade - CD-ROM DOS
> 
> 
> On Wed, 25 Jan 1995, Bonnie Surfus (ENG) wrote:
> 
> > The "Saure" mentioned:  I thought about it on the first read but never 
> > followed up.  Does anyone know of any work linking this character to 
> > Saussure?  
> > 
> > I hope this isn't a naive question.  I simply haven't seen anything.  
> > 
> 
No offense anyone, especially to Steven Weisenberger, Jorn Barger, or any 
others who've worked so hard to catalogue meanings in GR.  But judging 
from the responses to my inquiry, I notice that there is a general 
willingness to help, which indicates a pleasant enough ethic, but a 
shocking leap often made, as well, like so many 

"Lemmings never do anything alone.  They need a crowd.  It gets 
contagious.  You see, Ludwig, they overbreed, it goes in cycles, when 
there are too many of them they panic and run off looking for food.  I 
HEARD THAT IN COLLEGE, SO I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.  Harvard."

Sorry to evoke the lemming image, but it seems like the very principles 
Pynchon critiques are those in play here.  Verstehe nicht dich?  Here, 
I'll look it up for you in my guide to meaning.  

Again, no offense.  I love Weisenberger's text, Barger's FAQ's and any 
other help offerred.  But sometimes the kind of thinking that 
proliferates those tools obscures others.

What do I mean?  Simply that "saure" in German is not, as it seems to me 
anyhow, the "acid" of LSD, but something more like acidity of the sour 
stomach.  And "bumme" as bummer (if TRP is consistent w/in the naming as 
far as the use of German goes) is not found.  The closest I get is 
"bummel" which, if conjugated to 1st person, might be "bumme" for 
"I dawdled."  The trans. I like best is "pub-crawl."  So what I could see 
might suggest a pub-crawling drunk with a sour stomach.  Of course, this 
is just one iteration of meaning.  ONe thing I'll check on in my German 
class today--I can't make out if "bummel" is a noun or not.  It may make 
a difference, or maybe not.

Anyhow, please don't take offense.  If anything, your comments give me 
more to work with in the essay I'm developing.  And if I were to jump off 
a cliff with anyone, it would be with all of you  (or maybe I'd just go 
look for a new boyfriend." 

BTW, the ref. from GR is page 553, Viking ed.