Comments on Comments:GRGR

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

Stephen Brown comments:
"     "Inside the carriage, which is built on several levels, he sits
in velveteen darkness......feeble ones, second sheep.... naphtha
winters....Absolute Zero...."     "Inside the carriage, which is built on several levels, he sits
in velveteen darkness......feeble ones, second sheep.... naphtha
winters....Absolute Zero...."


     "Inside the carriage, which is built on several levels, he sits
in velveteen darkness......feeble ones, second sheep.... naphtha
winters....Absolute Zero...."

The descent into War.  Perhaps also the underground system, where
Londoners took refuge during the Blitz."

Good.  But it also evokes (as many have suggested) the steam/engine technology
of the 19th century becoming obsolete (as also implied by the fall a/the
Crystal Palace).  And it reminds me of other dream journeys by rail, not the
least being Alice's when on the other side of the Looking Glass.  Notice that
the "second sheep" reference won't be explicated for quite some time--so, if
this is Pirate's particular dream, why is he evoking a phrase from a heretical
Massachusetts Puritan?




also:
">7)  `Incoming mail'?
 
(In)coming male?  Slothrop?"

Well, maybe that's implied, but more overtly it's a deliberate play on words.
Incoming mail is of course a common military euphemism for an incoming barrage
(but where does this phrase originate?  I've heard it used in WWII movies, but
did it precede that war?  Is it British, American or other in usage?)





and:
">12) Anyone know the song (the san-jak of No-vi Pa-zar! p 14). Care to etc.
 
Sanjak and Novi seem to relate to Turkey, which became Westernized in
the 20s and joined the Allies in 1945, presumably after some serious
work by The Firm.  Can't find any link to Pazar, but check out TRP's
references to 'Balkanosis, and the 'Ottaman rump'."

Weisenburger's Companion to GR helpfully explicates.  To summarize, Novi
Pazar was a small principality that was a source of contention between
Austria-Hungary and Turkey that was a factor in dealings with Serbia.
Another part of the Great Game, and at least tangentially related to
the carryings-on of Porpentine and co. in "Under the Rose" and V.



And asks:
"Anyone any theories as to the identity of Blatherard Osmo?"


There *might* be a specific referent to this example of Upper-Class Twitdom,
but the name is a giveaway: 

Blatherard is of interest to the Firm because he "blathers," or runs on and
is in danger of spilling various beans.  "Osmo" suggests "osmosis," the
process by which the adenoid sucks up its victims.  It's interesting, though,
that the horror-movie organ is more evocative of 1950s SF (I use the term 
loosely) films that of movies that went before.  Think of Woody Allen's
rampaging Breast in EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX . . . "


Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)