MDMD(7) Questions

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

Here are the questions. Commentary is slightly delayed and may well be
posted tomorrow morning. Apologies etc.

n.b. HTML versions of these opening notes are available under

    http://www.cee.hw.ac.uk/~andrew/pynchon-mdmd.html

Look at the bottom under the resources section.

Andrew Dinn
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How do you know but ev'ry bird that cuts the airy way
Is an immense world of pleasure clos'd by your senses five
----- 8< -------- 8< -------- 8< -------- 8< -------- 8< -------- 8< ---
MDMD(7) Notes


199.10 `Hester [. . .] Elroy'  ??? Any biographic details?

202.24 `mombly' ??? OED has no such word nor any near misses

202.31 `in particular with Dr Isaac' is this because Rebekah
died in childbirth? Rebekah died in 1758 and this is apparently (cf
???) summer 1763 which leaves Doc about the right age.

208.2 `How could he allow that she might have her own
story' i.e. something beyond his knowledge or comprehension?

209.12 `his Age, how merciless' This phrase has a religious
swing to it, like `his grace, how infinite' or some such. Is this
meant to signify?

212.17 `Station'  as in Stations of the Cross?

212.21 `Basso' Ital = bass Anyone understand this
Soprano/Basso image?

213.10 `J J Lalande'  Any biographical details on this
astronomer?

213.11 `J N Delisle' Any biographical details?

213.31 `Lemonnier' Any biographical details?

213.36 `Octagon Chapel'  ???


215.6 `Loyolan' i.e. taking after Ignatius Loyola, founder
of the Jesuits. Any explanation of what would count as more
traditionally Loyolan, other than what follows this phrase.

219.7 `Brigantum' Roman name for ???

219.15`The moral lesson in this [. . .] being,-- Don't
Die'  Any comments on how this moral is arrived at?

220.6 `Euler' Why hate Euler because of a love for
vortices? Vortices were an attempt by Continental philosophers and
mathematicians to explain how space could be continuously occupied by
solid matter (i.e. with no gaps) and yet allow movement. Atomic
theories were deemed unacceptable because either they required space
between atoms with nothing to fill it or they required solid atoms
which interlocked and tesselated to fill space but thereby disallowed
any movement. Not sure if this is what the word is referring to here,
though.

220.33 `Glaur . . .' ???

220.33 `Oink, oink' Any reaosn for the pig noises?

221.12 `born under the sign of the Lion' or maybe not, given
what follows. Anyone know enough Astrology to coment on this passage?

221.35 `flying' flying??? anyone want to try to explain what
this flying is all about?

222.12 `St Omer' ???

223.1 `Conjugate Capital Sin' ???

223.2 `mio caro Ruggiero' Ital = my dear Ruggiero (Roger),
apparently a brother Jesuit (223.14) who is interested in
surveying. any details?