"at 6s & 7s"

[Henry M]

"Now if the six, turned out be nine..." - Jimi Hendrix

> Date:          Fri, 24 Jan 1997 10:54:16 -0800 (PST)
> From:          RedBug <redbug at hyperarts.com>
> Reply-to:      RedBug <redbug at hyperarts.com>
> To:            pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject:       "at 6s & 7s"

> 
> Ok, I'm going to go *way* out on a limb now in this my only real
> contribution to the "seventh Christmas of the War" conundrum (p.126).
> 
> As others have mentioned, it's seems so unlikely that TRP would make this
> kind of mistake in GR. Anacronisms are one thing, but a miss-count ... nah.
> 
> I was reading Don Quixote the other night, after the SCOTW thing came up,
> and came across Sancho saying something about things being "at sixes and
> sevens." Now why do those two numbers sound so familiar? I thought to
> myself. The phrase, as most of you probably know, means  to be in a state
> of confusion. 
> 
> I find it interesting that, as in V. with the Benny-Rachel first-meet-twice
> deal (which is preceded by references to warps in time's fabric and
> which occurs at the Space-Time Agency), this episode is preceded by a
> reference to wave mechanics and the collapse of the wave function which is
> at the heart of the many-worlds theory.  But THAT may be stretching it.
> 
> However:
> 
> Roger (or the narrator?) counts seven Christmases/years. Immediately
> following is Jessica's perspective, so full of threes, thirties, and her
> count of six years of war. 
> 
> So, hey, Rog & Jess are "at sixes and sevens", right? I know this may be a
> stellar example of over-analysing TRP, but I find it much less facile (and
> much more interesting) than simply attributing it to "mistake" which I find
> completely unacceptable.
> 
> Just a thought.
> 
> R. Ed Bug 
> 
> 
> 
> 


Keep cool, but care. -- TRP
Moderation in moderation. -- Husky Mariner

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