MDMD(4): Taurean

[andrew at cee.hw.ac.uk]

Doug Millison writes:
> 138.  "...I am told that of the Qualities observ'd in my comportment, those
> of the classic Taurean prevail, -- Persistent, Phlegmatick, Provok'd only
> with great difficulty, -- our Passion of Titanick Scope, our Fate, ever to
> be prick'd at by small men in spangl'd Costumes."
> 
> Pynchon is a Taurus, too, and perhaps he's giving us his horo here. . . .

Well, in context I took this to be Mason's rose-tinted view of himself
and assumed it was written with ironic intent (that `I am told . . .'
is a dead give-away and Mason's willingness to relate such tales,
apparently with no qualms as to the honesty of those who tell them,
maybe also gives away something about Mason - can you imagine Dixon
using the same phrase?). And though I would not dismiss the idea that
this might also be a ref to Pynchon's horoscope I suspect that in his
case too it is intended that it be taken with a peck of salt.


Andrew Dinn
-----------
We drank the blood of our enemies.
The blood of our friends, we cherished.