MDMD--The Card Table

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

Brian offers:
"2)      "excepting a sinister and wonderful Card Table ...along with so
many inges, sliding mortises, hidden catches, and secret compartments
thant neither the Twins nor their Sister can say they have been to the
end of it."  Note that this is, specifically, a card table, which means
that all those secret compartments are probably for hiding cards.  This
introduces the idea that situations which appear entirely due to chance
to an outside observer (like a good hand) may well be due to manipulation
by someone involved."


I'm not sure about that.  A common theme in Pynchon from "Lowlands" through
"The Secret Integration" and beyond is his fascination and approval of
the rococo and arabesque and gothic--of places to hide and points of
possible surprise, in contrast to a flat, undifferenitated surface.

The table here has delights for the kids like the old houses of Mingeborough.

Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)