410-435 (chapters 41 & 42)

[xxxxx]

***spoiler!--anyone who has read this far is encouraged to chime in!***














pynchon just went ballistic! my mind is fuzzy--and to think i presumed
he would not lose me in this one (this book, that is). is lepton castle
the palace of the insane? tis madness in there, and lack of what i
understand to be the laws of physics, or a different set of laws, at
least. the suspended tub, the torpedo, the odd dialogue, LeSpark--help!
i would love to gather impressions of this purpled collection of
passages.
my primary confusions/concerns: 1)m&d's strange conversation in the
castle with the leptons & others, esp around 417.
	     			2)the structure of these two chapters ie how many storytellers
do we have? cherrycoke, LeSpark (the LeSpark thing really throws me for
a loop, especially as his story intertwines with cherrycoke's--to what
extent do they overlap?)?

an aside, sort of: did dixon not get laid in chapter 42 (p 425)?--notice
the following curious sentence:
in the after-hum he fancies he can hear dixon's voice, and then
another,--lady lepton's if he is not mistaken, tho' the words soon
lapse, whilst sounds continue. 

hmm. sounds as if we're left to wonder whether any of this is happening,
from the moment m&d enter the 'cabin,' perhaps. is it all enchantement?
seems a bit dreamlike, in a way the book is (to a degree, rather) only
occassionally (cf the wax effegies and the back back room). recall also
the scene in which m&d try to procure opiates and the like from dr.
(feelgood) franklin. note also mason's penchant for
hallucination/visions. are m&d trippers? junkies? madmen? is cherrycoke,
who tells tales of scenes he was most certainly not present to witness
(nor do i believe m&d, who don't seem to fancy him much, spun him many
yarns about their experiences), spicing up his story to a metaphysical
pitch, as in any good fairy tale or myth? or perhaps is he nipping a bit
at the pint or pipe and proceeding to get a bit out there with his
story? also, a la scheherezade, he must tell a spicy story so as not to
get the boot (as has been astutely pointed out in the course of p-l
discussion).
comments, please!
ray gonne