GRGR(19): Notes pp. 421-433

[Jeremy Osner]

Sorry these notes are, in comparison to the others I have posted,
perfunctory and brief. I have had a busy week and left this till the
last minute -- hoping some of you can fill in the gaps.

p. 423 "he felt himself turning to stone": This reminds me for some
reason of Pirate, whose "skull felt made of metal" way back when. It
seems like kind of a funny statement; the meaning I take from it is
something more along the lines of "he told himself he was turning to
stone", i.e. that he had lost his power of volition -- he did not
actually lose it, he just used that statement to excuse his failure to
act.

p. 424 "That [to invent complications] was Weissman's job, wasn't it":
I'm still interested in thinking of the similarities between a sadist
and an author. "To invent complications" is (part of) TRP's job.

p. 424 "a ceremony he couldn't memorize in advance": here we see again
how Pökler thinks of his life as scripted. (And that that viewpoint is
being in denial.)

p. 424 "Pökler was almost sure once during the Winter": I can't really
make sense of Pökler's not being sure whether it is Weissman that's
playing with him. I get sort of mixed up between what is sado-masochism
and what is paranoia here; I guess in the world of paranoia it makes
total sense for Pökler not to be sure; in the world of sado-masochism I
don't think it would make sense.

p. 425 "He really ought to remember...": this statement is in the
present tense; is it the "present" of p. 398, where Pökler is waiting
for Ilse to return?

p. 426 "Sarnaki": is this the same as Blizna, which he was talking about
two pages ago? Or something else again?

p. 426 "an explosion that will take him by surprise": i.e. his outburst
on p. 430.

p. 429 "what he was showing the nation of starers": for some reason I
wrote "*Caligari to Hitler*" next to this phrase in my book; I could not
with any certainty explain why.

p 430 "'I'll come back,' she said very quietly./ 'You?'/ 'Yes.
Really.'": this exchange makes it seem like the girl who is speaking to
Pökler is the girl who has been coming to see him all along. Am I
misreading? Or is it just something to keep me on my toes as a reader?

p. 433 "Pökler vomited. he cried some": Pökler's visit to Dora doesn't
really ring true for me. He's been set up as such a strong denier, it
seems to me overly romantic for him to force himself to look at what his
passivity hath wrought.

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