Pynchon in Poland
Robert i Monika
sudol at kki.net.pl
Thu Jun 1 16:32:15 CDT 2000
Hello, it's Poland here.
Translating GR and agonizing over it.
Would anyone enlighten me to the meaning of the following (I refer to the 1995 Vintage paperback edition):
page 12, lines 38-39: "... that you're apt now and then to get a bit of lime-green in with your rose, as they say". What is the meaning of "a bit of lime-green in with your rose"? I've never heard that phrase. In Polish, we have a saying: "there's a drop of birch tar in this cask of mead", which means that something seemingly sweet or enjoyable will be bitter or nasty.
page 13, lines 35-36 - "not even an Arab With A Big Greasy Nose to perform on, as in that wistful classic every tommy's heard" - is it just a part of those old imperial stereotypes which made the British happy in their colonies, like, let's say, the opium-smoking Chinaman or the snake-charming Hindoo? Or is it something specific? Some hoax?
page 36, line 37: "I'm the Red Bitch of the High Seas" - Does Pynchon refer to any folk tale? To Sindbad the Sailor maybe? Why "red"?
Any ideas welcome, folks.
Robert S.
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