"crystal palace" (WAS: NP Krystalnacht)

[Kevin Troy]

Sometime recently, Otto wrote:
"I'm not sure if Pynchon had that in mind when he was referring to the
Crystal Palace in London, as Weisenburger says in his Companion. Or isn't
he refering to that historical building at all, it's not written in
capitals?"

Germans and your Love for Capital Letters.  :)  I take it as a reference
to the ideas embodied/promoted by the Great Exhibition -- knowledge,
commerce, and empire coming together in glorious transparency.  The term
"crystal palace" as a concept (not a building) appears in the literature
of the Victorian era; Dostoyevsky used it in a few of his novels.

-- 
Kevin Troy