MDDM Ch. 42 Summary & Notes

[jbor]

Thanks Mark, and you're probably right re. Sirius, though I wonder if
Polaris might be the "first star" seen in the northern heavens towards which
Gottfried's (disarmed) rocket was aimed?

Anyway, I was struck by the similarity in wording and atmosphere:

      "The edge of evening . . . the long curve of people all wishing on
    the first star. . . . " (_GR_ 759)

and as Austra is, 

       " [ ... ] beginning to blur, receding 'round the long
        curve of the Wall. [...] " (427.32)

But it's probably just a coincidence. Pynchon does enjoy a good curve.

best



on 19/3/02 6:53 AM, Mark Wright AIA at mwaia at yahoo.com wrote:

> 
> Howdy
> 
> I agree that the Polaris of Evil refers both to a significant star (in
> Cherrycoke and M&D's time) and to a thermonuclear Inter-Continental
> Ballistic Missile (in Pynchon's time). The "First Star" in GR would
> never be Polaris, however, but a far brighter object such as Sirius, or
> more likely (and this has always been my reading) Venus, the
> evening/morning star and Goddess of Love...
> 
> Notice that one of our boys "gets some" with the Lady Lepton, and is
> quite evidently pleased withal. So much for the non-existent
> pseudo-sexual fidelity between Mason and Dixon that surfaced in recent
> posts.
> 
> Mark
> 
> --- jbor <jbor at bigpond.com> wrote:
> 
>> "The edge of evening . . . the long curve of people all wishing
>> on
>> the first star. . . . Always remember those men and women along
>> the
>> thousands of miles of land and sea. The true moment of shadow is
>> the
>> moment in which you see the point of light in the sky. The single
>> point,
>> and the Shadow that has just gathered you in its sweep . . . "
>> Always remember.
>> The first star hangs between his feet.
>> *Now--*
>> (_GR_ 759-60)
> 
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