AtD excerpt - "got-damn pinkinroller"

[jbor at bigpond.com]

Yep, assonance. And I actually think that that "Trust me, I'm an 
osteopath" is the funniest one-liner in the segment.

Just more on the way the dialogue implies the action, note how it's 
what Jimmy says that tells us that he's going through Willis's bag. Not 
the narration.

I have to say that I was a bit thrown that this was the pre-publication 
excerpt released. I can't imagine that it's representative of the whole 
992 pages, and it is pretty predictable and silly, and by no stretch of 
the imagination an example of literary genius.

But I think it could be like rich said: an excerpt chosen to be 
accessible to the LCD (i.e., you must be at least "this tall" to go on 
this ride.) And it's part of the marketing strategy the other rich 
initially identified and alluded to (using priapism as his metaphor, 
iirc) -- not pitched at those of us who will buy it anyway, but at new 
readers.

So, it probably serves its purpose. A pulp Western pastiche. A couple 
of punch-lines and double-takes. An innocent abroad + a cross-cultural 
comic double-act = corny hi-jinx. Flirting with cliché and cartoon 
caricatures. Imbedded historicity and allusiveness. Half a page.

It could be the opening of the novel; I suspect it's the opening of a 
chapter or episode at least.

What comes before, what it develops into, and what ontological schemas 
it is enfurled within in terms of the text as a whole, remain to be 
seen.

best

On 06/08/2006, at 9:41 PM, Ya Sam wrote:

> There is also something of a wacky alliteration:
>
> freSHly credenSHelled from the American School of Osteopathy
>
>
>> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
>> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>> Subject: Re: AtD excerpt - "got-damned pinkinroller"
>> Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2006 07:29:27 -0400
>>
>>
>> On Aug 5, 2006, at 7:42 PM, jbor at bigpond.com wrote:
>>
>>> I guess it's also worthwhile pointing out that whatever action  
>>> there is in the second part of the scene is implied by the  
>>> dialogue. It isn't narrated. This is a characteristic feature of  
>>> Pynchon's narrative style also.
>>>
>>> The way the dialogue is written makes it seem like a rapid-fire  
>>> exchange, when in fact it isn't. Young Willis, at the very least,  
>>> has put his pistol away (I think he has put it back in his bag and  
>>> taken out a little osteopathic or diagnostic tool, but I guess he  
>>> could have just put it in his pocket) and walked back to where  
>>> Jimmy is crouched in pain, before his "lilywhites" work their  
>>> massage magic on Jimmy's back.
>>>
>>> The idea that the "pinkinroller" refers to Willis's pistol is  
>>> plausible, and my first reading of it was that Jimmy was referring  
>>> to Willis as a "pinkinroller" too.
>>>
>>> Once his back goes, Jimmy's attention diverts to Alfonsito, who is  
>>> carrying on and probably comes over to offer his compadre  
>>> assistance at that point. It's not until he says "I can fix that"  
>>> that Jimmy takes any further notice of what Willis is doing. By  
>>> that time Willis has done whatever he has done with his pistol, and  
>>> is walking towards Jimmy with (perhaps) a "pinkinroller" in his  
>>> hand, to offer his osteopathic expertise.
>>
>> Incidentally isn't the way  Willis offers his services more madison  
>> avenue and hollywood  than wild west?
>>
>> "Trust me" meaning "go along with me even if  you can't yet see where 
>>  I'm going."
>>
>> Pynchon up to old tricks . . . oh, damn . . . .
>>
>>>
>>> best
>>>
>>> On 06/08/2006, at 9:23 AM, Paul Mackin wrote:
>>>
>>>> My first inclination is to hear "pinkinroller" as a disparaging  
>>>> remark about the relative non-lethalness of Willis's antiquated  
>>>> colt.  Roller stands for revolver, It's what you see when looking  
>>>> into the barrel of  one. Willis's is a pinkinroller because it is  
>>>> of small calibre, probably a .22, and capable only of pinking  
>>>> (barely scratching) the person it hits. Jimmy Drop no doubt  
>>>> carries a .45.
>>>
>>>>> >     "Damned idiot, o' course it's my back. Oh mother of all
>>>>> > misfortune--and worst than last time too."
>>>>> >     "I can fix that," offered Willis.
>>>>> >     "Beg your pardon, what in hell business of any got-damn
>>>>> > pinkinroller'd this be, again?"
>>>>> >     "I know how to loosen that up for you. Trust me, I'm an
>>>>> > osteopath."
>>>>> >     "It's O.K., we're open-minded, couple boys in the outfit are
>>>>> > evangelicals, just watch where you're putting them lilywhites  
>>>>> now--
>>>>> > yaaagghh--I mean, huh?"
>>>>> >     "Feel better?"
>>>>> >     "Holy Toledo," straightening up, carefully but pain-free.
>>>>> >     "Why, it's a miracle."
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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