AtD excerpt - "got-damn pinkinroller"

[Paul Mackin]

On Aug 6, 2006, at 8:38 AM, jbor at bigpond.com wrote:

> 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.

Guess we can know with some certitude that this particular segment  
has been marked as important.

It's something worthwhile  for all of  us  to play around with until  
November 18.


>
> 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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