Those M&D words 2

[Lary Wallace]

Before Louis Menand started writing exclusively for the _New Yorker_, he was assigned by the _New York Review of Books_, back in '97 or whenever, to review _M&D_. I'm sure many of you know this review already, but I wanted to remind you of it since he spends more time than most (maybe more time than anyone) understanding and explaining and appreciating the language of _M&D_. Unfortunately, the piece is only available to paid electronic subscribers, and if I were to paste it onto this message I would risk attracting the wrath of the _New York Review_. But if somebody gets in touch with me privately, we can subvert that. Anyway, what I wanted to say about the review is that it's a very erudite appreciation of what Pynchon was trying to do (and according to Menand, succeeding briliantly) with "those M&D words" and everything else about the novel. It's a very substantial essay, probably one of the best things ever written about Pynchon. Let's hope Menand is the guy the _New
 Yorker_ gets to write about _AtD_. 
 
Here's the link, if you're a subscriber or you want to pay $3.50 for it. 
 
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1159




----- Original Message ----
From: bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>
To: Ya Sam <takoitov at hotmail.com>; pynchon-l at waste.org
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 9:54:53 AM
Subject: Re: Those M&D words 2


At 3:00 PM +0200 11/19/06, Ya Sam wrote:
>What's 'volish'?
>
>"They have come upon a Queue forming up a dark street, and decide to 
>join it, Dixon in his red coat, boots with three-inch heels, and 
>mysteriously cockaded hat, Mason, after an hour before his 
>traveler's Mirror, having assum'd rather a darken'd, volish 
>neutrality."
>
>It doesn't seem to be an adjective derived from 'vole' (a small 
>rodent resembling a mouse), as 'mouse-like neutrality' doesn't make 
>much sense.


I think that you've got it though.   Volish is like a vole or mouse 
and mouse-brown hair is very neutral.   We're not talking politics 
here,  we're talking a mousy physical appearance.    It makes sense 
to me.

Mouse brown is the color hair every woman's was before she did 
something about it.
It's a dull, medium-light brown color,  totally uninteresting

Bekah
with silver threads among the mouse brown

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