First line of Against the Day?

[rich]

so yes, single up all the lines is the first line apparently and that the
beginning takes place on a hydrogen airship

i was gonna post it later today. give a guy a chance ;)

rich


On 10/11/06, Ya Sam <takoitov at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> I wish that was something of a hunch belonging to a serendipitous and
> inquisitive mind... OK, seriously, I looked in several dictionaries for a
> good definiton of the nautical expression 'single up all the lines', and
> there was a definiton in the huge Webster's Third New International
> Dictionary under the heading of single (verb). I googled it without the
> article, i.e. 'single up all lines' and accidentally stumbled upon this
> passage from V. BTW, here is the classical definition: "to take in all
> bights of mooring lines on a ship except single lines preparatory to
> getting
> under way -- usu. used with up'.
>
>
> >From: "Carvill John" <johncarvill at hotmail.com>
> >To: takoitov at hotmail.com, pynchon-l at waste.org
> >Subject: Re: First line of Against the Day?
> >Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:02:06 +0000
> >
> >Kudos!
> >
> >How did you find that?
> >
> >
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>"For it's said (and not without reason) that no sooner does a ship like
> >>the Scaffold single up all lines than certain Navy wives are out of
> their
> >>civvies and into barmaid uniform, flexing their beer-carrying arms and
> >>practicing a hooker's sweet smile; even as the N.O.B. band is playing
> Auld
> >>Lang Syne and the destroyers are blowing stacks in black flakes all over
> >>the cuckolds-to-be standing manly at attention, taking leave with me and
> a
> >>tiny grin."
> >>
> >>http://www.harperacademic.com/catalog/excerpt_xml.asp?isbn=0060930217
> >>
> >
> >
>
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