Creeping Figs

[Paul Nightingale]

Not awkward insofar as it does flow, although the reader might be thrown if
they're not reading carefully. A lot of information in the first sentence,
and something akin to a jump-cut. What I like particularly is the
juxtaposition of "drifted" to "creeping", a key to the novel as a whole.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf
Of Steven
Sent: 18 September 2006 01:23
To: Carvill John
Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: Creeping Figs

He's forced the 'creeping' from the fig to attach itself to the sunlight
coming slowly, etc.  A tad awkward to read but very dense imagery.


On Sep 16, 2006, at 2:25 PM, Carvill John wrote:


"Later than usual one summer morning in 1984, Zoyd Wheeler drifted awake in
sunlight through a creeping fig that hung in the window, with a squadron of
blue jays..." etc.

Ok, leaving everything else aside, does that 'in sunlight through' strike
anyone else as slightly jarring, as if we'd expect something else between
'sunlight' and 'through'? Some variant on, say, 'in sunlight that', I dunno,
'shone through', 'filtered through'.......?