AtDDtA(16): The Histrionic yet Unprofitable

Fri Aug 24 23:39:10 CDT 2007

Dave, as usual, a great array of references - things in the
text that I looked at and thought about looking up but
didn't -- and other things that never occurred to me
to question...but on closer inspection deserve thought,
which luckily has been done and can be found where you say...

meta-cognitive dissonance --- Shambhala in my personal
mythography (and according to Wikipedia) is in the 
Himalayas, which are the furthest thing from a sandy
desert I can imagine.  A trip to Shambhala, like a
trip to the near-eponymous Shangri-La, would seem to
involve trekking up snowy slopes, confronting Yeti,
navigating caves...

Kak dela?  Is Pynchon bilocating Shambhala ---

or has that 'Zo Meatman, by accident or design,
switched the map to Shambhala with Bush's roadmap
for Middle East peace?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Monroe [mailto:against.the.dave at gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 09:02 PM
> To: 'pynchon -l'
> Subject: AtDDtA(16): The Histrionic yet Unprofitable
>
> ".... their demeanor today struck more than one observer as almost
> provokingly self-satisfied. [...] And before them lay exactly the
> sort of adventure that was sure to appeal to their too-often
> ill-considered taste for the histrionic yet unprofitable.
> "'It is down here--' declared Captain Toadflax, 'quite intact and,
> make no mistake, inhabited as well--that the true Shambhala will be
> found ...'" (AtD, Pt III, p. 434-5)
>
>
> "a picket of Gurkhas fabled for their merciless dedication to perimeter defense"
>
> Gurkha, also spelled as Gorkha, are people from Nepal who take their
> name from the eighth century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. His
> disciple Bappa Rawal, born Prince Kalbhoj/Prince Shailadhish, founded
> the house of Mewar. Later descendants of Bappa Rawal moved further
> east to found the house of Gorkha, which in turn founded the Kingdom
> of Nepal. Gurkhas are best known for their history of bravery and
> strength in the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Indian
> Army's Gorkha regiments. Gorkha is one of the 75 districts of modern
> Nepal
>
> The Gurkhas were designated by British officials as a "Martial Race".
> "Martial Race" was a designation created by officials of British India
> to describe "races" (peoples) that were thought to be naturally
> warlike and aggressive in battle, and to possess qualities like
> courage, loyalty, self sufficiency, physical strength, resilience,
> orderliness, hard working, fighting tenacity and military strategy.
> The British recruited heavily from these Martial Races for service in
> the colonial army....
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_Race
>
> During the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, the Gurkha regiments remained loyal
> to the British, and became part of the British Indian Army on its
> formation. The 2nd Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) defended Hindu
> Rao's house for over three months, losing 327 out of 490 men. Twelve
> Gurkha regiments also took part in the relief of Lucknow....
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurkha#British_East_India_Company_army
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigade_of_Gurkhas#Origins
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Lucknow
>
> Brigade of Gurkhas
>
> http://www.army.mod.uk/brigade_of_gurkhas/
>
>
> "the histrionic yet unprofitable"
>
> E.g., ...? Help! Well, okay ...
>
> http://www.defenselink.mil/
>
> And do note the binary there ...
>
>
> "the true Shambhala"
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shambhala
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Shambhala
>
> THE CONTINUING SEARCH FOR SHAMBHALA
>
> Background
>
> Is there really a hidden galaxy of minds living in seclusion in an
> inaccessible part of Asia, or is it merely a myth? Shambhala, the
> "Hidden Kingdom," is thought of in Tibet as a community where perfect
> and semiperfect beings live and are guiding the evolution of
> humankind. Shambhala is considered to be the source of the Kalacakra,
> which is the highest and most esoteric branch of Tibetan mysticism.
> The Buddha preached the teachings of the Kalacakra to an assembly of
> holy men in southern India. Afterwards the teachings remained hidden
> for 1,000 years, until an Indian yogi-scholar went in search of
> Shambhala and was initiated into the teachings by a holy man he met
> along the way. The Kalacakra then remained in India until it made its
> way to Tibet in 1026. Since then the concept of Shambhala has been
> widely known in Tibet, and Tibetans have been studying the Kalacakra
> for the last 900 years, learning its science, practicing its
> meditation, and using its system of astrology to guide their lives. As
> one Tibetan lama put it, how could Shambhala be the source of
> something which has affected so many areas of Tibetan life for so long
> and yet not exist?
>
> Tibetan religious texts describe the physical makeup of the hidden
> land in detail. It is thought to look like an eight-petaled lotus
> blossom because it is made up of eight regions, each surrounded by a
> ring of mountains. In the center of the innermost ring lies Kalapa,
> the capital, and the king's palace, which is composed of gold,
> diamonds, coral, and precious gems. The capital is surrounded by
> mountains made of ice, which shine with a crystalline light. The
> technology of Shambhala is supposed to be highly advanced; the palace
> contains special skylights made of lenses which serve as high-powered
> telescopes to study extraterrestrial life, and for hundreds of years
> Shambhala's inhabitants have been using aircraft and cars that shuttle
> through a network of underground tunnels. On the way to enlightenment,
> Shambhalans acquire such powers as clairvoyance, the ability to move
> at great speeds, and the ability to materialize and disappear at will.
>
> http://www.trivia-library.com/c/history-of-the-search-for-shambhala-part-1.htm
>
> And see as well, e.g., ...
>
> Bernbaum, Edwin. The Way to Shambhala:
> A Search for the Mythical Kingdom Beyond the Himalayas.
> Garden City, NJ: Anchor, 1980. Boston: Shambhala, 2001.
>
> http://www.shambhala.com/
>
> Apparently not currently in print, but do check out their crazy and
> presumably "New Age" alphabetization ...
>
>
> "those German professors"
>
> Likely a double allusion, first to Professor Werfner of Göttingen,
> referenced on p. 226, and also to Heinrich Schliemann, the German
> treasure hunter (not actually a professor) who first established the
> true historical location of Troy, the site of the Trojan War. His
> accomplishments are sadly underscored by his extremely amateurish
> excavation technique which destroyed as much as it extracted from the
> site.
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_429-459#Page_435
>
> See also ....
>
> Schoenmaker, Dr. Shale
>
> 45; German: "beauty maker"; plastic surgeon who performs Esther's nose
> job; in World War I, 97; Esther's nose job, 102; 294; 296
>
> http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/v/alpha/s.html
>
> http://v.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=S
>
> Dr. Hilarius - Oedipa's psychiatrist, who prescribes LSD, which she
> does not take, to Oedipa as well as other housewives. He goes crazy
> toward the end of the story. Admitting to being a former Nazi doctor
> at Buchenwald, he holes up in his office, but is taken away peacefuly
> by the police after Oedipa disarms him.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crying_of_Lot_49#Characters
>
> http://cl49.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Crying_of_Lot_49#Characters
>
> "Nature does not know extinction; all it knows is transformation.
> Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach me,
> strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence
> after death." —Wernher Von Braun
>
> http://www.pynchon.net/pynchon/part.php?part=1
>
> http://www.bookforum.com/archive/sum_05/pynchon.html
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9602&msg=3705
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0407&msg=92065
>
> "There, over the Evening, he will find, among the Clientele, German
> Enthusiasts ..." (M&D, Ch. 30, p. 298)
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0202&msg=65028
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0204&msg=66299
>
> http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/HL2000.html
>
>
> "our ship's Paramorphoscope"
>
> Structural alteration of a mineral without change of chemical composition.
>
> http://bartleby.com/61/21/P0062100.html
>
> The change of one mineral species to another, so as to involve a
> change in physical characters without alteration of chemical
> composition.
>
> http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?paramorphism
>
> "'induced paramorphism,'" 114; "paramorphic distortions," 249; 435; 436 ...
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=P
>
> A paramorphism (from Greek παρα, meaning "close together") is an
> extension of the concept of catamorphism to deal with a form which
> "eats its argument and keeps it too," as exemplified by the factorial
> function.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramorphism
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamorphism
>
> AtD is itself a paramorphoscope; satire and science fiction typically
> hold up a distorting mirror to the world in which they are written,
> and present worlds "set to the side of the one we have taken". In the
> end the correct paramorphic "mirror" shows the world clearly.
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_243-272#Page_249
>
> If it is not the world, it is what the world might be with a minor
> adjustment or two. According to some, this is one of the main purposes
> of fiction.
>
> Let the reader decide, let the reader beware. Good luck.
>
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0607&msg=102374
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Against_the_Day
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Against_the_Day_description
>
>
> "any Tibetan lama"
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lama
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama
>
>
> "'fustest with the mostest,' as your General Forrest used to say"
>
> Nathan Bedford Forrest, rebel leader in U.S. Civil War. Although he
> pioneered high-mobility tactics, he may never have uttered the famous
> quotation.
>
> Also, recognized as founder of the KKK -- see earlier episode in Colorado.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest
>
> http://against-the-day.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=ATD_429-459#Page_435
>
> Forrest is often erroneously quoted as saying his strategy was to "git
> thar fustest with the mostest," but this quote first appeared in print
> in a New York Times story in 1917, written to provide colorful
> comments in reaction to European interest in Civil War generals. Bruce
> Catton writes, "Do not, under any circumstances whatever, quote
> Forrest as saying 'fustest' and 'mostest.' He did not say it that way,
> and nobody who knows anything about him imagines that he did.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest#Impact_of_Forrest.27s_doctrines
>
> In the 1994 motion picture Forrest Gump, the eponymous Tom Hanks
> character states that he was named after his ancestor General Nathan
> Bedford Forrest, and there is an edited sequence from the 1915
> pro-Klan film, Birth of a Nation, showing Hanks as the General in Klan
> robes.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest#In_popular_culture
>
> And see as well, e.g., ...
>
> http://www.civilwarhome.com/natbio.htm
>
> http://www.civilwarhome.com/CMHforrestbio.htm
>
> 