Atdtda23: [46.1i] A passionate heart, 653

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Billy the Mountain came to my mind, but what do I know anyway?

That Vormance Expedition entity appeared to be a Norse Deity of some sort.

http://globalia.net/donlope/fz/songs/Billy_The_Mountain.html
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> I'm unclear about which of Pynchon's objects you think is a natural
> one.  The Vormance-encountered object doesn't seem a natural one.
> It's never clearly described, but it is distinguishable as different
> from its surroundings, vaguely anthropomorphic:
> 
> "The Figure appeared to recline on its side, an Odalisque of the
> snows" (141:29).
> 
> It's as if it's some sort of ancient Titan, purposely entombed in the
> snow, meant to be kept there for the safety of the earth's present
> inhabitants, thus malevolent (unlike the 2001 slab).  So it's not
> clearly "natural" and very possibly "placed."  Not so very different -
> at least not clearly so.
> 
> David Morris
> 
> 
> On Dec 14, 2007 10:27 AM,  <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
> > In 2001, the object was deliberately placed.  Pynchon's is a natural, 
> indigenous object -- very different.
> >
> > Laura
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > >From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
> >
> > >The quality that rocks possess that makes them "living" is their longevity, 
> their relative permanence in comparison to our fleeting lives.  The 
> object/visitor of the Vormance Expedition sat in place, undisturbed, for eons, 
> probably even before the advent of humans on the earth.  This meme isn't new.  
> It was very explicit in Kubric's 2001, only there the object was more 
> benevolent.
> >
> >