AtDTDA: (12) whatever has happened to my brain? 350

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Dally leaves the party through some sort of magic portal.  Very similar to Lew's leaping through
 the dynamite portal.  Both ended up going to Europe soon after.  Later in this section, Reef
 magically survives an avalanche (Vibe-induced) and resurfaces disguised as an "East Coast nerve
 case" soon headed for Europe.  Later Kit starts out on a passenger ship for Europe and through
 some magic portal ends up on a military ship bound for Europe.  It's almost as if there has to
 be some sort of epiphany or magical transformation to loosen these characters from the American
 provincial mind-set, making them "ready" for Europe.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: mikebailey at speakeasy.net
>Sent: Jul 14, 2007 10:26 AM
>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re:  AtDTDA: (12) whatever has happened to my brain? 350
>
>>
>> (or maybe the gem-drinker isn't Zombini, maybe it's
>> Nookshaft - Crowley lived in New York, for awhile)
>>
>
>there's next to nothing in the text to promote that,
>of course
>(Occam's razor: true, Vibe could've invited more than
>one magician to his party, but the whole party passage
>segues into the family reunion so why think that? 
>
>The way Erlys rescues Dally almost is enough to
>think that a non-Zombini plot was afoot that Erlys foiled,
>in which case a case might be made for a "2nd magician",
>but when the mischievousness of the Zombini kids 
>is revealed, they're the likeliest suspects - still,
>would they stoop to Mickey Finning her?  They would've
>had to enlist the "smooth gent with blindingly pomaded
>grey hair and a gigantic emerald ring on his pinky" - 
>who is that dude?  She's already met RW Vibe, so she'd
>have recognized him.  Zombini appeared at the top of
>the page --  
>come to think of it, he's not the Cohen either (no bowl haircut)
>Why does she accept all those drinks from him?
>
>
>
>it is interesting, though, to consider Cohen/Zombini's 
>parts in the story side-by-side -
>
>Cohen bumping Lew Basnight's consciousness up to the next 
>valence shell 
>
>Zombini dissolving Merle Rideout's
>marriage, changing his Signifier from the Lovers
>to the Hermit 
>
>
>
>