ATDTDA (5.1) - The Etienne-Louis Malus

[John BAILEY]

Re: "Vormance" - and sorry if this has been mentioned, skimming here -
but I take it as something to do with...
 
"vor" - in front of, fore in German, maybe other teutonic tongues
and 
"mance" - like "-mancy", divination etc.
 
Basically, foresight, scrying, prediction. Which totally fits with the
readings of this section of the novel as presaging 9/11, and themselves
seeming eerily presaged in the lead-up.

________________________________

From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On
Behalf Of David Casseres
Sent: Wednesday, 21 March 2007 10:27 AM
To: Monte Davis
Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: Re: ATDTDA (5.1) - The Etienne-Louis Malus


I can't help thinking of those many different versions of "The Mummy's
Curse," in which a group of scientists, against the earnest advice of
their guides, take an artifact out of its concealment and ship it home
for their museum.  And as soon as they get to New York, it breaks out of
its confinement and causes havoc. 

Dr. Vormance himself points out the parallel on p. 141.  And while I
can't find the text just now, isn't the "nunatak" described as pyramidal
in shape?

Just a wild-ass guess, but I think if you actually dug through all those
old movies, you'd eventually stumble across a name that looked like
"Vormance." 


On 3/20/07, Monte Davis <monte.davis at bms.com> wrote: 

	Robin:
	
	>>I'm sure we'll get into more detail, but the
	>>"Vormance Expedition" is Pynchon's vision of 9/11, moved into
the
	>>time zone and period ambience of Against the Day. 
	>>
	I'm with you that the *destruction of the city* has no other
resonance
	nearly as loud as 9/11, but I'm not sure that extends to the
expedition
	itself -- which as davemarc says, owes more to Shelley, Poe, and
Lovecraft. 
	
	Whatever we (or for that matter Al Qaeda or the conspiracy buff
on the
	corner) may advance as the "causes of" or "reasons  for" 9/11, I
don't
	see how they map to "scientists dig up and bring home an ancient

	artifact, suggestive of pre- or non-human origin,  that they
should have
	left untouched."
	
	



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