ATDTDA (5.4) - Bad Ice After Midnight

[Carvill John]

Tore:

<< Some of these Tellurick Secrets are of course known by Captain Zhang, who 
likewise believes "the Planet Earth to be a---living Creature" (M&D, 602).

The ancient, conscious ice and the horrible odalisque of the snows - which 
may be a living meteorite - of AtD are but the latest manifestations, then, 
of this old Pynchon theme. And that they are connected with the previous 
novels becomes evident when one member of the Vormance expedition extolls 
the virtues of Iceland Spar and is met by this skeptical rejoinder from 
another member:

"Another Quest for another damned Magical Crystal. Horsefeathers, I say. 
Wish I'd known before I signed on. Say, you aren't one of these Sentient 
Rocksters, are you?" (AtD, 133)

The use of the term Sentient Rocksters leads us directly back to the same 
term in the passage about Felipe's rock from GR - one of relatively few 
overt allusions to GR in AtD, which surely underlines the importance of the 
theme.  >>


Yeah, Sentient Rocksters indeed.

The Vormance party are warned not to meddle with the 'object', which they 
dig out of what the Chums tell them is "far too regular to be the nunatak 
you imagine it."

A quick reminder from the ATD wiki:

"nunatak

Eskimo: 'land connected'; sentient rock;

Nunatak, in the Eskimo tongue literally "land connected," refers to a 
mountain peak tall enough to rise above the wastes of ice and snow that 
otherwise cover the terrain. Each, believed to have its own guardian spirit, 
is alive, an ark sheltering whatever lichens, mosses, flowers, insects, or 
even birds may be borne to it by the winds of the Region."


There's also that nice Pynchonian duality of 'land connected' and 'lonely 
peak'. And this from wikipedia which doesn't seem to have been copied across 
to the ATD wiki:

"A nunatak is the exposed summit of a ridge, mountain, or peak not covered 
with ice or snow within an ice field or glacier. The term is typically used 
in areas where a permananct ice sheet is present. Nunataks present readily 
identifiable landmark reference points in glaciers or ice caps and are often 
*named*."  [their italics]


Now, I assumed on first reading that whatever the Odalisque of the Snows 
was, it was something which was indigenous to Iceland (or Greenland or 
wherever we are), and either was, or was connected with, some sort of 
nunatak spirit. And it's clear that the Vormance party not only don't know 
what it is they're bringing back, but they don't even know what they *think* 
it is, someone says something along the lines of: "Vibe will sell it, 
whatever it is" (I don't have the book with me, sorry). But there's also 
mention of meteors and Fleetwood Vibe recalls joining up with Dr Alden 
Vormance and his quest to recover a meteroite.

Further, as Tore quoted:

"But who could have foreseen that the far-fallen object would prove
to harbor not merely a consciousness but an ancient purpose as well, and a
plan for carrying it out?"

So, that 'far-fallen', that would fit with the object being a meteorite, but 
not so well with the 'Figure' being a spirit that's indigenous to the region 
it was found in. So this is yet anotehr layer of confusion. Where is the 
'far' which the figure has fallen from?

Where to look for answers to these riddles?

Again, Tore quoted:

"Look to the Earth," she instructs him. "Belonging to her as I do, I know 
she lives, and that here upon this Volcanoe in the Sea, close to the Forces 
within, even you, Mopery, may learn of her, Tellurick Secrets you could 
never guess." (M&D, 172)

We know there's a lot about the telluric interior in both M&D and ATD, and 
the town of Telluride is a setting for some of ATD's action. Then there's 
the connection from Telluride to Cornell University, where as a student 
Pynchon was doubtless aware of Telluride House, I think this has been 
mentioned on the p-list before. A little snippet from wikipedia on Telluride 
House:

"In 1963, as a Professor at Cornell, Allan Bloom served as a faculty member 
of the Telluride Association. The organization aims to foster an everyday 
synthesis of self-governance and intellectual inquiry that enables students 
to develop their potential for leadership and public service. The students 
receive free room and board in the Telluride House on the Cornell University 
campus and run the house themselves, hiring staff, supervising maintenance 
and organizing seminars. Bloom had a major influence on several residents of 
Telluride House, including Paul Wolfowitz, one of the founding members of 
both the Project for the New American Century and the New Citizenship 
Project."

Wolfowitz eh? Talk about a figure emerging from the telluric interior, 
bringing fire, blood, death, and destruction. To hell we ride.........

Cheers
JC

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