AtDTdA (9): 242

[Jasper]

242 Lew meets Renfrew at Cambridge (continued)

Page 242:
/unheimlich/
German: uncanny, sinister.
*wiki*

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railway lines
1) "history emerges from geography"
I.e. the shape of the land, its rivers, mountains, deserts, food supply 
dictate where people may live, and how they must live (did I read that 
in Guns Germs and Steel?)

2) "the primary geography of the planet is the rails"
To a lesser extent geography impacts where the rails may go, but since 
cities predate the railways, and since the railways must connect cities, 
human effort must aid in conquering unsuitable geography: bridges must 
be built, tunnels dynamited, etc.

So what emerges from the rails?

"a coefficient in the planet's unwritten equation"
"the prophet of /Eisenbahntuchtigkeit/, or rail-worthiness"
"the matrix of meaningful points"

A rail network connecting nodes of importance, a mapping of perceived 
value or usefulness to the mappers.  Lew tunes out at this point, right 
when it's getting interesting.

See also p. 689 starting where Renfrew says, "The railroads seem to be 
the key."
See also p. 930 where Frank hates the railroad.

Today's kick-ass essay question:
Discuss the significance of the railway lines to Renfrew/Werfner, AtD, 
and/or Pynchon.  Pay special attention to the idea of "flows of power"; 
Renfrew says this can be expressed as "massive troop movements", but 
note also that railways help facilitate trade, and strong trading 
partners rarely go to war with one another.  (Of course they often team 
up and go to war against some other team....)  Also consider the idea of 
rail-worthiness.  Who decides?  Super-scholars may choose to make 
connections with Pynchon's other work (COL49 and M&D come immediately to 
mind).

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"It might have been the residual effects of Cyclomite abuse, but Lew 
swore he could hear an invisible roomful of laughter, and some applause 
as well."