Atdtda29: Life in the automatic restaurant, 808-810

[Paul Nightingale]

Cyprian meeting Ratty in Graz, with "an impression of sympathy each was
ready to accept without misgivings", papering over any differences that
might remain (leading to an acknowledgement of the frailty of "youthful
ideas" as the section ends on 810.

What they have in common, it seems, is suspicion of Theign. In the previous
section anti-Semitism is a means to an end, "a source of energy ..." etc
(807); here, on perhaps a more modest level, Cyprian and Theign are united
in the anti-Theign camp (they are later joined, in his absence, by Vlado,
who "can be counted on", 810). Subsequently: "It certainly seems as if both
the Emperor and the Sultan were recognizing in Russia a common enemy" (809,
the emphasis on "seems as if" indicating his lack of authority as a narrator
when not gossiping about Theign).

Ratty notes that Cyprian is "itching to be filled in" (808). As so often,
history is expressed as discourse, Ratty noting "the despair of
bureaucrats", among whom he numbers himself: the free-for-all in "the
boardinghouse dining-room of Europe", as he puts it, is contrasted to the
orderly manipulated self-management implied by "an automatic restaurant",
with the limited menu dictating choice as the section ends on 810. However,
the sequence of events he describes/predicts on 809 is indeed orderly
(leading to the irony of "the Blutwurst Special" on 810); and what Ratty
bemoans is his own limited perspective. Speaking of Theign, he adds with
hindsight: "... one keeps telling oneself, by now a little wistfully" (808).
And then, if Ratty doesn't know what Theign is about, neither can he
second-guess Emperor or Sultan: "Neither gentleman talks to me ..." etc
(809). Those bureaucrats left out of the loop are reduced to sporting
wagers: the "even money" on Theign (808) and the "European Apocalypse Pools
... as to the date of a general mobilization ..." etc (809).

The latter part of the section deals with plotting at a personal level, with
the reintroduction of Theign, and Yashmeen's fate juxtaposed to that of
Europe. Speaking of "this Bosnian pickle" (808) Ratty goes back "nearly five
hundred years" (809). And then, "having the lights brought up for a bit, to
see how fearfully much is in play" (810), the transition to Cyprian's likely
fate ("I would intervene, if I could": again, helplessness) signals a brief
flashback to Cambridge: "Ratty was in full gaze now ..." etc, leading to the
confession of their respective "youthful ideas".