TMOP Chapter 9 - Nechaev

[Bekah]

I think "relieve myself" just means relieve my own mind,  the  
inquisitive imperative - the *need,*  to know or experience - like  
the curiosity of a jealous lover or a mountain climber.

Bekah



On Oct 19, 2008, at 2:00 PM, Mark Kohut wrote:

> 2.  Is the "relief" D seeks a quest for evidence to prove the Finn's
> charge false, so that he can wash his hands of further action (not
> seek justice for a murdered son)?
>
> 3.  Or is the "relief" D seeks a quest for evidence that Pavel didn't
> commit suicide ( that he WAS murdred), and thus D's neglect was not
> the cause of his son's death?
>
> Yes, why 'relief"?...(I dunno.)
>
>
> --- On Fri, 10/17/08, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> Subject: TMOP Chapter 9 - Nechaev
>> To: "P-list" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 9:55 AM
>> TMoP Chapter 9 – Some initial thoughts…
>>
>> D. sees the "plump, almost spherical" Finn with a
>> tall thin woman on
>> the street.  He surreptitiously follows them, and after
>> almost losing
>> them is directed to the blind alley entrance of their
>> apartment
>> building.  (Bind alleys?  Hmmm...)
>>
>> D. tells the Finn he want to pursue her charge that the
>> police
>> murdered Pavel.  But he wants to do this "Not in any
>> spirit of
>> vengefulness.  I am inquiring for my own relief.  I mean,
>> in order to
>> relieve myself."
>>
>> D's stated motive strikes the Finn (and this reader) as
>> odd for a
>> number of reasons:
>>
>> 1.  Vengeance is the namesake of Nechaev's movement.  A
>> discussion in
>> this dwelling cannot avoid this spirit.
>>
>> 2.  Is the "relief" D seeks a quest for evidence
>> to prove the Finn's
>> charge false, so that he can wash his hands of further
>> action (not
>> seek justice for a murdered son)?
>>
>> 3.  Or is the "relief" D seeks a quest for
>> evidence that Pavel didn't
>> commit suicide ( that he WAS murdred), and thus D's
>> neglect was not
>> the cause of his son's death?
>>
>> Amidst this discussion with the Finn, with the tall woman
>> in the
>> background, D has a vision of Pavel and his
>> "chosen" bride:
>>
>> "But who can this bride be?  Can she be the tall young
>> woman (nearly
>> as tall as Pavel) with the piercing blue eyes?"
>>
>> And then:
>>
>> "the tall girl leaves the room.  The rustle of her
>> dress and a waft of
>> lavender as she passes awake in him an unexpected flutter
>> of desire.
>> Desire for what?  For the girl herself?  Surely not – or
>> not only.
>> […]  Something to do […] with finding himself in
>> Pavel's world,
>> Pavel's erotic surround."
>>
>> Later the tall woman invites him to sit with her at a small
>> table and
>> then aggressively twice nudges his foot with hers,
>> "instep to instep."
>>  And:
>>
>> "A disturbing excitement creeps over him.  Like chess
>> […]
>> Deliberateness and tawdriness [because these advances are
>> being
>> witnessed by a child] […] Where could they have learned
>> so much about
>> him, about his desires?"
>>
>> But moments later, when:
>>
>> "he has a felling he knows more than he wants to know.
>>  The foot
>> [becomes] […] No longer a a foot but a boot"
>> [notice the near rhyme
>> of foot & boot]
>>
>> And immediately the vision of Pavel and his bride returns,
>> with the
>> bride "obscured."  The implication of all of
>> these visions and scenes
>> becomes clear.  Do you know where this is leading?  D
>> knows, but
>> represses the clear reality before him:  "Pavel would
>> not be playing
>> these games."
>>
>> Clearly Pavel and Nechaev were lovers.
>>
>> More next week…
>
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