VL-IV: Chap7- Sisters of Kunoichi

[kelber at mindspring.com]

[My sister-in-law has offered me a free trip to Salt Lake City, graciously paid for with her frequent flyer miles, including the promise of seeing some films at the Sundance Film Festival.  No way in hell I'm turning that down!  I leave on Thursday, so I'm trying to get most of my notes on Chap 8 out sooner,rather than later]


Aggro World.  Aggro is apparently some sort of term used in World of Warcraft. Given that WOW was introduced in 1994, doesn’t have any relevance to VL.  The WOW-wiki I consulted thinks agro is short for aggrevation.  To me, it seems clear that Pynchon derives it from aggression, though it could also be a play on agriculture, the Sisters of Kunoichi Attentives being a rural martial arts retreat.  

A kunoichi is a female ninja.  According to our trusty Wikipedia, "They would usually disguise themselves as geisha, prostitutes, entertainers, fortunetellers, and the like to get very close to the enemy. It is thought that they would generally seduce the soon-to-be victim and when they get close enough, would poison them."  These aren't floosies with uzis, but then neither are the SKA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunoichi

Attentives: couldn't find any specific martial arts applications, but the word implies that this is a mental, rather than strictly physical undertaking.

Pepinares: cucumbers.  No mystery about what these sequestered sisters are doing with all those cucumbers.

Laura