Motorman's Glove...

[David Kipen]

I forget if I've ever seen this anywhere, but you know the passage on -- help me, Google Books! -- page 741, where Pynchon refers to "pockmark fags with breath smelling like the inside of a motorman's glove"? The phrase is a loving swipe from The Big Sleep on -- ditto! -- page 43, where Marlowe "woke up with a motorman's glove in my mouth..."

All finest,
David

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] On Behalf Of Carvill, John
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 10:58 AM
To: Robin Landseadel; pynchon-l at waste.org
Subject: RE: Preparing the IV

Yep, the detective novel as Quest Narrative, and Pynchon's Quest
Narratives, not to mention all that Chandleresque Lew Basnight stuff in
ATD, made me wonder why the Penguin Press Release said IV found Pynchon
"working in an unaccustomed genre". Not unacusstomed at all... A-and,
that 'had pushed the vizor of his helmet back to be sociable' could
almost be a Pynchon quip.


                The main hallway of the Stemwood place was two stories
        high. Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop
of
        Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel
        showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to
        a tree and didn't have any clothes on but some very long and
        convenient hair. The knight had pushed the vizor of his helmet
        back to be sociable, and he was fiddling with the knots on the
        ropes that tied the lady to the tree and not getting anywhere. I
        stood there and thought that if I lived in the house, I would
        sooner or later have to climb up there and help him. He didn't
        seem to be really trying.

        Raymond Chandler: "The Big Sleep"