Re: IVIV: chapter seven—Eel Trovatore

[Mark Kohut]

Revenge is a dish best served cold......

--- On Tue, 9/22/09, rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: IVIV: chapter seven—Eel Trovatore
> To: "Robin Landseadel" <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
> Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 3:24 PM
> Il Travatore being the ultimate story
> of gypsy revenge, maybe a sly
> joke by Pynchon about the tricks such sustinence will play
> on one's
> internal organs, acid stomach so forth?
> 
> rich
> 
> 
> 
> On 9/22/09, Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
> wrote:
> > On Sep 21, 2009, at 7:48 PM, Bekah wrote:
> >
> >> It's very odd how different parts of IV appeal to
> different people
> >> here.   Imagine me looking up the
> highways and race & beach-music
> >> stuff while others are more into the lit-crit or
> sociology or
> >> politics or musicology or films.    I
> really want to check out the
> >> restaurants someone asked about.
> >>
> >> Bekah
> >> who drove a 1963 VW with lots of bug and flower
> decals on it.
> >
> > Well, if you're into Pynchonian menus like I am, the
> Belaying Pin is
> > your kind of eatery:
> >
> >     ''I'm Chlorinda, what'll it be," A
> waitress in a combination Nehru
> >     jacket and Hawaiian-print shirt,
> just long enough to qualify as a
> >     minidress, and with a set of vibes
> that didn't help sharpen
> >     anybody's appetite.
> >
> >     "Ordinarily I'd go for the
> Admiral's Luau," Sauncho more
> >     diffident than Doc expected, "but
> today I guess I'll just have the
> >      house anchovy loaf to
> start and, urn, the devil-ray filet, can I get
> >      that deep-fried in beer
> batter?"
> >
> >     "Your stomach isn't it. How about
> you, l'il buddy?"
> >
> >     "Mmm!" Doc scanning the menu, ''All
> this good eatin'!" while
> >     Sauncho kicked him under the
> table.
> >
> >     "If my husband dared to eat any of
> this shit, I'd throw him out on
> >     his ass and drop all his Iron
> Butterfly albums out the window
> >     after him."
> >
> >     "Trick question," Doc said hastily.
> "The, uh, jellyfish teriyaki
> >     croquettes I guess? and the Eel
> Trovatore?"
> >
> >     ''And to drink, gentlemen. You'll
> want to be good and fucked up
> >     by the time this arrives. I'd
> recommend Tequila Zombies, they
> >     work pretty quick." She stalked
> away scowling.
> >
> > I guess the first thing to note here is that attempt
> at a miniskirt—
> > distaff members of the list ought to have a field-day
> with the risible
> > dress code of this book.  There's lots of outfits
> designed for "free
> > love" the kind of romantic engagement that usually
> leads us to:
> >
> >     . . . the unspoken footnote that
> the word* these days was being
> >     way too overused. Anybody with any
> claim to hipness "loved"
> >     everybody, not to mention other
> useful applications, like
> >     hustling people into sexual
> activities they might not, given the
> >     choice, much car to engage in.
> >     IV, 5
> >
> > * Have you heard? The word is "Love."
> >
> > Mind you, this scene follows immediately after the
> line—
> >
> >     "what old karma lies unavenged,
> waiting its moment."
> >
> > . . . and note how often vengeance in Pynchon's
> novel's appears in the
> > form of diabolical things to be eaten, such as the way
> Brigadier
> > Pudding's old karma worked itself out.
> >
> > Then there's Chlorinda—it's usually spelled
> Clorinda. The name comes
> > from a Latin expression meaning "Brilliant." Adding
> the "H"
> > contributes Chlorine from which we can derive
> hydrochloric acid,
> > something that  ''All this good eatin'!" 
> will doubtless increase the
> > level of. Chlorinda is yet another brief walk-on but
> it's hard to
> > imagine anyone more brilliantly acidic than this
> waitress.
> >
> > Of course the "l'il buddy?" not only sends us back to
> Gilligan's Isle,
> > but connects Doc to  Gilligan, thus connecting
> Doc to one of the
> > better known Potheads in Hollywood, Bob Denver.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
>