IV: Chapter 19 - page 343

[Mark Kohut]

Laura,

O yea.....I HAD NOT even gone there mentally but thought you must be right and was going to think and look more.....

Later

--- On Mon, 1/4/10, kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:

> From: kelber at mindspring.com <kelber at mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: IV: Chapter 19 - page 343
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 3:16 PM
> You're probably right, Mark, though
> I'd prefer to believe Robin's joking explanation - a good
> Bossa Nova-playing sax is hard to find.
> 
> Still, though, I think there's got to be some significance
> in Pynchon's choice of Portola for the name of the
> club.  It's too close in meaning to Doc's last name, in
> the sense of "portal," for Pynchon not to have something
> specific in mind.
> 
> Laura
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Mark Kohut <markekohut at yahoo.com>
> 
> >
> >i think Pynchon saves Coy for almost religious, New
> Testament, JC reasons: "what you do for the least of them,
> etc. ", or whatever it is.
> >
> >I think Coy is 'saved' as one human exemplar of a lost
> preterite.....Doc's meaning in his life.....
> >
> >And for the child, the family---that later-works
> hopefulness---in TRP's oeuvre. 
> >
> >--- On Mon, 1/4/10, kelber at mindspring.com
> <kelber at mindspring.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> From: kelber at mindspring.com
> <kelber at mindspring.com>
> >> Subject: Re: IV: Chapter 19 - page 343
> >> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> >> Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 12:19 PM
> >> The mention of the obscure ship also
> >> echoes back to COL49 in the scene where Mike
> Fallopian's
> >> describing the origins of the Peter Pinguid
> Society -- in
> >> this case a Russian ship was involved.
> >> 
> >> Wondering if there's any significance between the
> Portola
> >> club and Sportello.  By virtue of even sitting in
> this
> >> power-bastion, negotiating, is Doc passing through
> some
> >> private portal -- in effect becoming an auxiliary
> member of
> >> the Golden Fang by doing business with them, even
> if it's to
> >> save a life?  Also, I've never understood Doc's
> >> personal zealotry in protecting Coy and his
> family. 
> >> Stealing heroin from and negotiating with the GF
> seems an
> >> excessively dangerous and risky undertaking to
> protect
> >> someone Doc barely knows, and a pretty morally
> compromised
> >> person at that.
> >> 
> >> Laura
> >> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> >From: Robin Landseadel <robinlandseadel at comcast.net>
> >> >
> >> >Doc is as struck [in his way] by this painting
> of the
> >> commencement of  
> >> >the Portola Expidition as Oedipa was struck by
> Varo's
> >> indices of  
> >> >tears. Again and again throughout the story
> our stony
> >> hero asks  
> >> >questions about what might have been if only .
> . .
> >> >
> >> >http://tinyurl.com/ydeg347
> >> >
> >> >    The Portola expedition, led by
> >> Gaspar de Portolà from July 14,
> >> >     1769 to January 24, 1770,
> >> was the first known recorded
> >> >    attempt by Spain to explore Alta
> >> California by land.[1] The
> >> >    purpose of the expedition was to
> >> secure bases in Upper
> >> >    California before the Russians.[2]
> >> The plan was to establish a
> >> >    base in the Port of Monterey (now
> >> Monterey, California) as
> >> >    described by Sebastián Vizcaíno.
> >> The expedition consisted of
> >> >    64 men in all, and approximately 200
> >> horses and mules. The
> >> >    expedition started at the Presidio
> >> of San Diego on July 14 and
> >> >    returned on January 24, 1770 —
> >> failing to recognize Monterey
> >> >    Bay.
> >> >
> >> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portola_expedition
> >> >
> >> 
> >
> >
> >
> 
>