Bodine origins

kelber at mindspring.com kelber at mindspring.com
Thu Jul 11 14:09:55 CDT 2013


The Boudin family has no relationship to Bodine's origins or persona. But I couldn't help but think of this family when I first encountered Pig Bodine's name (and ever after. Call them counter-culture co-referents, or fellow travelers to whatever subversive connotations Pig Bodine might have.

Leonard Boudin, noted progressive civil rights lawyer (1912- 1989), famous for his support of leftist causes and defendants; successfully arguing  Supreme Court cae Lamont vs. Postmaster General (more Pynchon resonance).

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

and his daughter, Kathy Boudin (1943- ), of the Weather Underground (from inception, bomb explosion, fugitive status, capture, prison sentence, release, professorship). 

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

An odd boudin sausage reference: my mother got an invitation to some sort of antiwar upscale fundraising dinner party. The card had the slogan: "Boudin's, not Bombs!" Given that Kathy Boudin was wanted for her involvement with the bomb incident, it seemed a poor choice of words.

Laura

-----Original Message-----
>From: Max Nemtsov <max.nemtsov at gmail.com>
>Sent: Jul 11, 2013 11:44 AM
>To: pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Bodine origins
>
>dear colleagues,
>
>could anyone point me in the right direction, please? has anyone written 
>on the origins of Pig Bodine's name extensively?
>
>while working on GR russian translation, we looked at several versions 
>and theories, including the ones cited in Patrick Hurley's Pynchon 
>Character Names dictionary, and Charles Hollander's advise was certainly 
>instrumental to us in the work, too, but recently i've found an 
>interesting parallel with Joyce's Ulysses, and i haven't been able to 
>locate if it'd been covered by anyone before (or, maybe, i'm "inventing 
>the bicycle" here)
>
>to wit: in episode 16 of Ulysses (Eumaeus) , when Bloom and Stephen 
>spend some time in cabmen's shelter, they strike a conversation with one 
>of the characters there, a redbearded sailor named D.B. Murphy of 
>Carrigaloe, who seems to be fond of telling tall tales and seafaring 
>yarns. at some point (line 489), he produces a postcard from his pocket, 
>to prove the point of him witnessing Peruvian man-eating habits, which 
>of course doesn't prove anything, but is addressed to: "Senor A 
>Boudin... etc." who is, apparently not him at all. now, we even of 
>limited French, know that boudin is blood sausage (and Don Gifford in 
>his Ulysses Annotated glosses it as such). all this (and a weird postal 
>connection of course) made me think if that D.B. Murphy (meaning 
>"sea-fighter", according to Gifford) may be a literary ancestor of the 
>entire TRP's Bodine clan.
>
>what do you think? will appreciate your suggestions
>Mx




More information about the Pynchon-l mailing list