Tressell, Ellison, Pynchon: Emulsion & Petrifying Liquids or Painting the Roses Red

[alice wellintown]

I do like the young scholar's Dis on Film in American Lit, and
especially, as I said, the read of GR as a novel that, like MASH, is a
critique of American war in South East Asia, in Vietnam. And, while
the claim that one can't get GR unless one gets the use of film is a
bit much, it's only a bit much, and anywayz, worth reading with a
little charity becuase the rest of the young scholar's work is very
fine indeed.

In any event,  before we get to painting the roses red (and if you've
not seen Disney's Alice, the cold war Alice, check it out), and the
irony of socialist and communist ideas in the authors mentioned, they
are, again,  Tressell, Ellison, and Pynchon, I want to say that I
decided to read RTP because a P-Lister said that Frank, a character in
RTP, seems related ot Frank in AGTD. I must admit that I was a bit
skeptical at first, but as it is a great work of art, what could be
the harm in reading it.

I want first to take us to a scene in that novel:

By the end of April nearly all the old hands were back at work, and
several casual hands had also been taken on, the Semi-drunk being one
of the number. In addition to these, Misery had taken on a number of
what he called 'lightweights', men who were not really skilled
workmen, but had picked up sufficient knowledge of the simpler parts
of the trade to be able to get over it passably. These were paid
fivepence or fivepence-halfpenny, and were employed in preference to
those who had served their time, because the latter wanted more money
and therefore were only employed when absolutely necessary. Besides
the lightweights there were a few young fellows called improvers, who
were also employed because they were cheap.

Crass now acted as colourman, having been appointed possibly because
he knew absolutely nothing about the laws of colour. As most of the
work consisted of small jobs, all the paint and distemper was mixed up
at the shop and sent out ready for use to the various jobs.

Sawkins or some of the other lightweights generally carried the
heavier lots of colour or scaffolding, but the smaller lots of colour
or such things as a pair of steps or a painter's plank were usually
sent by the boy, whose slender legs had become quite bowed since he
had been engaged helping the other philanthropists to make money for
Mr Rushton.

Crass's work as colourman was simplified, to a certain extent, by the
great number of specially prepared paints and distempers in all
colours, supplied by the manufacturers ready for use. Most of these
new-fangled concoctions were regarded with an eye of suspicion and
dislike by the hands, and Philpot voiced the general opinion about
them one day during a dinner-hour discussion when he said they might
appear to be all right for a time, but they would probably not last,
because they was mostly made of kimicles.

One of these new-fashioned paints was called 'Petrifying Liquid', and
was used for first-coating decaying stone or plaster work. It was also
supposed to be used for thinning up a certain kind of patent
distemper, but when Misery found out that it was possible to thin the
latter with water, the use of 'Petrifying Liquid' for that purpose was
discontinued. This 'Petrifying Liquid' was a source of much merriment
to the hands. The name was applied to the tea that they made in
buckets on some of the jobs, and also to the four-ale that was
supplied by certain pubs.

One of the new inventions was regarded with a certain amount of
indignation by the hands: it was a white enamel, and they objected to
it for two reasons--one was because, as Philpot remarked, it dried so
quickly that you had to work like greased lightning; you had to be all
over the door directly you started it.

The other reason was that, because it dried so quickly, it was
necessary to keep closed the doors and windows of the room where it
was being used, and the smell was so awful that it brought on fits of
dizziness and sometimes vomiting. Needless to say, the fact that it
compelled those who used it to work quickly recommended the stuff to
Misery.

As for the smell, he did not care about that; he did not have to
inhale the fumes himself.