VL 249 F1

[alice wellintown]

It's Nam talk. So, there isa rotation, from point to walking slack,
usually. The men walking slack need to protect the point, but here, the
point lady, DL, who has remained a maverick, and prefers, as she says, to
go out as Scout, or slow down the enemy as her troops retreat or move on,
has only a couple of slackers to walk slack for her, these boys are not
soldiers, they are not even sure if they want to stay in the fight or run
away. So, P applies the chaotic behavior of soldiers in Nam to the 24fps
"Tet", and we see Zoyd and his Buddy, loyal as an old hound dog, heading up
and away as the US pulls in not out, and all the freaky  people head for
the hills.
On Mon, Sep 30, 2013 at 5:06 AM, Max Nemtsov <max.nemtsov at gmail.com> wrote:

> thank you thank you everyone who replied
> yeah, I did that (checking contexts and finding a surprising number of war
> stories, which makes the expression what, a war lingo?) - and exactly after
> it i asked ))
> well, its somewhat clearer now
> Mx
>
> On 30.09.2013 3:33, Markekohut wrote:
>
>> Put " walking slack" into Google Books---a great way to search uses---and
>> you will see that it means walking behind the point person who is leading;
>> second in a line march of soldiers....lotsa examples from Vietnam diaries
>> and novels.
>> ....
>> it can be two persons, as a couple-three examples explicitly state..."
>> Both of us were walking slack together".
>>
>> I cannot copy and paste a link.
>>
>> Hope this helps, Max.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>
>> On Sep 29, 2013, at 6:46 PM, Bekah <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>>  It's really not clear,  imo,  because if Howie and Sledge are "loyal to
>>> the end" they might be "walking carefully" and "scoping out the situation."
>>>    But if they're "just in shock"  then I think they'd be more likely to be
>>> tagging along.
>>>
>>> Bekah
>>>
>>> On Sep 29, 2013, at 3:06 PM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>>>
>>>  Have to admit that I'm stumped by this too. Pynchon uses the phrase
>>>> again on p. 318, in a similar fashion, that also doesn't illuminate. If
>>>> it's a reference to slack (as opposed to tight) rope walking, it would mean
>>>> "walking carefully," I guess. Could it mean that Howie and Sledge are
>>>> walking carefully ahead of her, to scope out the situation? That's about
>>>> all I can figure. Sorry I can't be more helpful. Anyone?
>>>>
>>>> Laura
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>
>>>>> From: Max Nemtsov <max.nemtsov at gmail.com>
>>>>> Sent: Sep 29, 2013 10:56 AM
>>>>> To: pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>>>> Subject: VL 249 F1
>>>>>
>>>>> guys, could someone with a good ear please help the stumped translator?
>>>>>
>>>>> Vineland, p 249:
>>>>> DL in the meantime had come straggling back to Berkeley, to the
>>>>> workshop
>>>>> off San Pablo, with Howie and Sledge, either loyal to the end or just
>>>>> in
>>>>> shock, walking slack for her, and found they were just about all that
>>>>> was left of 24fps.
>>>>>
>>>>> "walking slack for her" - the exact shade of meaning? i'm suddenly at a
>>>>> loss with the preposition: do they just tag along - or do they cover
>>>>> her
>>>>> back somehow?
>>>>> thank you
>>>>> Mx
>>>>> -
>>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?**list=pynchon-l<http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l>
>>>>>
>>>> -
>>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?**list=pynchon-l<http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l>
>>>>
>>> -
>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?**list=pynchon-l<http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l>
>>>
>>
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?**list=pynchon-l<http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20130930/0f459181/attachment.html>