ATD, page 609 question/discussion

[Mark Kohut]

I will add this, perhaps extraneous, perhaps wrong (of course), additional gloss....it is in AtD that Pynchon shows us
the clearest meanings of "home"...among other meanings, the ancient European villages where one was anchored to
a place in deep history.
 
Suburban trains can not bring one into any shelter, a condition being at home....and re Lew's projection of the state of grace...remember when he felt it....after an explosion [like stepping acros] in which he suddenly knew things were as they were...a condition of being at home in the world, maybe?...
 
On Friday, April 18, 2014 1:46 PM, "kelber at mindspring.com" <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
  
The state of grace eludes not just Lew, but all the pale, suburban husbands. Going home to one's family in the burbs after a soul-less day at work is anything but enriching. The place they'd like to go is nowhere on the map. Actually, the first episode of Mad Men is a nice illustration of this.

Laura

-----Original Message----- 
>From: Monte Davis 
>Sent: Apr 18, 2014 1:17 PM 
>To: Alex Nunez 
>Cc: “pynchon-l at waste.org“ 
>Subject: Re: ATD, page 609 question/discussion 
>
>
>I read it more literally. Lew is leaving TWIT's Chunxton Crescent (London) premises for the suburb of Stuffed Edge; "evening is gathering," and at the train station he sees weary commuters. He projects onto them his own family-less-ness and need for grace. 
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>On Fri, Apr 18, 2014 at 12:45 AM, Alex Nunez <penarecords at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>"The first pale husbands of the evening stood waiting for suburban trains never meant to arrive at any destination on the rail map—as if, to be brought to any shelter this night, one would first have to step across into some region of grace hitherto undefined." (Page 609)
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>>I'm confused as to the meaning of this sentence/image in Against The Day, page 609. The only way I can make sense of it is that the "pale husbands" are grieving widows waiting for the return of their lost, departed loved ones and the only way they can return to them is by making a step across into some otherworldly region/space/dimension/etc. Anyone care to offer some help/an interpretation?  
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