Also Ch 10, the appearance of the inverted star

[Mark Kohut]

History, Western history, World history, US history within it is, YES,
Pynchon's heart.



On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 4:20 AM, jochen stremmel <jstremmel at gmail.com> wrote:
> And Mark K., I found a bit for you and me, the third sentence of the essay -
> thank you again, Becky! -: "Pynchon is at heart a historical novelist but he
> also frequently employs devices from fantasy, science-fiction and cartoons
> (one might mention albino alligators or sentient light bulbs, not to mention
> android ducks)" - or the other Learnéd Dog. (And that ominous "at heart"
> again.
>
> 2015-02-23 7:26 GMT+01:00 David Ewers <dsewers at comcast.net>:
>>
>> Amen to allah this!
>>
>> On Feb 22, 2015, at 9:12 PM Jolly good day we are having, Becky Lindroos
>> wrote:
>>
>> > On Feb 22, 2015, at 7:51 PM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> This chapter contains the first appearance of the ominous inverted star
>> >> and it is associated with  armed vigilante racism, the iron  fist inside the
>> >> age of reason and freedom.-
>> >> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>> >
>> > Yes,  thank you,  Joseph - I have a feeling that's kind of important.
>> > I mentioned that in Chapter 10,   but it was at the end of the page 101 post
>> > and my comment was really, really brief - too brief.   Here's a picture of
>> > the inverted star:
>> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Inverted_pentacle.PNG
>> >
>> >
>> > And here's a bit more (and this is pretty good):
>> > From     https://www.pynchon.net/owap/article/view/77/165  -
>> > (and then click pdf or html - I did it - it's fine - an Orbit site -
>> >
>> > "Something More Than a Rifle": Firearms in and around Thomas Pynchon's
>> > Mason & Dixon"
>> > by Umberto Rossi  (Independent Researcher)
>> >
>> > The gun appears when the effects of the transit begin to fade away; when
>> > "Masters and Mistresses resume the abuse of their Slaves, [...] [r]iding in
>> > and out of Town now may often be observ'd White Horsemen, carrying long
>> > Rifles styl'd 'Sterloops,' each with an inverted Silver Star upon the
>> > Cheek-Piece" (101.10). No doubt the image of the armed White Horsemen
>> > suggests several ideas: the threat of violence, colonial domination, a hint
>> > at the four horsemen of the Apocalypse (one of whom does ride a white horse
>> > [Revelation 6:1-2]). As for the inverted star, it is--according to Éliphas
>> > Lévi, the 19th Century occult author and magician--a symbol of evil and black
>> > magic (Lévi 69). The surrealistic "summer of love" of 1761, plus the
>> > Biblical and magic symbolism may well induce readers to think that the
>> > Sterloop rifle is no more than one of Pynchon's inventions, like the
>> > Trystero or the Chums of Chance.
>> >
>> > The essay goes on with more info from Chapter 34 (Pennsylvania)  where
>> > Mason and Dixon "ev'ry now and then" see a rifle with an inverted star - the
>> > sterloop and all it could mean.     Rossi's article  has about a full page
>> > on it.
>> >
>> > Becky
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > I copied what I said below - also,  the graphic of what is called an
>> > "inverted pentacle."
>> >
>> > "Riding in and out of Town now may often be observ'd White Horsemen,
>> > carrying long Rifles styl'd "Sterloops," each with an inverted Silver
>> > Star
>> > upon the Cheek-Piece."  (p. 101)
>> > I think "Sterloop" means "star loop" in English -
>> > http://mymemory.translated.net/t/Dutch/English/what-is-ster--loop
>> >
>> > I think for Americans this "White Horsemen with Rifles"  will have
>> > resonance of the KKK,  and Pynchon is American and this is an American
>> > novel
>> > and I suspect this is deliberate -  so -  why is it there?
>> > https://www.pynchon.net/owap/article/view/77/165
>> >
>> > Both inverted stars and "sterloops"  come up again much later in the
>> > novel.
>> >
>> > -
>> > Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>
>
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l