Y'r Ob'd't S'v'nt

[Monte Davis]

​With that ever-modulating relationship in mind... In M&D I love best an
exchange just before they depart for America. Mason recalls his uneasy
state of mind on their first outing, when the encounter with the l'Grand
began to reveal conspiracies behind conspiracies and taint the "purity" he
sought in the transit of Venus.

​" ​
‘...not at war
​
with the sciences,’— Poh. In Plain Text, that Brass Voice announc’d,—
​
‘The Business of the World is Trade and Death
​
, and you must engage
​
​with that unpleasantness, as the price of your not-at-all-assur’d
​
Moment of Purity.— Fool.’ ”

​   "​
Eeh! Tha were trans-lating all thah’ French Jabber? hardly a bonny

Sentiment, Mr. Mason.”

  “Mr. Dixon, I am cerrtain that you, as the unwaverring Larrk of the
Sanguine, will find us a way past that.”

...which connects to the single line I remember most often, a joke that's a
Proverb: "If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have
to worry about answers" (GR 251)

It's perfect for that moment (one of Slothrop's cascading revelations that
Jamf, IG Farben, Shell Mex, and CHURCHILL'S FKIN SON-IN-LAW are All In On
It Together.)

It perfectly encapsulates all the McGuffins of GR. Mysterious erections,
mysterious A4 components, mysteriously missing A4s themselves, mysterious
arrangements and cross-purposes (or are they?) among Zone wheeler-dealers,
multinationals, WWII "winners" and "losers"... WWII itself... aren't
irruptions into history, mysteries that require explanation, but Everything
Going Along Quite Nicely As Planned Thankyouforasking.

It's the perfect summation of all the quests in all of Pynchon, from
Stencil's to Maxine's. And for me at least, it's a funny/cautionary guide
in trying to understand the world outside the books, too.

On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 1:43 PM, Steven Koteff <steviekoteff at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Yes, the escalating deferentiality/cordiality/abbreviality of the
> sign-offs.
>
> On Jan 28, 2016, at 12:30 PM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What's the referent for "this joke" -- the exchange of letters on pp.
> 12-13?
>
> On Thu, Jan 28, 2016 at 12:37 PM, Steven Koteff <steviekoteff at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Friends, I think about this joke from M & D almost every time I sign any
>> kind of correspondence. It is with me every day. I have so much dumb
>> affection for it. Not his most elaborate gag, but a personal favorite
>> nonetheless.
>>
>> Any other Pynch jokes you think about every day?
>>
>> Love,
>> SK
>>
>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>
>
>
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