The word "So." (Curmudgeon Corner)

[ish mailian]

The influence of Conrad on P, the use of doubles, for example,
different from the double stuff of Dickens and Dostoyevsky, and the
modernist interest in the limits of language and the lost certitude
and conviction of moderns, when, it [was] impossible to say just what
[was meant], and when Prufrockian whimpers of hollow men shored the
ruins of the foundering west on the shores of the psychological
descent of man, is evident in one Conrad story P was very familiar
with: the secret sharer.

This is not the place to enlarge upon the sensations of a man who
feels for the first time a ship move under his feet to his own
independent word. In my case they were not unalloyed. I was not wholly
alone with my command; for there was that stranger in my cabin. Or
rather, I was not completely and wholly with her. Part of me was
absent. That mental feeling of being in two places at once affected me
physically as if the mood of secrecy had penetrated my very soul.
Before an hour had elapsed since the ship had begun to move, having
occasion to ask the mate (he stood by my side) to take a compass
bearing of the pagoda, I caught myself reaching up to his ear in
whispers. I say I caught myself, but enough had escaped to startle the
man. I can’t describe it otherwise than by saying that he shied. A
grave, preoccupied manner, as though he were in possession of some
perplexing intelligence, did not leave him henceforth. A little later
I moved away from the rail to look at the compass with such a stealthy
gait that the helmsman noticed it—and I could not help noticing the
unusual roundness of his eyes. These are trifling instances, though
it’s to no commander’s advantage to be suspected of ludicrous
eccentricities. But I was also more seriously affected. There are to a
seaman certain words, gestures, that should in given conditions come
as naturally, as instinctively as the winking of a menaced eye. A
certain order should spring on to his lips without thinking; a certain
sign should get itself made, so to speak, without reflection. But all
unconscious alertness had abandoned me. I had to make an effort of
will to recall myself back (from the cabin) to the conditions of the
moment. I felt that I was appearing an irresolute commander to those
people who were watching me more or less critically.

On Sun, Sep 18, 2016 at 9:48 AM, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com> wrote:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qTKq1gO3Ak
>
> On Sun, Sep 18, 2016 at 9:21 AM, ish mailian <ishmailian at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Are your questions about speech or writing? Writing dialogue?
>>
>> Although the question about the rule for comma use implies that you
>> are talking about writing, I can't be sure.
>>
>>  In any event,  so ... in American English there are rules that guide
>> the use of punctuation, including the use of the comma as an internal
>> punctuation, but these "rules" are neither hard nor fast and are often
>> bent or broken by, well, practitioners of the Elements of Style.
>>
>> see wh movement
>>
>> see filler
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filler_(linguistics)
>>
>> http://www.bartleby.com/141/
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 11:17 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> And "So" should always be followed by a comma, right?
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thursday, September 15, 2016, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> So is "So" a frame or official start of a statement? Could it easily be
>>>> replaced by "Lo?"
>>>>
>>>> On Thursday, September 15, 2016, Keith Davis <kbob42 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> So, you wanted to be a musician....
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 10:41 AM, kelber at mindspring.com
>>>>> <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There's the Yiddish "nu," but in my experience, it's usually combined
>>>>>> with "so." Nu, so ...  or So, nu ...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Laura
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> A--And........another bit of wonderful ingenuity from TRP...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 8:38 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ummm...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 7:28 AM, Protomen <protomen at protonmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Well, I thought it had always been so...
>>>>>>>> Say, what other words would you sacrifice as openers? Dig back to
>>>>>>>> ifaith, hwaet?
>>>>>>>> Yo why not steal one from another language, French had adonc, orça,
>>>>>>>> now "du coup" (much-maligned I'm sure)... or maybe just cut your losses.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> -------- Original Message --------
>>>>>>>> Subject: The word "So." (Curmudgeon Corner)
>>>>>>>> Local Time: 15 septembre 2016 4:13 AM
>>>>>>>> UTC Time: 15 septembre 2016 02:13
>>>>>>>> From: fqmorris at gmail.com
>>>>>>>> To: P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Is it just me, or has "So," become as bad as "awesome? I hate awesome.
>>>>>>>> "So" is a curiosity.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> David Morris
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> www.innergroovemusic.com
>>>>>
>>>
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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l