AtD translation: in a great heavenwide twinkling they came / Jesus-rapt ascensionary

[Mike Jing]

Right. That much I have gathered.

So here "a club of ascensionaries" is just another term for an aeronautics
club, nothing to do with religion, is that right?


On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 5:19 AM, bulb <bulb at vheissu.net> wrote:

> Someone going up in the air. The catholics have Ascension Holy Days:
> Virgin Mary going to Heaven etc.
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> Michel.
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> *From:* owner-pynchon-l at waste.org [mailto:owner-pynchon-l at waste.org] *On
> Behalf Of *Mike Jing
> *Sent:* zondag 3 december 2017 5:17
> *To:* Pynchon Mailing List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> *Subject:* Re: AtD translation: in a great heavenwide twinkling they came
> / Jesus-rapt ascensionary
>
>
>
> OK, I thought I understood, but...
>
>
> The word "ascensionary" occurs again on page 18:
>
> P18.17-22   Darby, recognizing them as members of Bindlestiffs of the Blue
> A.C., a club of ascensionaries from Oregon, with whom the Chums of Chance
> had often flown on joint manœuvres, broke into a welcoming smile,
> especially for Miss Penelope (“Penny”) Black, whose elfin appearance
> disguised an intrepid spirit and unfaltering will, and on whom he had had a
> “case” for as long as he could remember. “Hello, Riley, Zip . . . Penny,”
> he added shyly.
>
> What does the word "ascensionary" mean here exactly? I also couldn't find
> it in the dictionary.
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> Are they religious zealots, or something else entirely?
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> On Sat, Dec 2, 2017 at 10:58 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Understood. Thanks a lot, Jochen, Mark, Monte, and Becky.
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> And sorry for the late replay.
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> On Sat, Nov 25, 2017 at 12:30 PM, Becky Lindroos <bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
> “… in a great heavenwide twinkling…”
>
>  “ heavenwide" - all over the sky they came "twinkling” (like) little
> lights going from bright to faint
>
>  “...bearing all degrees of aviator from laboratory skeptic to Jesus-rapt
> ascensionary…”
>
> The aviators ranged from serious skeptics to religious-like true believers.
>
> Becky
> https://beckylindroos.wordpress.com
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>
> > On Nov 25, 2017, at 4:40 AM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I connect the twinkling to the aeronauts' arrival  "long after sundown":
> they are high enough to catch sunlight coming from, below the terrestrial
> watcher's horizon, so are as bright as stars against a darkening sky.
> >
> >  Ascensionary <--> skeptic = the range of context and expectation, from
> millennial/transcendent to "merely" technological, that people brought to
> early flight.  Compare the range vis-a-vis IT today...
> >
> > https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b8/7f/6d/b87f6da02d3eb0af6e40501486b3e4
> cf.jpg
> >
> > On Fri, Nov 24, 2017 at 9:51 PM, Mike Jing <
> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
> > P14.13-25   Since that morning, before the first light, a gay,
> picnic-going throng of aeromaniacs of one sort and another had been
> continuing all day now to volà-voile in, till long after sundown, through
> the midwestern summer evening whose fading light they were most of them too
> busy quite to catch the melancholy of, their wings both stationary and
> a-flap, gull and albatross and bat-styled wings, wings of gold-beaters’
> skin and bamboo, wings laboriously detailed with celluloid feathers, in a
> great heavenwide twinkling they came, bearing all degrees of aviator from
> laboratory skeptic to Jesus-rapt ascensionary, accompanied often by
> sky-dogs, who had learned how to sit still, crowded next to them in the
> steering-cabins of their small airships, observing the instrument panels
> and barking if they noticed something the pilot had failed to—though others
> could be observed at gunwales and flying bridges, their heads thrust out
> into the passing airflow, looks of bliss on their faces.
> >
> > What does "in a great heavenwide twinkling" mean here? And what is a
> "Jesus-rapt ascensionary"?
> >
> >
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