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

[Mark Kohut]

Seven Types of Ambiguity always rules in Pynchon. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 3, 2017, at 6:09 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Right. That much I have gathered. 
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> So here "a club of ascensionaries" is just another term for an aeronautics club, nothing to do with religion, is that right?
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>> 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
>> 
>>  
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>> OK, I thought I understood, but...
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>> 
>> The word "ascensionary" occurs again on page 18:
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>> 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.
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>> 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:
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>> 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…”
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>>  “ heavenwide" - all over the sky they came "twinkling” (like) little lights going from bright to faint
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>>  “...bearing all degrees of aviator from laboratory skeptic to Jesus-rapt ascensionary…”
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>> The aviators ranged from serious skeptics to religious-like true believers.
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>> 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/b87f6da02d3eb0af6e40501486b3e4cf.jpg
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>> > 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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>> >
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