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

[Monte Davis]

it *denotes* an aeronautics club.The Christian holy day Ascension (40 days
after Easter) marks the resurrected Jesus' upward departure .  So like
"heavenwide" it has unmistakable religious connotation.on too.

Keep both if you can. I'm very confident TRP intends both.



On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 6:20 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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:
>
> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> Michel.
>>
>>
>>
>> *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.
>>
>>
>>
>> Are they religious zealots, or something else entirely?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>> And sorry for the late replay.
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
>> > 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/b87f6da02d3eb0af6e40
>> 501486b3e4cf.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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