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

[David Morris]

Pynchon loves literary puns, but usually deep puns that make you wonder...
He also uses religious themes, because there is no avoiding that realm,
unless you really want to avoid that realm.

David Morris

On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 5:55 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Now I understand. Here I think I have a way of preserving the religious
> connotation as much as I can.
>
> Thanks, Monte.
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 6:41 PM, Monte Davis <montedavis49 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> 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/b87f6da02d3eb0af6e40501486b3e4cf.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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