AwaBGN / Of Risks and Rewards

[Raphael Saltwood]

(-; yeah, I was toning down the aggro because that isn’t how I want to engage.


Another thread came to mind as I was reading a little ahead of where you were translating.

Remember years ago - I think somebody cited a professional critic’s unhappiness with this elliptisized sentence on 362: “If Capital’s own books showed a balance in clear favor of damnation, if these plutes were undeniably evil hombres, then how much more so were those who took care of their problems for them, in no matter what ignorance of why, not all of their faces on the wanted bills, in that darkly textured style that was more about the kind of remembering, the unholy longing going on out here, than of any real-life badman likeness...”

We were - at least I was - barfing on “not all of their faces on the wanted bills” but now it looks to me like that is supposed to modify “their problems”:

“...those who took care of their problems [ie, dealt harshly with troublesome people, not all of whom were officially wanted by the law]”

In which case the feel of the sentence is dropping (like the lengthy descent of Hector in VL) through the evil of the plutes, to the greater evil of their servitors, with their willingness to do dirty deeds dirt cheap without asking why, and without any official sanction, and then dropping down into a description of the emotional rather than rational nature of the official sanctions in that place and time whose remit they exceeded.

And then it dawned on me, he’s also playing on “wanted” poster as if it meant “desired” (come here Mr Watson I want you in a porno sense type of entendre, obviously)

Good place to trail off...because he’s obviously headed towards thoughts of direct revenge on Deuce and Sloat, and won’t (not until he meets up with Cyprian and not really even then) acknowledge any homoerotic subtext to getting his men. (Compare VL, it’s all about sticking it in)






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________________________________
From: Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 1:02:04 AM
To: Raphael Saltwood <PlainMrBotanyB at outlook.com>
Cc: pynchon-l <Pynchon-l at waste.org>
Subject: Re: AwaBGN / Of Risks and Rewards

I'm sure Sehrguey meant nothing of that sort. Don't be a damned touchy double-dome! ;-)


On Fri, Oct 16, 2020 at 12:01 AM Raphael Saltwood <PlainMrBotanyB at outlook.com<mailto:PlainMrBotanyB at outlook.com>> wrote:
Perhaps my aggro was misplaced.


“

> more than once the Arab's been discussed since 2011, here's my humble
> two-pence:
> firstly, "the broken folklore" has nothing to do with scotology, it's the
> way to present the monotony of the garrison life where even (dirty) jokes
> do not click includingneither the one about Cary Grant and the elephant
> medicine, nor the everlasting hit among tommies, that of Arab.
> Secondly, if you can perform on the uculele why can't you perform on a joke
> yours`

A) I can’t find “scotology” online

B) in terms of answering the question with a view to translating, Sehrguey summarized the AwaBGN reference in context accurately.

C) by extension, he may be suggesting a similar approach to translating “perils of extravagance” - Reef accepts the bait with his words, while his eyes

show he has his qualms. Something like that. And to convey a glint of humor -

I thought Sehrguey may be suggesting my lengthy contribution here (nudged by the muse of
divagation, Prolixia) lacks humor. I myself sometimes tire of my own earnest meanderings
as well.

 But there’s a lot to unpack, isn’t there?

 I changed thread names to uncouple further insights

from Mike’s query, since as Jochen suggests, and Mike confirmed, he was on the right track for

translating.


But the moment described is surrounded by other interesting moments interspersed with reflections and descriptions.


Starting with “no risk, no reward,” this is a proposition that people trot out when they want to get you to do something risky.

Logically, there is no correlation between risk and reward, is there? Risk management seeks to minimize risk - why do that if it’s the way to maximize rewards?

>From inside the human community to an interface with Nature, the source of all wealth, certain actions will pay off. If the human community doesn’t know whether a plant can be eaten, or a mine can be mined, or a bridge or a building will stand then

There’s an element of risk.

But within the human community, from one node to another, there are varying degrees of risk, and the rewards

are not evenly -


Holy salt Martin, this is getting boring.

The ideal post would be somewhat earnest, an orewith a seam of erudition, avoiding preciousness,

bringing in predictable connections with serviceable prose, not too fancy (“a shrubbery: nice, and not too expensive “) and trying out unexpected connections with only an occasional off-the-wall or massè shot (like how ‘bout the cylindrical hats suggesting the little dude shouting “call for

Philip Morris” which in turn suggests the phone call Reef received from Jimmy Drop about Webb’s demise) and consistently show a grateful appreciation for the text, as well as reaching out to other such appreciators in hopes of engaging on the topic(s)

I will keep trying - there’s a niche between scholarly commentary and trying to write original stuff, reserved for hobbyists, that I’m aiming at.

Sehrguey, I take back what I said about your old man. Never met him but I’m sure  “generous, gracious and good” as in Leon Thomas’s version of “Song for my Father” apply to him, and not “excrementitious”

https://youtu.be/xh7aZ_Q6ibw




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