BE groupread 2021-2 Chapter 1 brief summary 152 words

[John Bailey]

I used to see the name Otis every day when I worked in a multi-level
office - it's the name of the company that introduced the first
passenger elevator to NYC in the 1850s, and is still one of the most
prominent elevator companies in the world.
I like to imagine that Maxine sees the name regularly, too, or perhaps
Pynchon himself does, and so it lent itself to Maxine's son (whether
consciously so or otherwise).
The novel also ends with the boys heading off to the elevator.

On Fri, Nov 5, 2021 at 8:46 AM Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>
> Several of these references seem relevant. There is a definite refrain of germanic and psychological references. Kugelblitz disciple of Freud, school as asylum. Loeffler is German name. Maxine is financial fraud investigator dealing with hidden (subconscious) layers of economy. Aleination through secrecy will be a major theme and also the issue of protection. Ziggy on the edge of a new generation about to see his seemingly solid world change, every generation kinda alien.
>
> > On Nov 4, 2021, at 5:53 AM, Huebschraeuber via Pynchon-l <pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:
> >
> > It's me, Thomas.
> >
> > On "Ziggy": Do we automatically think of the Spiders from Mars? I surely
> > do. Apparently the nickname stems from "Zigmund" (German: "Siegmund",
> > "Sigmund" or "Sigismund"), "protection through victory" or "victorious
> > protector". I have known various persons nicknamed "Siggi". Was Freud
> > called "Siggi"? A character in the devastating second season of "The
> > Wire" was named "Ziggy". Ziggy Marley was named for a certain way to
> > kick the soccer ball. There also seems to be a comic strip character by
> > that name. Any thoughts?
> >
> > Am 04.11.2021 um 03:29 schrieb Michael Bailey:
> >> Pages 13-20 in the Nook edition
> >>
> >> Location NYC, upper West side, that’s to the left of Central Park from 59th
> >> St to 110th St.
> >> Time frame: first day of spring, 2001. Tuesday, March 20th.
> >>
> >> Maxine walks her two sons, Otis and Ziggy, to (private) school.
> >
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>
>
>
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l