Re: AtD tramslation: The Hôtel de la Ville et Poste

[Mike Jing]

And "poste" in French could also mean "one of a series of relay stations
along a fixed route, furnishing fresh riders and horses for the delivery of
mail on horseback", which makes perfect sense here, since it was mentioned
earlier transportation between Brigue and Domodossola was still by
"horse-drawn diligence".

Therefore, the name of the hotel is "City Hotel and Post-House".

On Sat, Jan 15, 2022 at 9:43 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Apparently, city hall in French is "Hôtel de Ville", not "Hôtel de la
> Ville".
>
> A search in Google Books reveals that this is an actual hotel in
> Domodossola, duly documented in one of the Baedeker guides: *Italy,
> Handbook for Travellers: Northern Italy, including Leghorn, Florence,
> Ravenna, and routes through Switzerland and Austria*. I wouldn't be
> surprised if that's Pynchon's original source.
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 15, 2022 at 8:27 AM Paul Cray <pmcray at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> "Hôtel de la Ville" is certainly the French term for town hall (i.e. it is
>> not a hotel to stay in), which might well incorporate the main post office
>> as part of a town's civic complex, so it is presumably a joke, but at
>> which
>> level within/beyond the text?
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> On Sat, 15 Jan 2022 at 08:59, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > I second David here and notice Pynchon's connections with government and
>> > the postal system
>> > elsewhere, overtly in The Crying of Lot 49....
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 10:41 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > > I don’t speak French, but I don’t think this is proper French, and I
>> > think
>> > > that might be the point:  Reef’s French is sloppy.
>> > >
>> > > On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 8:10 PM Mike Jing <
>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
>> > >
>> > > wrote:
>> > >
>> > > > P657.10-13   “Good to see you maintainin ’em standards,” Reef
>> nodded.
>> > > > “Wouldn’t do to get déclassé or nothin.”
>> > > >        “We’re in Domodossola for a night or two. The Hôtel de la
>> Ville
>> > et
>> > > > Poste, I’m sure you know it.”
>> > > >
>> > > > What is "The Hôtel de la Ville et Poste" in English? Google
>> Translate
>> > > gives
>> > > > me "City Hall and Post Office", which doesn't quite make sense.
>> > > > --
>> > > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> > > >
>> > > --
>> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> > >
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>