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

[Clément Lévy]

Hi Mike,

This is true, "city hall" would be "hôtel de ville" in French. "Hôtel de la
ville" sounds funny for that reason but you sourced it! And "poste" or
"relais de poste" is exactly what you say. Surprisingly this place in
Domodossola has a French name although it lies in Piemonte (but it is an
international place because of the Tunnel du Simplon). As a real name of a
real place, it has to be that way!

It is great to see that Pynchon always used the good old Baedeker, you're
right Mark!

In many French cities there is or there was an Hôtel de la Poste because in
older days you had everything in the same place: pub, post office, horses
and hotel. These places often had a large gate (for big coaches) as I heard
years ago in St.-Etienne (Loire) where a seemingly random Hôtel Continental
was in fact a former Poste.

Keep doing a great job!
Clément

On Sun, Jan 16, 2022 at 5:22 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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
> >>
> >
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>