Not P but Moby-Dick (10)

[Ian Livingston]

My pleasure.

On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 3:57 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> OK, that's how I understood it. Thanks, Ian.
>
> On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 5:33 PM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> You are correct, Mike. It is a sort of prayer, if you will: God, please
>> never let me complete anything [so that others may continue the work]. It
>> is an aspiration to be part of something greater than oneself.
>>
>> On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 1:51 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The following excerpt is from Chapter 32:
>>>
>>> For small erections may be finished by their first architects; grand
>>> ones,
>>> true ones, ever leave the copestone to posterity. God keep me from ever
>>> completing anything. This whole book is but a draught—nay, but the
>>> draught
>>> of a draught. Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!
>>>
>>> The previous translations treated "God keep me from ever completing
>>> anything" as a statement, i.e. "God never allows me to finish anything."
>>> That doesn't seem right, does it?
>>> --
>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>
>>