Not P but Moby-Dick (15)

[Ian Livingston]

Ah, then, perhaps you are not greatly mad?

On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 2:23 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh? I think I prefer at least a little self-conflict. I’m also a big fan
> of a madness duet, and sometimes a whole ship full can be endlessly
> provocative
>
> On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 4:56 PM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Great madness is solipsistic.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 1:54 PM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Great madness is most aggravated when confronted with rationality, and
>> > finds calm in its own company, i.e., when alone.
>> >
>> > On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 1:01 PM Mike Jing <
>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> Three previous translations rendered it as "Only someone who is
>> completely
>> >> mad can calmly comprehend his own madness", which doesn't seem right to
>> >> me.
>> >> Another interpreted it as "Such ridiculous madness is only the calmness
>> >> needed in order to comprehend itself", which makes even less sense. I'm
>> >> still not quite sure what it is saying myself.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 4:56 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > If madness can be doubled or squared---as in "madness
>> maddened"---then
>> >> > stepping down
>> >> > from that, simple madness leaves enough mental space---so to
>> speak---to
>> >> > comprehend itself.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > On Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 9:44 PM Mike Jing <
>> >> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> >> > wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> From Chapter 37:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> What I’ve dared, I’ve willed; and what I’ve willed, I’ll do! They
>> >> think me
>> >> >> mad—Starbuck does; but I’m demoniac, I am madness maddened! That
>> wild
>> >> >> madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself! The prophecy was
>> that I
>> >> >> should be dismembered; and—Aye! I lost this leg. I now prophesy
>> that I
>> >> >> will
>> >> >> dismember my dismemberer.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> What does "That wild madness that’s only calm to comprehend itself"
>> >> mean?
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> 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
>>
>