Not P but Moby-Dick (60)

[David Morris]

“they took a mortal start forward” =  “leaned into it (as if their life
depended on it)”

“slantingly ranged up on the German’s quarter”  =   “In a diagonal line on
the German’s side of the boat”


On Sun, Jan 28, 2024 at 5:29 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> The people in the boat are in line leaning (with rope?)
>
> On Sun, Jan 28, 2024 at 2:12 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I could be totally wrong here, but I don't see how the boats can lean
>> forward, and it seems to make no sense for the boats to face diagonally
>> behind the whale while in pursuit. Rather, I imagine the boats arranged in
>> a diagonal line, but all facing forward towards the whale.
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 2:59 PM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> range verb (POSITION)
>>>
>>> *to **position** people or things together, especially in rows*: The
>>> crowd ranged itself along the route of the procession. The troops were
>>> ranged in front of the commanding officer.
>>>
>>> “they took a mortal start forwards
>>> slantingly ranged up on the German’s quarter”
>>>
>>> *They very forcefully leaned forward together in a line on the German’s
>>> side of the boat.*
>>>
>>> “all four boats were diagonically in the whale’s immediate wake”
>>>
>>> *All four boats also lined up facing diagonally in the wake *
>>>
>>> On Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 2:52 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> From Chapter 81:
>>>>
>>>> With a shout, they took a mortal start forwards, and slantingly ranged
>>>> up on the German’s quarter.  An instant more, and all four boats were
>>>> diagonically in the whale’s immediate wake, while stretching from them, on
>>>> both sides, was the foaming swell that he made.
>>>>
>>>> Here, do "slantingly" and "diagonically"(=diagonally) refer to the
>>>> relative
>>>> position of the boats, or is it something else? What exactly is the
>>>> picture
>>>> here?
>>>> --
>>>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>>>
>>>