GR translation: that dovetails inside you sharp as knives

[Robert Mahnke]

A dovetail is a joint, but to dovetail is to come together in a
particularly tight and well-joined way. I think Pynchon is using it as a
verb to express a clenching feeling in Slothrop's stomach.

On Wed, Dec 3, 2025 at 10:44 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I do know what a dovetail joint is. The OED definition for the verb:
>
> 1. transitive. To fit together or join by means of dovetails, or by a
> similar method. Const. in, into, to.
> 2. figurative. To unite compactly as if by dovetails; to adjust exactly, so
> as to form a continuous whole.
> 3. intransitive. To fit into each other, so as to form a compact and
> harmonious whole or company.
>
> I might be overthinking, but none of them seems to quite fit here, so I'm
> wondering what was meant exactly.
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 6:07 AM Mike Weaver <mike.weaver at zen.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Woodwork - dovetail joint.
> >
> > On 03/12/2025 20:20, Mike Jing wrote:
> > > V676.37-677.1, P690.3-8   Which is why Slothrop now observes his
> > coalition
> > > with hopes for success and hopes for disaster about equally high (and
> no,
> > > that doesn’t cancel out to apathy—it makes a loud dissonance that
> > dovetails
> > > inside you sharp as knives). It does annoy him that he can be so
> divided,
> > > so perfectly unable to come down on one side or another.
> > >
> > > What does "dovetail" mean here?
> > > --
> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
> >
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>