Difference between revisions of "Chapter 4"
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This book by Morey Bernstein, published in 1956, was about Virginia Tighe who, under hypnosis, began speaking in an Irish brogue and claimed that she was Bridey Murphy from Cork, Ireland. Past-lives regressions became big news. [[Bridey Murphy|Read more...]]; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridey_Murphy Wikipedia] | This book by Morey Bernstein, published in 1956, was about Virginia Tighe who, under hypnosis, began speaking in an Irish brogue and claimed that she was Bridey Murphy from Cork, Ireland. Past-lives regressions became big news. [[Bridey Murphy|Read more...]]; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridey_Murphy Wikipedia] | ||
| + | 110/114 - '''Such was the (as it were) Jacobean etiology of Esther's eventual trip to Cuba; which see.'''<br /> | ||
| + | Pynchon must mean "Jacobean" in the sense of the Jacobean revenge-plays, written during the reign of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_I_of_England James I] (1603 – 1625) in England, the hallmarks of such plays being lust, revenge and murder. Where the plays of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan Elizabethan era] (1558-1603) were characterized by a sense of providential justice, a sense that the ravages of evil will ultimately be overcome by an inevitable movement of the cosmos toward moral harmony, Jacobean tragedies tended to depict corruption and violence that did not suggest divine retribution, the ultimate triumph of good and restoration of moral order. | ||
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| + | Interesting that Pynchon uses "etiology" which usually means the cause of a disease, to characterize Esther's motivation for the trip to Cuba. | ||
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| + | In Pynchon's [http://cl49.pynchonwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Making_sense_of_The_Courier%27s_Tragedy ''The Crying of Lot 49''] contains an extended parody of the Jacobean revenge-play formula, titled ''The Courier's Tragedy'' and written by the fictitious Richard Wharfinger. | ||
{{V PbP}} | {{V PbP}} | ||
Latest revision as of 07:24, 14 November 2008
- Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.
94/97 - The Search for Bridey Murphy
This book by Morey Bernstein, published in 1956, was about Virginia Tighe who, under hypnosis, began speaking in an Irish brogue and claimed that she was Bridey Murphy from Cork, Ireland. Past-lives regressions became big news. Read more...; Wikipedia
110/114 - Such was the (as it were) Jacobean etiology of Esther's eventual trip to Cuba; which see.
Pynchon must mean "Jacobean" in the sense of the Jacobean revenge-plays, written during the reign of James I (1603 – 1625) in England, the hallmarks of such plays being lust, revenge and murder. Where the plays of the Elizabethan era (1558-1603) were characterized by a sense of providential justice, a sense that the ravages of evil will ultimately be overcome by an inevitable movement of the cosmos toward moral harmony, Jacobean tragedies tended to depict corruption and violence that did not suggest divine retribution, the ultimate triumph of good and restoration of moral order.
Interesting that Pynchon uses "etiology" which usually means the cause of a disease, to characterize Esther's motivation for the trip to Cuba.
In Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 contains an extended parody of the Jacobean revenge-play formula, titled The Courier's Tragedy and written by the fictitious Richard Wharfinger.
| Chapter 1 In which Benny Profane, a schlemihl and human yo-yo, gets to an apocheir 9/1 |
Chapter 2 The Whole Sick Crew 44/39 |
Chapter 3 In which Stencil, a quick-change artist, does eight impersonations 61/59 |
Chapter 4 In which Esther gets a nose job 95/97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter 5 In which Stencil nearly goes West with an alligator 111/115 |
Chapter 6 In which Profane returns to street level 134/141 |
Chapter 7 She hangs on the western wall 152/161 |
Chapter 8 In which Rachel gets her yo-yo back, Roony sings a song, and Stencil calls on Bloody Chiclitz 213/229 |
| Chapter 9 Mondaugen's story 229/247 |
Chapter 10 In which various sets of young people get together 280/305 |
Chapter 11 Confessions of Fausto Maijstral 304/333 |
Chapter 12 In which things are not so amusing 347/385 |
| Chapter 13 In which the yo-yo string is revealed as a state of mind 367/407 |
Chapter 14 V. in love 393/437 |
Chapter 15 Sahha 415/461 |
Chapter 16 Valletta 424/471 |
| Epilogue, 1919 456/507 |
