Monday, December 27, 2010

Gravity's Rainbow Dictionary


some things I needed to look up while reading Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.  Most of these are derived from Wikipedia.
word or phraserelevant defintion?page #quote snippetnotes
batmana British military officer's orderly11..by his batman, a Corporal Wayne.reference to Batman superhero?
palataltype of consonant - like jar in English11... thick palatals of their hunger lost somewhere...hunger/eating noises produced by the people eating breakfast?
narodnikPopulists in Russia in the 1860's and 1870's11...are making believe to be narodnik...
IasiRomanian city11...they are of Iasi, of Codreanu,...
Codreanufar-right anti-semitic Romanian politician 1899-193811...they are of Iasi, of Codreanu, his men, men of the League,...League refers to the Iron Guard / Legion of the Archangel Michael?
phantasmagoriaform of theater in which ghosts etc. are projected onto a screen or smoke12Accompanying will be a phantasmagoria, a real one, rushing toward the screen...
dacoitsIndian bandits13...in which he would be abducted by an organization of dacoits or Sicilians...
Novi Pazarcity in southwest Serbia14...who at the time occupied the Novi Pazar desk at the Foreign Office...
sanjakadministrative division of the Ottoman Empire14...for on this obscure sanjak had once hinged the entire fate of Europe...Refers to Novi Pazar as a sanjak
busbyhungarian military head-dress15...naughtily attired in Busbies and jackboots...
palimpsestmanuscript / book page that has been scraped clean so it can be reused16...their lips were palimpsests of secret flesh...
croix mystiquespecific symbol/shapes/lines found on hand when doing palm readings - "denotes a natural gift or talent for mysticism and occultism of all kinds"16Novi Pazar, anyhow, was still a croix mystique on the palm of Europe...is this trying to say that Novi Pazar is an important indicator of Europe as a whole?  Or does this refer to just the French phrase directly "Mystic Cross" (mystical cross?)
pidginsimplified, ad hoc language developed for communication between 2 groups that do not share a common language16Though he was able to develop a pidgin by which he and the Adenoid could communicate...
hodrefers either to a brick hod (three sided box for carrying bricks or mortar) or a coal scuttle (bucket-like container for holding coal)16...bringing hods full of the white substance, in relays, up the ladder...
alienistoutdated(?) synonym for psychiatrist16...alienists in black seven-button suits...
musette bagtype of military satchel17
capsicumrefers to a genus of peppers, or to chili peppers themselves17...menthol and capsicum Meloids for a Mellow Voice...
Meloidsa throat losenge17...menthol and capsicum Meloids for a Mellow Voice...
SHAEFSupreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force17...each in the shape of the flaming SHAEF sword...
Garrard'sfamous London jeweller17...which Mother had Garrard's make up for him...
ATSAuxiliary Territorial Service - service for women in the British Army in WWII17...good-natured bespectacled ATS, waves him on upstairs.
linoslang for linoleum.  Also slang for habitual user of cocaine17The floor is filthy lino...Wonder if he used lino instead of linoleum b/c of the other slang definition - as a remembrance of the cocaine being applied to the adenoid in the last section?
gooseneck lampa lamp with a very adjustable neck that can be bent to various angles / positions18...on with the gooseneck lamp...
ETOEuropean Theater of Operations18There must be cubicles like this all over the ETO...
library pasteglue-like adhesive made from water and flour or water and starch18...decomposing library paste...
heliotropepink-purple color18...pencils of all colors including the hard-to-get heliotrope and raw umber...
buff ration booksa type of food rationing book used in Britain in WWII.  The color (buff) indicated it was for an adult.  Pregnant women and children got different colors indicating higher priority18...empty buff ration books...
pantechnicona moving van19...and the piano in the pantechnicon...
BlackpoolEnglish soccer team19...a quid wager on the Blackpool-Preston North End game...
Preston North EndEnglish soccer team19...a quid wager on the Blackpool-Preston North End game...
beaverboarda wood-like building material19He moves back down the beaverboard maze...
stensa British 9mm submachine gun20...Mark III Stens set on automatic...
T.I.Tactical Intelligence?20...his opposite number from T.I....
S.O.E.Special Operations Executive20...a Captain Prentice from S.O.E....
TDYTemporary DutY20...order sending him TDY some hospital...
Minnesota Multphasica personality test21Some more of that Minnesotate Multiphasic shit, no doubt.

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