Difference between revisions of "Pages 964-981"

(→‎Page 965)
(→‎Page 977: Sorkin had given Bobby C. free rain)
 
(63 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{PbP Header}}
 
{{PbP Header}}
  
−
<span class="marker">964 · Pre-Exhibition Fête</span>
+
=November 20th, YDAU - Pre-Exhibition Fête=
  
 
==Page 964==
 
==Page 964==
−
 
+
'''Gaudeamus Igitur'''<br />
−
[[Subsidized Time|Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment]]
+
Latin: " so let us rejoice", an ancient academic drinking song now popular as a graduation hymn, whose text pokes fun at university life and urges students to enjoy life while they can.
  
 
'''claret-colored'''<br />
 
'''claret-colored'''<br />
Line 15: Line 15:
  
 
==Page 965==
 
==Page 965==
−
 
−
'''pigeon-toed'''<br />
 
−
having toes that point inward, like this:  /  \
 
  
 
'''shifted antigens'''<br />
 
'''shifted antigens'''<br />
−
An antigenic shift generally refers to the medical term that explains how two strains of the influenza virus join together to form a new subtype and therefore more virile. The new subtype has a mixture of the antigens from the originals. An antigen is the substance that stimulates the immune system. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/926623/antigenic-shift]
+
An antigenic shift generally refers to the medical term that explains how two strains of the influenza virus join together to form a new subtype and, in turn, become more virulent. The new subtype has a mixture of the antigens from the originals. An antigen is the substance that stimulates the immune system. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/926623/antigenic-shift]
  
−
In this section, it's rumors about severe weather and the Quebec Junior Team that combine and are reconstituted as a new 'sub-rumor' before being returned to the rumor's originator. <br />
+
It's used here to refer to rumors about severe weather and the Quebec Junior Team.  These rumors undergo an antigenic shift as they circulate around the locker room. They combine and are reconstituted as a new rumor before being returned to the rumor's originator. <br />
  
 
'''the Csikszentmihalyi kid was doing a kind of piaffer'''<br />
 
'''the Csikszentmihalyi kid was doing a kind of piaffer'''<br />
 
A piaffer is a trot in place where the legs are lifted high. This type of trot is usually done by a horse, but it's part of the 'Csikszentmihalyi kid's' pre-game ritual to stretch his hip flexors. <br/>
 
A piaffer is a trot in place where the legs are lifted high. This type of trot is usually done by a horse, but it's part of the 'Csikszentmihalyi kid's' pre-game ritual to stretch his hip flexors. <br/>
  
−
The name Csikszentmihalyi may be a humorous nod to the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who is noted for his work in happiness and creativity.  He is known as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology and proposed the concept of <i/>Flow</>. Flow is the mental state whereby a person is fully immersed and focused on an activity <i>(such as Tennis)</i>. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi]<br />
+
The name Csikszentmihalyi may be a humorous nod to the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who is noted for his work in happiness and creativity.  He is known as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology and proposed the concept of <i>Flow</i>. Flow is the mental state whereby a person is fully immersed and focused on an activity <i>(such as Tennis)</i>. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi]<br />
  
 
'''hip-flexors'''<br />
 
'''hip-flexors'''<br />
 
the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_flexor muscles] that move the hip
 
the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_flexor muscles] that move the hip
  
−
'''fey'''<br />
+
'''an ascot or a very fey tie'''<br />
−
effeminate
+
An ascot is a scarf or tie with broad ends typically worn for formal occasions[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascot_tie]. If the tie <i>very fey</i>, it is excessively refined [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fey] or fancy to the point that it could be confused with an ascot.
 +
 
 +
'''astringent'''<br />
 +
a substance or preparation, such as alum, that draws together or constricts body tissues and is effective in stopping the flow of blood or other secretions
  
 
'''invoking Camilla, goddess of speed and light step'''<br />
 
'''invoking Camilla, goddess of speed and light step'''<br />
−
Camilla of Volsci, a heroine from Roman Mythology, found in Virgil's prose and ancient pottery paintings. Virgil claimed Camilla was so fast that she could run across the ocean without wetting her feet and across fields of grain without bending the grass. [http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Camilla_(mythology)] To 'invoke' is to petition for help with an incantation.[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoking]  
+
Camilla of Volsci, a heroine from Roman Mythology, found in Virgil's prose and ancient pottery paintings. Virgil claimed Camilla was so fast that she could run across the ocean without wetting her feet and across fields of grain without bending the grass. [http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Camilla_(mythology)] To 'invoke' is to petition for help with an incantation.[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/invoking]
−
 
+
−
As part of their pre-match ritual, the female players, Thode and Donni Stott, can be heard praying to or otherwise petitioning Camilla whose light footed speed may translate to success on the court.
+
  
 
==Page 966==
 
==Page 966==
Line 52: Line 50:
  
 
'''Joni Mitchell'''<br />
 
'''Joni Mitchell'''<br />
−
Joni Mitchell (born Roberta Joan Anderson in 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter.
+
Joni Mitchell (born Roberta Joan Anderson in 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and painter. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Mitchell Wikipedia Entry].
 +
 
 +
'''occluded'''<br />
 +
Closed off, shut in, or blocked off [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/occlude]
 +
 
 +
'''they all in here existed basically as Fourier Transforms of postures and little routines'''<br/>
 +
 
 +
A Fourier transform is a mathematical operation that transforms one function into another.  This type of transform is named in honour of Joseph Fourier. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Fourier] To exist basically as Fourier Transforms of postures and routines is to exist as an abstraction where a student is trained in postures and routines is transformed into tennis player capable of executing a variation of those postures and routines.
 +
 
 +
It is also worth noting that the Fourier transform converts a signal from the time domain (that is, that the signal is a function of time) to the frequency domain (no longer a function of time but of frequency, the function being composed of wave functions). The implication being that all the "postures and little routines" are composed of repeated actions (analogous to the waves that make up a Fourier series) and can be expressed in a time independent manner.
  
 
'''ingenuish'''<br />
 
'''ingenuish'''<br />
−
in the manner of an innocent young woman
+
in the manner of an ingenue, an innocent young woman
 +
: Not necessarily a woman. The French word ''ingénu'' (masculine) / ''ingénue'' (feminine) can apply to males and females.
 +
 
 +
'''moribund'''<br />
 +
nearing death or in a terminal decline [http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/moribund?view=uk]
  
 
==Page 967==
 
==Page 967==
  
−
[[Subsidized Time|Y.T.M.P.]]
+
'''Y.T.M.P.'''<br />
 +
[[Subsidized Time|Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad]]
  
 
'''ciquatoxic'''<br />
 
'''ciquatoxic'''<br />
−
referring to a poison produced by certain fish
+
An alternate or mispelling of 'ciguatoxic'. Reef fish can carry ciguatoxins, which cause ciguatera food poisoning [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguatera] in humans who consume the contaminated fish. These toxins may be specific to certain reefs, are concentrated up the food chain and as such are more likely to be present in larger reef fish, and cannot be destroyed by cooking and freezing. For more, see [http://www.livefoodfishtrade.org/definitions.htm here]. 
 +
 
 +
'''R.C. clergy'''<br />
 +
Roman Catholic priesthood
  
 
'''P.O.'''<br />
 
'''P.O.'''<br />
 
philharmonic orchestra
 
philharmonic orchestra
 +
 +
'''Carmelite'''<br />
 +
a member of the Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a Catholic order.
 +
 +
'''liniment''' <br />
 +
a liquid preparation rubbed into the skin or gums as a counterirritant, rubefacient, anodyne, or cleansing agent
  
 
==Page 968==
 
==Page 968==
Line 71: Line 92:
 
'''Sanger-Brown's ataxia'''<br />
 
'''Sanger-Brown's ataxia'''<br />
 
another name for [http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/1672.html Marie's ataxia]
 
another name for [http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/1672.html Marie's ataxia]
 +
 +
'''St. John's Seminary'''<br />
 +
an actual institution in Brighton
 +
 +
'''reading his hours'''<br />
 +
The Liturgy of the Hours is the set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church as part of the canonical obligation of those ordained as deacons. The prayers take place throughout the day: Matins or Vigils, during the night;  Lauds or Dawn Prayer; Prime or Early Morning Prayer; Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer; Sext or Midday Prayer; None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer; Vespers or Evening Prayer; Compline or Night prayer.
  
 
'''practicum'''<br />
 
'''practicum'''<br />
 
the student-teaching portion of a teaching education
 
the student-teaching portion of a teaching education
 +
 +
'''spiritually necrotic'''<br />
 +
Necrosis usually refers to the localized death of cells within healthy tissue. To be spiritually necrotic is akin to having a dead spirit in an otherwise healthy body.
 +
 +
'''Jesuitical Endeavors'''<br />
 +
An endeavor is a purposeful undertaking that requires boldness. Jesuitical endeavors are those undertaken as part of a Jesuit ministry.
 +
 +
'''Numero Uno'''<br />
 +
Spanish for ''Number One'', used here as an expression to mean concern about only oneself.
 +
 +
'''Flexor carpi ulnaris muscle'''<br />
 +
Muscle in the side of the forearm, used to twist the hand side to side, thus important when tossing playing cards.
  
 
'''ineluctable'''<br />
 
'''ineluctable'''<br />
−
incapable of being avoided
+
incapable of being avoided or changed
  
 
'''Apologia'''<br />
 
'''Apologia'''<br />
−
in this sense, not an apology but a defense
+
An Apologia is a defense of one's beliefs, religious or other. Here, Barry is out of his league in his ability to put up a good defense of the religious beliefs that may help get his brother out of his own spiritual funk.
  
 
==Page 969==
 
==Page 969==
Line 86: Line 125:
 
imitating one's self
 
imitating one's self
  
−
'''''Brothers K.'''''<br />
+
'''not that much unlike Alyosha and Ivan's conversations in the good old ''Brothers K''.'''<br />
−
''The Brother's Karamazov,'' a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), Russian novelist
+
''The Brother's Karamazov'' is a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881).  Ivan and Alyosha, main characters in the novel, are siblings. Alyosha has a faith in God that manifests in a love of mankind and Ivan is a rationalist who is burdened by his inability or unwillingness to believe in a God that could preside over an unjust world.  In the novel the brothers, Ivan and Alyosha, discuss their opposing beliefs.
  
 
'''erudite'''<br />
 
'''erudite'''<br />
Line 102: Line 141:
  
 
'''lumpen'''<br />
 
'''lumpen'''<br />
−
disenfrancished
+
marginalized; uneducated and/or unenlightened; disenfranchised
  
 
'''solar plexus'''<br />
 
'''solar plexus'''<br />
−
a complex of nerves in the abdomen
+
a complex of nerves in the abdomen. Taking blows to the solar plexus refers to the sensation of "having the wind knocked out of you", as the solar plexus is involved in the autonomic activity of respiration.
  
 
'''verminousness'''<br />
 
'''verminousness'''<br />
 
resembling vermin
 
resembling vermin
 +
 +
'''mufti'''<br />
 +
civilian dress; also a name for a type of Muslim scholar
  
 
==Page 970==
 
==Page 970==
Line 122: Line 164:
 
'''fuliginous'''<br />
 
'''fuliginous'''<br />
 
smoky or sooty
 
smoky or sooty
 +
 +
'''the then-Head Trainer suffered the terrible accident […]'''<br />
 +
this has got to be Lyle, who came back as a wraith. He can levitate, licks sweat off people (he died of dehydration), talks about death, can visit Gately in the same way as Himself’s wraith.
  
 
'''50° C'''<br />
 
'''50° C'''<br />
 
122° Fahrenheit
 
122° Fahrenheit
 +
 +
=Orin=
 +
==Page 971==
  
 
==Page 972==
 
==Page 972==
 +
 +
''''Do it to her!''' '''''Do it to her!''''''<br/>
 +
a reference to George Orwell's 1984.  Winston Smith shouts 'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!' under similar circumstances.
  
 
'''ham'''<br />
 
'''ham'''<br />
 
an actor who is bad by virtue of over-acting
 
an actor who is bad by virtue of over-acting
  
−
<span class="marker">972 · Final Chapter</span>
+
=Final Chapter=
  
 
==Page 972==
 
==Page 972==
Line 140: Line 191:
 
==Page 973==
 
==Page 973==
  
−
'''"...look down her shirt and spell ''attic''..."'''<br />
+
==Endnote 385==
 +
 
 +
'''gram-negative'''<br />
 +
This refers to a bacterium that does not show up in a violet stain using Gram's method; in other words, the doctor suspects that Gately has a particularly resistant strain of bacteria within his body, which previous antibiotics given to him have been ineffective in eliminating.
 +
 
 +
==Page 973 (cont.)==
 +
 
 +
'''...look down her shirt and spell ''attic''...'''<br />
 
and thus saying, "A-T-T-I-C" or "a titty I see"
 
and thus saying, "A-T-T-I-C" or "a titty I see"
 +
 +
''''The truth will [you] set you free,...''''<br />
 +
See the Gospel of John 8:32.
  
 
==Page 974==
 
==Page 974==
Line 149: Line 210:
  
 
==Page 975==
 
==Page 975==
 +
 +
[[Image:Weejun.jpg|thumb|right|Men's cordovan Bass Weejun]]
  
 
'''Weejuns'''<br />
 
'''Weejuns'''<br />
−
a type of shoe, see [http://www.bassweejuns.com/ here]
+
G. H. Bass & Co.'s tradename for its line of men's and women's penny loafer shoes (see right)
  
 
==Page 976==
 
==Page 976==
Line 162: Line 225:
 
'''S&W'''<br />
 
'''S&W'''<br />
 
Smith & Wesson
 
Smith & Wesson
 +
 +
'''"The contorted face... "'''<br />
 +
The painting of Whitey Sorkin is the same one that had Hal "popping Nunhagen compulsively until his ears started ringing" when it appeared in the advertisement for Nunhagen Aspirin Co. created by Viney and Veals Advertising. See footnote 162.
  
 
'''2500-IU ampule'''<br />
 
'''2500-IU ampule'''<br />
Line 168: Line 234:
 
'''transvestals'''<br />
 
'''transvestals'''<br />
 
i.e., transvestites
 
i.e., transvestites
 +
: Not sure this is relevant, but the word also contains ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgin vestal]'', as in the Roman priestess, quite the opposite (trans-) of what these people are.
 +
 +
'''Sorkin had given Bobby C. free rain'''<br />
 +
Could be a misspelling of [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/free_rein free rein] (permission to do as he pleases), but it could also be a pun since Bobby C. is effectively getting [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rain rain] (massive amounts of drugs) for free.
  
 
==Page 978==
 
==Page 978==
Line 184: Line 254:
 
Linda Louise, Lady McCartney (1941-1998) was an American photographer and wife of Beatle Paul McCartney (born 1943).
 
Linda Louise, Lady McCartney (1941-1998) was an American photographer and wife of Beatle Paul McCartney (born 1943).
  
−
==Page 979==
+
'''"....somebody had taken an old disk of McCartney and Wings [...] and run it through a Kurtzweil remixer and removed every track on the songs except the tracks of poor old Mrs. Linda McCartney singing backup and playing tambourine"'''<br />
 +
An alleged isolated vocal track of Linda McCartney singing along to "Hey Jude" at a concert did circulate, but the production itself may have been a hoax.  For more, see [http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2006/03/audio_hoaxes_an.html here].
 +
Kurtzweil appears to be a misspelling of Kurzweil, referring to Ray Kurzweil, an inventor in audio and speech technologies, artificial intelligence, and futurist author. See
 +
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil].
  
 
==Endnote 387==
 
==Endnote 387==
Line 195: Line 268:
 
'''dysmenorrhea'''<br />
 
'''dysmenorrhea'''<br />
 
pre-menstrual syndrome and/or painful periods
 
pre-menstrual syndrome and/or painful periods
−
 
−
'''hot shot'''<br />
 
−
an injection intended to kill
 
  
 
'''PX'''<br />
 
'''PX'''<br />
 
with a pharmaceutical as part of the name, it means it contains pentazocine
 
with a pharmaceutical as part of the name, it means it contains pentazocine
 +
 +
==Page 979==
 +
 +
'''hot shot'''<br />
 +
an injection intended to kill
  
 
==Page 980==
 
==Page 980==
Line 210: Line 285:
  
 
'''"...the one about ultraviolence and sadism."'''<br />
 
'''"...the one about ultraviolence and sadism."'''<br />
−
Gately is thinking of Kubrick's [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/ A Clockwork Orange]
+
Gately is thinking of Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/ "A Clockwork Orange."]
 +
 
 +
'''"...the last thing Gately saw was an Oriental bearing down with the held square and he looked into the square and saw clearly a reflection of his own big square pale head with its eyes closing as the floor finally pounced."'''<br />
 +
See page 934: "He dreams he looks in a mirror and sees nothing and keeps trying to clean the mirror with his sleeve."
  
 
{{Top}}
 
{{Top}}
 
{{InfiniteJest PbP}}
 
{{InfiniteJest PbP}}

Latest revision as of 10:37, 29 March 2020

Editors: Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel. And please pay attention to formatting and grammar. Preview your changes before saving them. Thanks!

November 20th, YDAU - Pre-Exhibition Fête

Page 964

Gaudeamus Igitur
Latin: " so let us rejoice", an ancient academic drinking song now popular as a graduation hymn, whose text pokes fun at university life and urges students to enjoy life while they can.

claret-colored
A deep purplish red. Claret is also the name of a wine that is produced in the Bordeaux region of France and slang for 'blood'.[1]

fuller's earth or sawdust
Fuller's earth is an absorbent clay that is used in talcum powder. Sawdust and chalk (talcum) are used by tennis players to keep their grip dry. [2]

Page 965

shifted antigens
An antigenic shift generally refers to the medical term that explains how two strains of the influenza virus join together to form a new subtype and, in turn, become more virulent. The new subtype has a mixture of the antigens from the originals. An antigen is the substance that stimulates the immune system. [3]

It's used here to refer to rumors about severe weather and the Quebec Junior Team. These rumors undergo an antigenic shift as they circulate around the locker room. They combine and are reconstituted as a new rumor before being returned to the rumor's originator.

the Csikszentmihalyi kid was doing a kind of piaffer
A piaffer is a trot in place where the legs are lifted high. This type of trot is usually done by a horse, but it's part of the 'Csikszentmihalyi kid's' pre-game ritual to stretch his hip flexors.

The name Csikszentmihalyi may be a humorous nod to the Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who is noted for his work in happiness and creativity. He is known as the world's leading researcher on positive psychology and proposed the concept of Flow. Flow is the mental state whereby a person is fully immersed and focused on an activity (such as Tennis). [4]

hip-flexors
the muscles that move the hip

an ascot or a very fey tie
An ascot is a scarf or tie with broad ends typically worn for formal occasions[5]. If the tie very fey, it is excessively refined [6] or fancy to the point that it could be confused with an ascot.

astringent
a substance or preparation, such as alum, that draws together or constricts body tissues and is effective in stopping the flow of blood or other secretions

invoking Camilla, goddess of speed and light step
Camilla of Volsci, a heroine from Roman Mythology, found in Virgil's prose and ancient pottery paintings. Virgil claimed Camilla was so fast that she could run across the ocean without wetting her feet and across fields of grain without bending the grass. [7] To 'invoke' is to petition for help with an incantation.[8]

Page 966

Frankenstein
or, more correctly, Frankenstein's monster

Hal
who is clearly not narrating anymore, unless he is speaking of himself in the third person

malleolus
a bony lump on the side of the ankle

Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell (born Roberta Joan Anderson in 1943) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and painter. Wikipedia Entry.

occluded
Closed off, shut in, or blocked off [9]

they all in here existed basically as Fourier Transforms of postures and little routines

A Fourier transform is a mathematical operation that transforms one function into another. This type of transform is named in honour of Joseph Fourier. [10] To exist basically as Fourier Transforms of postures and routines is to exist as an abstraction where a student is trained in postures and routines is transformed into tennis player capable of executing a variation of those postures and routines.

It is also worth noting that the Fourier transform converts a signal from the time domain (that is, that the signal is a function of time) to the frequency domain (no longer a function of time but of frequency, the function being composed of wave functions). The implication being that all the "postures and little routines" are composed of repeated actions (analogous to the waves that make up a Fourier series) and can be expressed in a time independent manner.

ingenuish
in the manner of an ingenue, an innocent young woman

Not necessarily a woman. The French word ingénu (masculine) / ingénue (feminine) can apply to males and females.

moribund
nearing death or in a terminal decline [11]

Page 967

Y.T.M.P.
Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad

ciquatoxic
An alternate or mispelling of 'ciguatoxic'. Reef fish can carry ciguatoxins, which cause ciguatera food poisoning [12] in humans who consume the contaminated fish. These toxins may be specific to certain reefs, are concentrated up the food chain and as such are more likely to be present in larger reef fish, and cannot be destroyed by cooking and freezing. For more, see here.

R.C. clergy
Roman Catholic priesthood

P.O.
philharmonic orchestra

Carmelite
a member of the Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, a Catholic order.

liniment
a liquid preparation rubbed into the skin or gums as a counterirritant, rubefacient, anodyne, or cleansing agent

Page 968

Sanger-Brown's ataxia
another name for Marie's ataxia

St. John's Seminary
an actual institution in Brighton

reading his hours
The Liturgy of the Hours is the set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church as part of the canonical obligation of those ordained as deacons. The prayers take place throughout the day: Matins or Vigils, during the night; Lauds or Dawn Prayer; Prime or Early Morning Prayer; Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer; Sext or Midday Prayer; None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer; Vespers or Evening Prayer; Compline or Night prayer.

practicum
the student-teaching portion of a teaching education

spiritually necrotic
Necrosis usually refers to the localized death of cells within healthy tissue. To be spiritually necrotic is akin to having a dead spirit in an otherwise healthy body.

Jesuitical Endeavors
An endeavor is a purposeful undertaking that requires boldness. Jesuitical endeavors are those undertaken as part of a Jesuit ministry.

Numero Uno
Spanish for Number One, used here as an expression to mean concern about only oneself.

Flexor carpi ulnaris muscle
Muscle in the side of the forearm, used to twist the hand side to side, thus important when tossing playing cards.

ineluctable
incapable of being avoided or changed

Apologia
An Apologia is a defense of one's beliefs, religious or other. Here, Barry is out of his league in his ability to put up a good defense of the religious beliefs that may help get his brother out of his own spiritual funk.

Page 969

self-mimetic
imitating one's self

not that much unlike Alyosha and Ivan's conversations in the good old Brothers K.
The Brother's Karamazov is a novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881). Ivan and Alyosha, main characters in the novel, are siblings. Alyosha has a faith in God that manifests in a love of mankind and Ivan is a rationalist who is burdened by his inability or unwillingness to believe in a God that could preside over an unjust world. In the novel the brothers, Ivan and Alyosha, discuss their opposing beliefs.

erudite
scholarly

carcinogenic
causing cancer

acerbity
acidity

Ivan's Grand Inquisitor scenario
Read this portion here.

lumpen
marginalized; uneducated and/or unenlightened; disenfranchised

solar plexus
a complex of nerves in the abdomen. Taking blows to the solar plexus refers to the sensation of "having the wind knocked out of you", as the solar plexus is involved in the autonomic activity of respiration.

verminousness
resembling vermin

mufti
civilian dress; also a name for a type of Muslim scholar

Page 970

alms
charity

silt
very small grains of rock or sand

Page 971

fuliginous
smoky or sooty

the then-Head Trainer suffered the terrible accident […]
this has got to be Lyle, who came back as a wraith. He can levitate, licks sweat off people (he died of dehydration), talks about death, can visit Gately in the same way as Himself’s wraith.

50° C
122° Fahrenheit

Orin

Page 971

Page 972

'Do it to her! Do it to her!'
a reference to George Orwell's 1984. Winston Smith shouts 'Do it to Julia! Do it to Julia!' under similar circumstances.

ham
an actor who is bad by virtue of over-acting

Final Chapter

Page 972

confiteor
a prayer of confession of sins

Page 973

Endnote 385

gram-negative
This refers to a bacterium that does not show up in a violet stain using Gram's method; in other words, the doctor suspects that Gately has a particularly resistant strain of bacteria within his body, which previous antibiotics given to him have been ineffective in eliminating.

Page 973 (cont.)

...look down her shirt and spell attic...
and thus saying, "A-T-T-I-C" or "a titty I see"

'The truth will [you] set you free,...'
See the Gospel of John 8:32.

Page 974

vertical hold
the control on a television that prevents the picture from rolling bottom to top

Page 975

Men's cordovan Bass Weejun

Weejuns
G. H. Bass & Co.'s tradename for its line of men's and women's penny loafer shoes (see right)

Page 976

Jack Daniels
a famous brand of bourbon whiskey

Page 977

S&W
Smith & Wesson

"The contorted face... "
The painting of Whitey Sorkin is the same one that had Hal "popping Nunhagen compulsively until his ears started ringing" when it appeared in the advertisement for Nunhagen Aspirin Co. created by Viney and Veals Advertising. See footnote 162.

2500-IU ampule
IUs are international units, which converts to metric depending on the substance.

transvestals
i.e., transvestites

Not sure this is relevant, but the word also contains vestal, as in the Roman priestess, quite the opposite (trans-) of what these people are.

Sorkin had given Bobby C. free rain
Could be a misspelling of free rein (permission to do as he pleases), but it could also be a pun since Bobby C. is effectively getting rain (massive amounts of drugs) for free.

Page 978

Endnote 386

Exocet
a type of missile

antagonists
a drug that acts against an agonist, i.e., a drug that stimulates a certain receptor

Page 978 (cont'd)

Linda McCartney
Linda Louise, Lady McCartney (1941-1998) was an American photographer and wife of Beatle Paul McCartney (born 1943).

"....somebody had taken an old disk of McCartney and Wings [...] and run it through a Kurtzweil remixer and removed every track on the songs except the tracks of poor old Mrs. Linda McCartney singing backup and playing tambourine"
An alleged isolated vocal track of Linda McCartney singing along to "Hey Jude" at a concert did circulate, but the production itself may have been a hoax. For more, see here. Kurtzweil appears to be a misspelling of Kurzweil, referring to Ray Kurzweil, an inventor in audio and speech technologies, artificial intelligence, and futurist author. See [13].

Endnote 387

pentazocine
a synethetic opioid painkiller

Endnote 387a

dysmenorrhea
pre-menstrual syndrome and/or painful periods

PX
with a pharmaceutical as part of the name, it means it contains pentazocine

Page 979

hot shot
an injection intended to kill

Page 980

ditty
a little song

Page 981

"...the one about ultraviolence and sadism."
Gately is thinking of Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film "A Clockwork Orange."

"...the last thing Gately saw was an Oriental bearing down with the held square and he looked into the square and saw clearly a reflection of his own big square pale head with its eyes closing as the floor finally pounced."
See page 934: "He dreams he looks in a mirror and sees nothing and keeps trying to clean the mirror with his sleeve."

top of page


Retrieved from "https://wallacewiki.com/david-foster-wallace/index.php?title=Pages_964-981&oldid=3493"
Personal tools