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Re: TT-3: more on pencils (fwd)/plumbeous (fwd)
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------------------ I enjoyed John Rea's message regarding the penis/pencil
play, and I wonder if there is any significance in some associations from
_Lolita_. For the record, HH refers to Lolita's 'plumbaceous umbrae'
(p.111, Annotated; 4th paragraph, Chapter 27, Part One). I don't know if
this is a
neologism. Also, HH has a special drink he calls his 'pin'.
But perhaps more relevant to the sexual analogy than the above and in
the same vein as John's theory is the first paragraph, which talks of
the middle drawer being 'reinserted'. Then, Hugh tries to 'woggle it
in', after which it 'shot out' and 'spilled a pencil'.
Brian Howell
On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 19:44:14 -0700, John Rea <j.rea@insightbb.com>
> ------------------
> A side note, of some delicatesse which should be skipped by
> those with tender ears or minds, and in a sense continuing
> some thoughts of DBJ arising from scrabble.
>
> Etymologically, the word "pencil" derives from the Latin word
> "penis", meaning.... Thus we do not need to disturb sleeping
> Dr Frau"d, to consider the overtones of this scene where
> after a bit of jogging P... pops up from its drawer (singular
> here). It's color seems to vay from lilac to plum (close
> enough to the mauve of Ada), and the disperal of "atoms" from
> which causes a panic.
>
> While we are on this track, we should note another bit of in-
> formation that may help as we read on, or look back a Ada.
> In French, the word for the tree "pine" is in fact "pin",
> homophonous with French "pain" bread. Back in the middle ages
> a pine cone was "pine": but this got used in slang to mean
> "penis" as early as Roman de la Rose, and greatly in Rabelais,
> whose attractiveness to N needs consideration. In a mood of
> 'personalizing' this appendage, it is jocularly referred to
> as "Christian Pines" whom we shall encounter further on.
> N notes that he no longer used American settings, since he was
> losing touch with Americal slang. He has kept in touch with
> French Argot, however.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> John
>
>
>
> > From: Akiko Nakata <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Subject: TT-3
> >
> >
> >
>
> > (4) colors: following the mnemoptical trick in the previous chapter,
> > this chapter enfolds the delicate variation of shades: "dyed a dingy
> > lilac," "The bare wood of its tapered end has darkened to plumbeous
> > plum, thus merging in tint with the blunt tip of graphite," "we could
> > trace the complicated fate of the shavings, each mauve on one side and
> > tan on the other when fresh."
> >
>
> > (6) when pencil lead was discovered: An unusually pure deposit of
> > graphite, thought to be a type of lead, was discovered in Borrowdale,
> > England, in 1564. German Swiss naturalist Konrad von Gesner first
> > described how it could be used in a wooden holder for writing in 1565
> > (from Brian Boyd's notes to the LOA edition).
> > The Cumberland Pencil Museum is in Keswick, an old market town near
> > Borrowdale. The history of pencils etc. are on their website
> > (http://www.pencils.co.uk/p_history.asp).
> >
> > (7) we see graphite, ground very fine. . .: Koh-I-Noor Pencil Company
> > published a pamphlet HOW THE PENCIL IS MADE in 1936. A part of it
> > resembles this passage. In fact, VN learned the details of manufacturing
> > pencils from a Montreux stationer (VNAY 577). I am tempted to imagine
> > that the stationer read from the pamphlet to VN. A part of the pamphlet
> > is printed as "Appendix A" to Henry Petroski, THE PENCIL (Knopf, 1992).
> >
> >
> >
> > ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
> >
> >
> >
> > D. Barton Johnson
> > NABOKV-L
> >
>
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L