Subject
Fw: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3564 PALE FIRE Lemniscate
From
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 12:00 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3564
>
> pynchon-l-digest Wednesday, September 24 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3564
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
> Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 08:38:20 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPR: Commentary Line 137 Lemniscate
>
> On
> > Behalf Of Michael Joseph
>
> >
> > Not having yet seen a compelling explanation for why a lemniscate should
> > so enrapture Shade ("the miracle of a lemniscate"),
>
> I'm snipping for the sake of space, but this is great stuff, Michael; I
> especially like the lemniscate as mitosis idea. My understanding of
Shade's
> joy in it had been as a natural pattern from which a spiritual component
can
> be derived, as in this quote from Max Heindel:
>
> "Humanity as a whole is slowly progressing upon the path of evolution,
thus
> very slowly, almost imperceptibly, attaining higher and higher states of
> consciousness. The path of evolution is a spiral when we regard it from
the
> physical side only, but a lemniscate when viewed in both its physical and
> spiritual phases. [...]
>
> "In the lemniscate, or figure 8, there are two circles which converge to a
> central point, which circles may be taken to symbolize the immortal
spirit,
> the evolving ego. One of the circles signifies its life in the physical
> world from birth to death. [...]
>
> "The objective work of physical existence over, the race run, and the day
of
> action spent, the ego enters upon the subjective work of assimilation
> accomplished during its sojourn in the invisible worlds, which it
traverses
> during the period from death to birth, symbolized by the other ring of the
> lemniscate."
>
>
http://www.polachek.net/library/Heindel/Heindel,%20Max%20-%20Gleanings%20of%
> 20a%20Mystic.pdf
>
> Incidentally, Heindel himself may offer some parallels:
>
> Heindel (1865-1919), "the greatest western mystic of the twentieth
century,"
> was a pseudonym for Carl Louis Von Grasshoff, born to a royal family
> connected to the Court of Prince Bismark. He changed his name when he
> emigrated to America. [You see where I'm going with this.] When he was
> eight, Carl lived in Copenhagen where he had an accident while jumping
over
> a ditch; his left foot was injured and he would limp for most of the rest
of
> his life (see p. 133 "The pool of opalescent ditch water had grown in
> length; along its edge walked a sick bat like a cripple with a broken
> umbrella"; see also pp. 135-136 where this bat is linked to Gradus). In
> 1884 he moved to Glasgow and worked as a tobacconist on Argyle Street (see
> Lady Anne Campbell, the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle). Later he
> emigrated alone to America (leaving his wife and four children in
Denmark).
>
> http://rosicrucianzine.tripod.com/max_heindel.htm
> http://correiorosacruz.netfirms.com/max_heindel.htm
>
> Almost certainly irrelevant is that Heindel's father, Francois Grasshoff,
> was a master baker who died in a boiler explosion in his own bakery, which
> is how the Great Fire of London started more than 200 years earlier under
> the reign of Charles II. Also irrelevant but interesting is that Heindel
> married the daughter of a boilermaker.
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 08:58:32 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPR: Commentary Line 137 Lemniscate
>
> The lemniscate in Shade's poem is left by "nonchalantly deft bicycle
tires"
> on wet sand. So (distancing myself from assertions here):
>
> 1) Is the pattern created deliberately or by accident? How? By lying the
> bicycle down on its side? By riding it in a figure 8? Or through
spinning
> the front wheel alone in two circles?
>
> 2) Sand implies a beach, which is another border zone, a cusp between
> natural elements of earth and water. (Like a bicircular intersection?)
>
> 3) Remembering some anagrams for Kinbote: I BE KNOT, BE KIN TO, BIKE NOT
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 7:36 PM
> > Subject: Fw: Dmitri Nabokov comments on recent NABOKV-L postings
> >
> >
> > Message
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Dmitri
> > To: D. Barton Johnson
> > Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 3:29 PM
> > Subject: finis
> >
> >
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > As I prepare to emerge from the hospital after a couple of operations, I
> > dictate this letter by phone. If there are any typos this time my
secretary
> > will be deprived of her afternoon cookie for a week. My own sin was
having
> > possibly misconstrued the erudite Mr. Morris's use of the expression
> > "nothing if not a linguistic showoff." After quite a few decades of US
> > citizenship and some lecturing at US universities, young Master Nabokov
does
> > happen to know the American vernacular nuance of this locution,
something on
> > the order of "if you strip Nabokov of all his medals, he will still be a
> > linguistic showoff."
> >
> > I am happy to accept Jansy Etcetera's epithets, since "a gauche white
> > knight" sounds like a rare species indeed. But JE's sense of proportion
is a
> > little off. A check of the file will reveal that I have devoted a good
bit
> > more time and printer ink to answering questions and providing
interesting
> > tidbits and graphics than charging at windmills in my father's defense.
> > Whether or not I defend him, or someone attempts to demean him, I doubt
that
> > his status in the literary macrocosm will change much. I think it was
the
> > kind and perceptive Tim Strzechowski who observed that I do know
interesting
> > things about my parents that others may not know. But contrary to what
Jansy
> > Etcetera somewhat bombastically suggests, I have never taken myself as
the
> > highest scholarly authority on VN (if that is JE's meaning). There are
some
> > outstanding specialists: Johnson, Dolinin, Nicol, Parker, to name a few,
and
> > especially Brian Boyd. In fact, the latter's stunning expertise on ADA,
> > which has continued to develop ever since he came to see my mother and
me in
> > Montreux on the wings of his doctoral thesis -- a visit that led to the
> > writing of the only Nabokov biography worthy of the name -- now prompts
me
> > to extend to him a public invitation: to write an introduction, and
perhaps
> > provide his existing notes, for a new Russian translation of ADA, the
first,
> > perhaps, to be worthy of its name. An exceptional introduction is sorely
> > needed to counterbalance certain Russian hacks, the worst of whom, not
long
> > ago, goofed again while introducing a barely recognizable ADA. Yes, I
mean
> > the same worthy gentleman who claimed, in a recent, unposted literary
> > harangue, that the report of my death in some Russian gazette voided any
> > claim against a major Nabokov piracy of his.
> >
> > I am glad that the boobstorm has abated; that interesting discussions of
> > Pynchon and Nabokov have resumed on the P-List; that an absorbing ADA
> > dialogue between Don and Brian, set off partly by the Showoff
Shenanigans,
> > continues to delight and enlighten us on the N-List; and that I have
ceased
> > to be the target of an arsenal -- or half-arsenal -- of infantile
invective.
> >
> > With my best wishes to all,
> >
> > DN
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 14:50:43 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Michael Joseph <mjoseph@rci.rutgers.edu>
> Subject: RE: NPPR: Commentary Line 137 Lemniscate
>
> Jasper,
>
> Your reading of lemniscate makes sense to me, "a natural pattern from
> which a spiritual component can be derived," and it even adds a Yeatsian
> dimension (by pinching in the invisible boundary between the two circles
> we get interpenetrating cones). What would you say to the idea that,
> rather than denoting a distinct realm of the supernatural, the spiritual
> component is as such specifically derived within the creative interpretive
> act, that it achieves spirituality because it validates the quality of
> creativity? (Maybe this is saying, the genius of the text validates the
> reader who understands it, however he understands it, and, hence both
> author and respondent tend to be consensually validating, and, in each
> case, the other part of the lemniscate is hypothetical, the reader
> hypothesizes an author, the author hypothesizes a reader.) The lemniscate
> models two touching (hermeneutic) circles. Sorry if this is jumbled
> together. I have to run off now and draw up a list of books to rip out of
> the hands of grieving orphans.
>
> Incidentally, I just love the Heinidel. In Kinbote's projection of Gradus
> in his gloss of 131-132, he also gives him an umbrella.
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 23 Sep 2003, Jasper Fidget wrote:
>
> > On
> > > Behalf Of Michael Joseph
> >
> > >
> > > Not having yet seen a compelling explanation for why a lemniscate
should
> > > so enrapture Shade ("the miracle of a lemniscate"),
> >
> > I'm snipping for the sake of space, but this is great stuff, Michael; I
> > especially like the lemniscate as mitosis idea. My understanding of
Shade's
> > joy in it had been as a natural pattern from which a spiritual component
can
> > be derived, as in this quote from Max Heindel:
> >
> > "Humanity as a whole is slowly progressing upon the path of evolution,
thus
> > very slowly, almost imperceptibly, attaining higher and higher states of
> > consciousness. The path of evolution is a spiral when we regard it from
the
> > physical side only, but a lemniscate when viewed in both its physical
and
> > spiritual phases. [...]
> >
> > "In the lemniscate, or figure 8, there are two circles which converge to
a
> > central point, which circles may be taken to symbolize the immortal
spirit,
> > the evolving ego. One of the circles signifies its life in the physical
> > world from birth to death. [...]
> >
> > "The objective work of physical existence over, the race run, and the
day of
> > action spent, the ego enters upon the subjective work of assimilation
> > accomplished during its sojourn in the invisible worlds, which it
traverses
> > during the period from death to birth, symbolized by the other ring of
the
> > lemniscate."
> >
> >
http://www.polachek.net/library/Heindel/Heindel,%20Max%20-%20Gleanings%20of%
> > 20a%20Mystic.pdf
> >
> > Incidentally, Heindel himself may offer some parallels:
> >
> > Heindel (1865-1919), "the greatest western mystic of the twentieth
century,"
> > was a pseudonym for Carl Louis Von Grasshoff, born to a royal family
> > connected to the Court of Prince Bismark. He changed his name when he
> > emigrated to America. [You see where I'm going with this.] When he was
> > eight, Carl lived in Copenhagen where he had an accident while jumping
over
> > a ditch; his left foot was injured and he would limp for most of the
rest of
> > his life (see p. 133 "The pool of opalescent ditch water had grown in
> > length; along its edge walked a sick bat like a cripple with a broken
> > umbrella"; see also pp. 135-136 where this bat is linked to Gradus). In
> > 1884 he moved to Glasgow and worked as a tobacconist on Argyle Street
(see
> > Lady Anne Campbell, the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle). Later he
> > emigrated alone to America (leaving his wife and four children in
Denmark).
> >
> > http://rosicrucianzine.tripod.com/max_heindel.htm
> > http://correiorosacruz.netfirms.com/max_heindel.htm
> >
> > Almost certainly irrelevant is that Heindel's father, Francois
Grasshoff,
> > was a master baker who died in a boiler explosion in his own bakery,
which
> > is how the Great Fire of London started more than 200 years earlier
under
> > the reign of Charles II. Also irrelevant but interesting is that
Heindel
> > married the daughter of a boilermaker.
> >
> > Jasper Fidget
> >
> >
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3564
> ********************************
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 12:00 AM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3564
>
> pynchon-l-digest Wednesday, September 24 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3564
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
> Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 08:38:20 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPR: Commentary Line 137 Lemniscate
>
> On
> > Behalf Of Michael Joseph
>
> >
> > Not having yet seen a compelling explanation for why a lemniscate should
> > so enrapture Shade ("the miracle of a lemniscate"),
>
> I'm snipping for the sake of space, but this is great stuff, Michael; I
> especially like the lemniscate as mitosis idea. My understanding of
Shade's
> joy in it had been as a natural pattern from which a spiritual component
can
> be derived, as in this quote from Max Heindel:
>
> "Humanity as a whole is slowly progressing upon the path of evolution,
thus
> very slowly, almost imperceptibly, attaining higher and higher states of
> consciousness. The path of evolution is a spiral when we regard it from
the
> physical side only, but a lemniscate when viewed in both its physical and
> spiritual phases. [...]
>
> "In the lemniscate, or figure 8, there are two circles which converge to a
> central point, which circles may be taken to symbolize the immortal
spirit,
> the evolving ego. One of the circles signifies its life in the physical
> world from birth to death. [...]
>
> "The objective work of physical existence over, the race run, and the day
of
> action spent, the ego enters upon the subjective work of assimilation
> accomplished during its sojourn in the invisible worlds, which it
traverses
> during the period from death to birth, symbolized by the other ring of the
> lemniscate."
>
>
http://www.polachek.net/library/Heindel/Heindel,%20Max%20-%20Gleanings%20of%
> 20a%20Mystic.pdf
>
> Incidentally, Heindel himself may offer some parallels:
>
> Heindel (1865-1919), "the greatest western mystic of the twentieth
century,"
> was a pseudonym for Carl Louis Von Grasshoff, born to a royal family
> connected to the Court of Prince Bismark. He changed his name when he
> emigrated to America. [You see where I'm going with this.] When he was
> eight, Carl lived in Copenhagen where he had an accident while jumping
over
> a ditch; his left foot was injured and he would limp for most of the rest
of
> his life (see p. 133 "The pool of opalescent ditch water had grown in
> length; along its edge walked a sick bat like a cripple with a broken
> umbrella"; see also pp. 135-136 where this bat is linked to Gradus). In
> 1884 he moved to Glasgow and worked as a tobacconist on Argyle Street (see
> Lady Anne Campbell, the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle). Later he
> emigrated alone to America (leaving his wife and four children in
Denmark).
>
> http://rosicrucianzine.tripod.com/max_heindel.htm
> http://correiorosacruz.netfirms.com/max_heindel.htm
>
> Almost certainly irrelevant is that Heindel's father, Francois Grasshoff,
> was a master baker who died in a boiler explosion in his own bakery, which
> is how the Great Fire of London started more than 200 years earlier under
> the reign of Charles II. Also irrelevant but interesting is that Heindel
> married the daughter of a boilermaker.
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 08:58:32 -0400
> From: "Jasper Fidget" <fakename@verizon.net>
> Subject: RE: NPPR: Commentary Line 137 Lemniscate
>
> The lemniscate in Shade's poem is left by "nonchalantly deft bicycle
tires"
> on wet sand. So (distancing myself from assertions here):
>
> 1) Is the pattern created deliberately or by accident? How? By lying the
> bicycle down on its side? By riding it in a figure 8? Or through
spinning
> the front wheel alone in two circles?
>
> 2) Sand implies a beach, which is another border zone, a cusp between
> natural elements of earth and water. (Like a bicircular intersection?)
>
> 3) Remembering some anagrams for Kinbote: I BE KNOT, BE KIN TO, BIKE NOT
>
> Jasper Fidget
>
> ------------------------------
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 7:36 PM
> > Subject: Fw: Dmitri Nabokov comments on recent NABOKV-L postings
> >
> >
> > Message
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Dmitri
> > To: D. Barton Johnson
> > Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 3:29 PM
> > Subject: finis
> >
> >
> > Dear Friends,
> >
> > As I prepare to emerge from the hospital after a couple of operations, I
> > dictate this letter by phone. If there are any typos this time my
secretary
> > will be deprived of her afternoon cookie for a week. My own sin was
having
> > possibly misconstrued the erudite Mr. Morris's use of the expression
> > "nothing if not a linguistic showoff." After quite a few decades of US
> > citizenship and some lecturing at US universities, young Master Nabokov
does
> > happen to know the American vernacular nuance of this locution,
something on
> > the order of "if you strip Nabokov of all his medals, he will still be a
> > linguistic showoff."
> >
> > I am happy to accept Jansy Etcetera's epithets, since "a gauche white
> > knight" sounds like a rare species indeed. But JE's sense of proportion
is a
> > little off. A check of the file will reveal that I have devoted a good
bit
> > more time and printer ink to answering questions and providing
interesting
> > tidbits and graphics than charging at windmills in my father's defense.
> > Whether or not I defend him, or someone attempts to demean him, I doubt
that
> > his status in the literary macrocosm will change much. I think it was
the
> > kind and perceptive Tim Strzechowski who observed that I do know
interesting
> > things about my parents that others may not know. But contrary to what
Jansy
> > Etcetera somewhat bombastically suggests, I have never taken myself as
the
> > highest scholarly authority on VN (if that is JE's meaning). There are
some
> > outstanding specialists: Johnson, Dolinin, Nicol, Parker, to name a few,
and
> > especially Brian Boyd. In fact, the latter's stunning expertise on ADA,
> > which has continued to develop ever since he came to see my mother and
me in
> > Montreux on the wings of his doctoral thesis -- a visit that led to the
> > writing of the only Nabokov biography worthy of the name -- now prompts
me
> > to extend to him a public invitation: to write an introduction, and
perhaps
> > provide his existing notes, for a new Russian translation of ADA, the
first,
> > perhaps, to be worthy of its name. An exceptional introduction is sorely
> > needed to counterbalance certain Russian hacks, the worst of whom, not
long
> > ago, goofed again while introducing a barely recognizable ADA. Yes, I
mean
> > the same worthy gentleman who claimed, in a recent, unposted literary
> > harangue, that the report of my death in some Russian gazette voided any
> > claim against a major Nabokov piracy of his.
> >
> > I am glad that the boobstorm has abated; that interesting discussions of
> > Pynchon and Nabokov have resumed on the P-List; that an absorbing ADA
> > dialogue between Don and Brian, set off partly by the Showoff
Shenanigans,
> > continues to delight and enlighten us on the N-List; and that I have
ceased
> > to be the target of an arsenal -- or half-arsenal -- of infantile
invective.
> >
> > With my best wishes to all,
> >
> > DN
> >
> >
>
> ------------------------------
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 14:50:43 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Michael Joseph <mjoseph@rci.rutgers.edu>
> Subject: RE: NPPR: Commentary Line 137 Lemniscate
>
> Jasper,
>
> Your reading of lemniscate makes sense to me, "a natural pattern from
> which a spiritual component can be derived," and it even adds a Yeatsian
> dimension (by pinching in the invisible boundary between the two circles
> we get interpenetrating cones). What would you say to the idea that,
> rather than denoting a distinct realm of the supernatural, the spiritual
> component is as such specifically derived within the creative interpretive
> act, that it achieves spirituality because it validates the quality of
> creativity? (Maybe this is saying, the genius of the text validates the
> reader who understands it, however he understands it, and, hence both
> author and respondent tend to be consensually validating, and, in each
> case, the other part of the lemniscate is hypothetical, the reader
> hypothesizes an author, the author hypothesizes a reader.) The lemniscate
> models two touching (hermeneutic) circles. Sorry if this is jumbled
> together. I have to run off now and draw up a list of books to rip out of
> the hands of grieving orphans.
>
> Incidentally, I just love the Heinidel. In Kinbote's projection of Gradus
> in his gloss of 131-132, he also gives him an umbrella.
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 23 Sep 2003, Jasper Fidget wrote:
>
> > On
> > > Behalf Of Michael Joseph
> >
> > >
> > > Not having yet seen a compelling explanation for why a lemniscate
should
> > > so enrapture Shade ("the miracle of a lemniscate"),
> >
> > I'm snipping for the sake of space, but this is great stuff, Michael; I
> > especially like the lemniscate as mitosis idea. My understanding of
Shade's
> > joy in it had been as a natural pattern from which a spiritual component
can
> > be derived, as in this quote from Max Heindel:
> >
> > "Humanity as a whole is slowly progressing upon the path of evolution,
thus
> > very slowly, almost imperceptibly, attaining higher and higher states of
> > consciousness. The path of evolution is a spiral when we regard it from
the
> > physical side only, but a lemniscate when viewed in both its physical
and
> > spiritual phases. [...]
> >
> > "In the lemniscate, or figure 8, there are two circles which converge to
a
> > central point, which circles may be taken to symbolize the immortal
spirit,
> > the evolving ego. One of the circles signifies its life in the physical
> > world from birth to death. [...]
> >
> > "The objective work of physical existence over, the race run, and the
day of
> > action spent, the ego enters upon the subjective work of assimilation
> > accomplished during its sojourn in the invisible worlds, which it
traverses
> > during the period from death to birth, symbolized by the other ring of
the
> > lemniscate."
> >
> >
http://www.polachek.net/library/Heindel/Heindel,%20Max%20-%20Gleanings%20of%
> > 20a%20Mystic.pdf
> >
> > Incidentally, Heindel himself may offer some parallels:
> >
> > Heindel (1865-1919), "the greatest western mystic of the twentieth
century,"
> > was a pseudonym for Carl Louis Von Grasshoff, born to a royal family
> > connected to the Court of Prince Bismark. He changed his name when he
> > emigrated to America. [You see where I'm going with this.] When he was
> > eight, Carl lived in Copenhagen where he had an accident while jumping
over
> > a ditch; his left foot was injured and he would limp for most of the
rest of
> > his life (see p. 133 "The pool of opalescent ditch water had grown in
> > length; along its edge walked a sick bat like a cripple with a broken
> > umbrella"; see also pp. 135-136 where this bat is linked to Gradus). In
> > 1884 he moved to Glasgow and worked as a tobacconist on Argyle Street
(see
> > Lady Anne Campbell, the daughter of the Marquis of Argyle). Later he
> > emigrated alone to America (leaving his wife and four children in
Denmark).
> >
> > http://rosicrucianzine.tripod.com/max_heindel.htm
> > http://correiorosacruz.netfirms.com/max_heindel.htm
> >
> > Almost certainly irrelevant is that Heindel's father, Francois
Grasshoff,
> > was a master baker who died in a boiler explosion in his own bakery,
which
> > is how the Great Fire of London started more than 200 years earlier
under
> > the reign of Charles II. Also irrelevant but interesting is that
Heindel
> > married the daughter of a boilermaker.
> >
> > Jasper Fidget
> >
> >
>
> End of pynchon-l-digest V2 #3564
> ********************************