Chapter 60: Jenny was a Friend of Mine!
In this chapter, in which Reef, Cyprian, and Yashmeen fall into a ménage-a-trois, the novel seems to be lurching towards its conclusion.
I must comment on one of Pynchon’s names here—Jenny Invert. This classmate of Ratty and Cyprian’s is “That girl from Nether Wallop, Hants, three feet taller than you’s I recall, wizard trapshooter, president of the Inanimate Bird Association chapter down there” (866). Invert is a term that has a history as a pejorative for a homosexual, so we might assume Jenny is a lesbian. But there is also the famous 1824 stamp which shows an inverted JN-4 (Jenny) air plane (actually a bi-plane—Sic!).
Summary: Cyprian and his former bedmate, the prince Spongiatosta, end-up plotting their matchmaker’s (Theign’s) demise, and Cyprian ends up invited to the Prince’s ball. The deed, Theign’s execution, is accomplished by the Croation assassins, and the three-way begins at the Ball.
Ten chapters to go. At the current pace, about another month.
I must comment on one of Pynchon’s names here—Jenny Invert. This classmate of Ratty and Cyprian’s is “That girl from Nether Wallop, Hants, three feet taller than you’s I recall, wizard trapshooter, president of the Inanimate Bird Association chapter down there” (866). Invert is a term that has a history as a pejorative for a homosexual, so we might assume Jenny is a lesbian. But there is also the famous 1824 stamp which shows an inverted JN-4 (Jenny) air plane (actually a bi-plane—Sic!).
Summary: Cyprian and his former bedmate, the prince Spongiatosta, end-up plotting their matchmaker’s (Theign’s) demise, and Cyprian ends up invited to the Prince’s ball. The deed, Theign’s execution, is accomplished by the Croation assassins, and the three-way begins at the Ball.
Ten chapters to go. At the current pace, about another month.
posted by Stevens Amidon at 4:23 AM
1 Comments:
A most vivid glimpse into human sexuality as only Pynchon can provide, right up there with Brigadier Pudding among others. Another one of Pynchon's cross-novel threads that always seems to walk on the wild side. I often wonder who old Tom is writing for; the reader or himself.
These puns and colorings splash the characters to life like an over-turned can of paint. How else would he populate his landscapes? Never a dull moment.
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