Placing upon the word "book" an emphasis whose level of contempt can be approached perhaps only by Executive Officers.
* * * * * * * * * *
It's a good thing I'm calling this blog "One Line at a Time" and not "One Sentence at a Time" because then how would I quantify sentence fragments? How many demerits does Lindsay Noseworth get for being the missing subject in this sentence fragment?! Somebody needs to swing him by the ankles over the side of the Inconvenience.
I know! It's not fair to blame Lindsay for something Pynchon did! But have you heard the old parental saying, "Life is not fair. Proof of concept: I had you." Man, that one always stings, right?
This might be the first sentence I don't truly understand. I mean, I get that Lindsay said the word book with contempt. As if this book (or all books?) were a despicable thing that Pugnax is wasting his time pretending to read. But the description of how much contempt he put into saying it doesn't mean anything to me. I guess Executive Officers (in this case, literally the second-in-command) are thoroughly contemptuous creatures? But why is this? Is this something that only somebody who has been in the military can understand? Is it because they enjoy the power of their position while also being resentful that they're not in absolute control? If only I'd known one Executive Officer in my life so I could read this sentence and nod my head knowingly while saying, "Totes McGoats!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Postscript: Could it be that Lindsay's contempt of books has something to do with the conservative mindsest that books (and thus education) poison the minds of the young, thus leading to things like beliefs in equal rights and workers' rights and social justice and compassion and empathy and the belief that life isn't something that needs to be earned or must be allowed by those whose families have stolen the most capital over time? Is it because ideas about making life better for everybody can be spread via books and it is the control of ideas that is at the forefront of an authoritarian system?
No comments:
Post a Comment