Great chapter, great summary. It's an interesting question you raise, is Pointsman evil? He is definitely presented in a way that generates more identification and sympathy from the reader, even if only we spend so much time in his head, we can start to see the world a little bit as he does it. And yet he lets slip a deep desire for violence, an inner monstrousness, where you realize that he would do anything for his "science," and really wants to in a way that reminds me of Israel Keyes or Dexter.
interesting that for Pointsman the Nobel Prize makes Stockholm his Mecca. It makes me reflect on the power of the first ever great oil fortune of Alfred Nobel and his decision to endow a prize that would be used to guide all of the sciences down specific and sometimes narrowly-defined paths
Just dumping from the Pynchon wiki here
142.32 Reichssieger von Thantatz Alpdrucken
The name of the dog that Pointsman seeks translates loosely as "Realm of Victory over the Nightmare of Death." or "The Reich's Deadly Night-terror Champion."
It's really wonderful, the balancing between his human traits and then when he says something like, "Oh but how he'd like someday to give them something really to scream about. . . ."
It's another one of Pynchon's hints at the evil hidden within much of modern science. And it's so damn good.
Thanks for that translation! I didn't translate that myself so it's quite interesting to see. Gonna have to think on that.
Great chapter, great summary. It's an interesting question you raise, is Pointsman evil? He is definitely presented in a way that generates more identification and sympathy from the reader, even if only we spend so much time in his head, we can start to see the world a little bit as he does it. And yet he lets slip a deep desire for violence, an inner monstrousness, where you realize that he would do anything for his "science," and really wants to in a way that reminds me of Israel Keyes or Dexter.
interesting that for Pointsman the Nobel Prize makes Stockholm his Mecca. It makes me reflect on the power of the first ever great oil fortune of Alfred Nobel and his decision to endow a prize that would be used to guide all of the sciences down specific and sometimes narrowly-defined paths
Just dumping from the Pynchon wiki here
142.32 Reichssieger von Thantatz Alpdrucken
The name of the dog that Pointsman seeks translates loosely as "Realm of Victory over the Nightmare of Death." or "The Reich's Deadly Night-terror Champion."
It's really wonderful, the balancing between his human traits and then when he says something like, "Oh but how he'd like someday to give them something really to scream about. . . ."
It's another one of Pynchon's hints at the evil hidden within much of modern science. And it's so damn good.
Thanks for that translation! I didn't translate that myself so it's quite interesting to see. Gonna have to think on that.