ATD 119-148
Contents
Page 122
dazzle-painting
A camouflage painting technique used on WWI ships. Link: [1]
Page 123
Igor Padzhitnoff
The whole passage that introduces the rival airship captain is a play on Tetris. Igor's surname is similar to that of the creator of Tetris, Alexey Pazhitnov. Also, the captain himself flies a ship called "The Great Game" and drops "bricks and masonry, always in the four-block fragments which had become his "signature," to fall on and damage targets designated by his superiors."
Tovarishchi Slutchainyi Translates as Comrades of Cheney (according to Ande on Pynchon-L) "...notorious for promoting wherever in the world they choose a program of mischief..."
Page 126
Étienne-Louis Malus
Etienne-Louis Malus (July 23, 1775 – February 24, 1812) was a French officer, engineer, physicist, and mathematician. Wikipedia Entry
Malus is best known for his law describing intensity of light as it passes through polarized materials. There are delicious metaphorical implications for any reader of a Pynchon novel.
Page 133
Ynglingsaga
See also Ynglinga Saga, or the story of the ancient Norse kings. Wikipedia entry
... even of days not yet transpired.
Reminiscent of the Borges short story "The Library of Babel" about an "infinite library" which contains every possible book.
Page 146
lines
The description of the single-file line at the train station basically describes current security conditions at American airports. A single line (i.e. linear thinking) does not seem to be a 'positive' in the Pynchon world.
