ATD 864-891

Revision as of 15:00, 25 January 2007 by Ianbentley (Talk | contribs) (Page 865)

Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.


Page XX

Sample entry
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Page 864

Page 865

cicerone
Guide, especially for a single woman - the root of the word 'chaperone'.

Inglesi
Italian: Englishmen.

Page 866

Jenny Invert
???

Inanimate Bird Association
Concerned with clay pigeons, i.e., trapshooting.

Oca ti jebem
Macedonian: I fuck your father.

Giles Piprake
Is he aping Chico Marx?

Page 867

remember not to wear yellow
???

valletto
Italian: valet, attendant.

Facciam' il porco
???

Il mio ragazzo è molto geloso
Italian: My little guy is very jealous.

Qualsiasi, Ciprianino
Italian: Whatever, little Cyprian.

Bugatti
Carlo Bugatti (1856-1940), world-famous furniture designer from Milan.

Page 868

corno
The "horned" cap worn by Doges of Venice.

lo stato
???

Page 869

salizzada
???

Page 870

gibanica
Croatian: a rolled pastry filled with cheese or fruit.

kadulja
Croatian, literally: garden sage.

coastal Čakavština
Speech of a region in coastal Croatia.

Page 870

Page 871

bàcari
???

formulæ
Spells.

Page 872

Altezza
Italian: Highness.

Page 873

Page 874

Page 875

Page 876

gentleman ops
A tradition in thrillers. Bulldog Drummond and Tommy Hambledon are just two in the crowd.

dittoes
"A suit of dittoes" is an outfit of coat, vest (waistcoat) and trousers from the same fabric.

Page 877

Page 878

brisance
A French word now fully adopted in English. In the context of explosives it means "shattering power."

Page 879

the least clairvoyante
The (woman) friend least able to exercise occult powers such as seeing the future.

Page 880

Carnesalve
If Carnevale means "goodbye to meat" (beginning of the Lenten fast), Carnesalve means "hello there, meat!"

Signori di Notte
Italian: night lords.

Page 881

Parma violets
A delicate variety of the flower produced in the Italian city. The blossoms are sometimes sold candied, too.

loggie
Plural of loggia. Italian: theater box or similar feature in a formal room.

Page 882

amoretti
Italian: "Cupids" used as space fillers or decorative elements.

tesoro
Italian: treasure.

Quickly now ....
The conception described here is technically immaculate: Reef fulfills the role of the Father, Yashmeen that of Mary, and Cyprian that of the Holy Ghost.

fellatrice
Italian: fellatrix (denoting Cyprian's role, not his physiology).

Page 883

Page 884

Page 885

nasal intrusion
Sticking one's nose into something.

chavalitos
Spanish: kids.

Page 886

Grand Army of the Matrimonial Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic comprised Union veterans of the American Civil War. Its heyday came around 1890-1910.

Page 887

Page 888

[T]he dream came and found him...
Reef's contribution to the hallucination/dream motif previously referenced in the Traverse sections of the novel. The color yellow seems to be significant here and elsewhere, especially coded to Webb Traverse. [More forthcoming]

          In the dream they were no longer in the ghostly canyons of the McElmo but in the city, not Venice but noplace American either, with an umappable operational endlessless (sic) to its streets, the same ancient, disquieting pictures engraved on its walls as back in the McElmo, spelling out a story whose pitiless truth couldn't be admitted officially by the authorities here because of the danger to the public sanity.... It was darker out here than he had any idea of. In the distance Reef caught sight of a procession of miners in their long rubber coats, only one of them, about halfway along, with the candle stub in his hat lit. Like postulants in habits, they proceeded single file down a narrow street like a humid drift lit back or front by a yellow lamp. As Reef came closer he saw the bearer of the light was Webb.
        "Small victories," Webb greeted him. "Just to come away with one or two. To praise and to honor the small victories where and however they happen."
        "Hasn't been too many of them lately, Pa," Reef tried to say.
        "Not talking about yours, you numbskull."

        Understanding that this was Webb's attempt to pass on another message, like up the séance in the Alps, Reef saw just for one lucid instant that this was the precise intelligence he needed to get him back to where he had wandered off the trail, so long ago. And then he was awake and trying to remember why it was important.

remy 13:15, 28 December 2006 (PST)

Bagni di Lucca
Notable only because of the similarity in name to Banjaluka (or Banja Luka), Croatia, mentioned on page 834.

homeopathic principle
Like cures like. To alleviate an allergy, according to homeopathic doctrine, administer the allergen in an exceedingly dilute form.

Page 889

Say surly topple
You can't help thinking Reef does this on purpose. French C'est sur la table: It's on the table.

pasta asciutta
Pasta dish with potatoes and green beans.

pasta fazool
Officially pasta e fagioli; "fazool" imitates the pronunciation in a regional dialect of Italian. Pasta with cannellini beans.

Page 890

al dente
Italian, literally: resisting the tooth. Fully cooked but not yet rendered gluey.

línea del fuego
Spanish: line of (the) fire. This may be a naive translation of "firing line" or "line of fire" (note the satisfying ambiguity); línea de tiro seems to be preferred.

Page 891

bal musette
French: dance hall.

in some auxiliary sense . . . his own
This suggests—and the timing, as best I can make out, does not contradict—that the child was conceived in the encounter at Carnesalve (page 881). --Volver 15:39, 23 January 2007 (PST)

Annotation Index

Part One:
The Light Over the Ranges

1-25, 26-56, 57-80, 81-96, 97-118

Part Two:
Iceland Spar

119-148, 149-170, 171-198, 199-218, 219-242, 243-272, 273-295, 296-317, 318-335, 336-357, 358-373, 374-396, 397-428

Part Three:
Bilocations

429-459, 460-488, 489-524, 525-556, 557-587, 588-614, 615-643, 644-677, 678-694

Part Four:
Against the Day

695-723, 724-747, 748-767, 768-791, 792-820, 821-848, 849-863, 864-891, 892-918, 919-945, 946-975, 976-999, 1000-1017, 1018-1039, 1040-1062

Part Five:
Rue du Départ

1063-1085

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