The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 21

This is it! -- the last week!

Although I'm still woefully behind (in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the most behindest of all the many folks still marching), I've really enjoyed all the comments. This has been one of the best 'marches yet ("I bet you say that to all the 'marches"), and I'm hoping youse consider coming back for a future jaunt.

I 'spect the next one will be Octoberish. Not sure what we're going to read so please feel free to keep suggesting ideas. I'm pretty sure it won't be a 20 week/1000+ pager this go around. I'm open to the new notion that's been floated of doing a few books by one author, at a book every two weeks, or somesuch. Or perhaps some 600-page humdinger.

And then there's this: mugs!

When you hit the back o' the book and post your comment (assuming you've posted on most threads, yada yada) please be sure to drop me a line with your shipping address so you can get your very own "I Surivived the AtD DM Mug."

Saturday 6/30: We bring it all home.

(Which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to the inside back cover. Aim to finish reading and to comment on it here by end o' day next Saturday, give or take. Me, I'll be more on the "take" side of that equation.)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 20

OK, so it's a Thursday and I'm yet I'm not late posting. I love this new system! Now we put our two knees close up tight, we swing them to the left and then we swing them to the right. Can it be done? Can. It. Be. Done? (And by "it" I mean, can we continue to lurch our deathmarch-posting-days over to the right, so as to land on Saturday 6/30?) I think Van Hagar put it best when they observed: "Only time will tell if we can stand the test of time."

Friday 6/22: Shall we meet at the bottom of page 1039? "Thought you're gonna ask."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 1039. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Wednesday, give or take)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 19

Still lagging behind the pack, but fortunately I've got two plane rides in the next few days, which seems to be the key to staying in this 'un. In fact, if I didn't already have those flights planned I'd probably have to come up with an excuse to go fly somewhere.

We've got a groundswell going for a wrap on Saturday, June 30th, which means slowing the pace down just a tad. Good news for laggards like me. If you find yourself twiddling your thumbs, this might be a good time to re-read and re-comment on the first 50 pages -- sort of the AtD equivalent of fighting me with one 50-page segment of the book tied behind your back....

It's a tricky maneuver, ending on a Saturday, but fortunately I've been slipping on my Tuesday-ness all along. Judo-style, my plan now is to flip that around and use the resulting momentum to our advantage.

This week's entry is on a Wednesday. Next week, let's meet on a Thursday. The following week a Friday, then the last week -- hey presto! It's Saturday the 30th. With all that said.....

Thursday 6/14: We dump the sand from our boots at the bottom of page 999, where "sod [is] giving way to shakes."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 999. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Wednesday, give or take)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 18

Still reading, still consistently posting late, still about 100 pages behind. But still enjoying the book too, and that's something. A big something. And now suddenly thinking that yes, in fact, I too may someday sip from a dishwasher-safe "I Survived the Against the Day Deathmarch" mug.

I'm really enjoying reading all your comments as I catch up to the appropriate section. You guys are good company, even when you're frozen in time.

By the way, speaking of ice and things that thaw, has anyone else noticed that we're on track to finish just past the summer solistice? That'll be around five months from the kick-off. And we all say: yoinks!

Tuesday 6/5 There's a long chapter coming that doesn't stop on a convenient 50 page line, plus or minus. So we're going to try something a little different. The literary deathmarch equivalent of a triple lutz. We're going to stop mid-chapter. How precise are our boots? Let's find out on page 956. It helps that someone's left out a cheery sign: "Welcome home."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 956. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 17

I finally got my head back into the book and read 50 pages today, which means I'm only -- yikes! -- 100 pages behind. I did dig the hottentot attempt (remember that?). And you guys are all inspiring me with tales of great things coming down the path.

My new plan is to read an hour a day. What's an hour a day? Nothing, right? I spend 45 minutes a day working on my Mandy Patinkin imitation, so if I just put that on hold for a week or two, I'm 45/60ths of the way there.

Tuesday 5/29 Dang if I'm not gonna aim to meet you at or near the bottom of page 907, where someone's "Constantinople" inclined.

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 907. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 16

I'm so far behind, I think the Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch just passed me on the trail. Hey guys!

As with all things of late, I blame the Golden State Warriors. See, as a Warriors fan, I've been conditioned to expect to have substantially more free time in May, not substantially less. Still more proof of the end times, and all that.

One thing I've noticed -- the more I fall behind, the more comments we get on the thread. So really, I'm just taking one for the team here. At least, that's my story this week. As for next week...

Tuesday 5/22 It's entirely possible that I'll meet you at the bottom of page 848, where "it surprised him, and did not surprise him." He's complex that way.

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 848. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

(Here) Pugnax! (Here) Pugnax! (Good) Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 15

I'm chasing a tangled ball of yarn, I am -- still a little bit behind, not quite a week's worth. Seems like most folks who were likewise lagging have now caught up, which is kind of exciting. Infuriating, too. But mainly exciting.

I count 13 of us still in this thing. 13! Could 13 of us really finish? That's an awful lotta mugs. Exciting! Infuriating! (But mainly exciting.) By contrast, I think 8 of us finished the Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch and 7 folks wrapped up Don Quixote. So 13 would be a mighty crowd at the finish line.

Let's hang tight shall we? And more to the point....

Tuesday 5/15: ...let's meet up at the bottom of page 792, where there's some danger that our yarn may blow away, "as if taken by the wind."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 792. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

(I miss) Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 14

After two whole weeks of being on target, I've fallen a bit behind. My hopes to stall some more and catch up before going live this week were dashed when two DMers showed up in an innocent little sidepost about deviant flip-flop habits and jumped me with an (admittedly well-deserved) "where's this week's deathmarch post!"

So here's the post, you goons! You thugs! You people who are not behind this week!

Tuesday 5/8: Let's make tracks for the bottom of page 747, which "would never be here, never exactly here, again."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 747. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 13

13 weeks in now, fellow lit folks dropping all around us. Good folks. Strong folks. We march on.

Like I think pretty much everyone, the Quaternions wore my marching toes down to a nub, but I liked Bradh's take on it in the comments: "I read the maths like a foreign language: just to enjoy the rhythms of the words."

Things started to get a little zippy with Kit and Günther’s duel ("how lucky to have provoked your quarrel here, in the dueling capital of Germany"), the return of Lew, Lew's encounter with the hanging man, gas traffic, and then Kit, Foley, and the mickfest. By the time we met the "jelly doughnut" man, it was like being handed a new pair of sugar powdered socks.

If you get a chance, take an amble back in time to one of the early posts. I wandered through Week 2 this morning, tipping my invisible hat brim to lost companions -- calliscrapy, buffo, Ms. Maggo, AnemicPrince.... We're down to around 14 hardy souls now. We few, we proud, we folks who get to enjoy lines like "a dog was howling at a moon no one could see, perhaps imagining that, summoned repeatedly enough, it would appear with food of some kind" and names like "Gus Swallowfield" and "Willi Dingkopf."

Tuesday 5/1: Part Four's within reach, so let's lunge for the bottom of page 693, where I for one plan to howl hungrily "at the unexplained and unresponsive moon."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 693. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 12

Finally caught back up, even if I had to delay posting this week to make it across the line. I was particularly hung up on the Quaternion section from the end of last week -- underlining more than usual, understanding less. One thing's for sure, as Pynchon sez, "all mathematics leads...sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

But before long we were into the mayonnaise museum, Pugnax's disturbing taste for human blood, Ryder Thorn, Umeki, and the most powerful weapon in the world. It all seemed a little extra vague and hazy, like Venetian fog, I suppose, but well worth 'marching through.

I wondered at points what must it be like to read this book as a scientist. To me, there are definitely sections that sound like so much arfing from a hyper-intelligent blood-hungry guard dog. Does the scientist reader laugh along with all that arfing? Or do they just say "come on now -- ridiculous!" Any scientists among us? Who will speak for the scientific community?

Tuesday 4/23: While I'm asking questions, what I really want to know is: Can I stay caught up for a whole week? The answer lies on the bottom of page 636, but unfortunately, "you know who I am."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 636. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 11

I will accept no questions this week about exactly where I am in the reading. Suffice it to say, matters were not helped by an especially raucus Dyngus Day celebration! And then I got all angry about some marketing copy I found. And then someone told me I smelled like Indian food. Really, it's been a rough week.

Still, here we are eleven (11!) weeks in, with double-digit comments and the very real prospect that significant bucks will be spent on mugs before this thing is through. Thanks all for hanging in there. And once again, extra special thanks to the redoubtable Steve "Heurtebise" Evans for cooking up some nigh-edible summarizing notes.

Tuesday 4/17: It's a shorter than usual romp -- let's call it a catch-up week for folks like me who could use one, without actually taking a full week off. I'll see ya at the bottom of page 587 where word is someone "had better kiss her, and soon."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 587. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 10

Still behind, but to quote Parliament's immortal "Chocolate City," I'm gainin' on ya. Just one chapter shy of the mark now....

From the comments, it looks like a number of us have renewed energy for this adventure. Whether it's the sweetness between Frank and Mayva, Zoltan flying off his barstool, the increasingly crude Suckling (who I keep waiting to learn is part werewolf), a side trip inside the Hotel Noctambulo, Roswell's enthusiasm, the Thorvaldic Telegraph, my absolutely favoritist name yet in "Stilton Gaspereaux," or the entire spectacular adventure under (or inside rather?) the sand, this felt all around like one of those "that's why we read TP" sorta weeks.

As a few have pointed out, there's also the sense that threads are coming together -- that a few patterns that were once (dare I say) invisible, are now becoming visible. Thanks to all that lovely light, I guess.

Once again, the mighty Steve "Heurtebise" Evans has come through with a batch of madeleines -- be sure to drop by for a well-earned snack.

Tuesday 4/10: Let's make camp at the bottom of page 547, where we'll do our best to avoid "death by mayonnaise."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 547. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 9

Well, my head is spinning. I woke up this morning 100 pages shy of the target. That's no good. And I can't say I caught all the way up either. But here we are, 11:30 PST, and I'm on page 396, so that's something. About 30-40 pages short. But back in the game, I tell ya.

And I was having good fun too, right up until page 394, when I ran into this: "You are a good man, but kind of disgusting, with all that hair growing out of your face, and you always smell like coffee."

What the hell is that? I mean, how can I not take that personally? He might as well have added "and your name is Cecil Vortex." It was all I could do to not light the book on fire. But I resisted because I'm strong like that.

In cheerier news, happy to see the Chums are right around the corner (in the rear view mirror for those of you on track). I think you probably know by now how much I enjoy the Chums. Should make for good reading tomorrow morning over...coffee. Damn you Pynchon!

Happy also to see new 'marchers on the trail. Welcome! And delighted to see that Steve Evans has baked up another batch of piping hot madeleines.

Tuesday 4/3: I'm hoping to meetcha at the bottom of page 488 where, ominously enough, nobody's talking "to anybody for a while unless they [have] to."

(which is to say.... please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 488. Aim to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 8

Almost 2 months in (!) and on the one hand, bodies are droppin'. On the other hand, we have something like 17 or 18 folks still with us, which is certainly a record for this deep into the journey.

I think RaptorMage is right when he says its the nature of these DMs to feel impossible. We're looking for books that aren't page turners and then we're reading those books slow. It's a challenge for sure. The one book in the series that really flipped itself for me was Pale Fire, and that one almost felt like we were cheating.

I remember in Book I of Don Quixote feeling like it was just going on and on and slipping away from me. But Book II picked up and good Lord the ending of DQ was beautiful and worth the trip.

With Gravity's Rainbow, there were points when I was downright angry with Pynchon. And the last 20 pages still sounds like dogs barking to my brain. But there are so many parts of that GR that I'm glad I experienced. With AtD, I'm still enjoying the individidual segments. I'm still not pulled to pick the book up from the shelf. I'm still, unfortunately, about 40 pages behind. (Ack!) But I'm still hanging in there, watching as old pals (Merle, Dally, Kit, Vibe) come back into play, as a few characters start to become borderline real. Maybe at the end it'll add up to less than the sum of its parts. Maybe it'll rise to some shockingly coherent crescendo. I'm game to find out.

Doubt ye not the Week-8-summarizing skills of so-called "Steve Evans," whose madelienes await ye here.

Tuesday 3/27: Let's hop, and/or skip, and/or jump on over to page 428, where someone with a silly name is leaving "the Mysteries of Time" to others.

(in other words: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 428. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

(I miss) Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 7

Welcome to Week 7 and our slick new server. Hopefully we'll have a smoother ride from here on out. I'm about 20 pages behind right now, still enjoying the ride.

On the thread, it's clear that some folks are falling a little out of love with AtD. Me, I find that when I'm reading it, the love is still there. It helps that I'm a Merle Rideout fan, so I was delighted to see his return. Still, when I'm not reading it, it doesn't linger in the brain or call to me from wherever I dropped it last. So the trick is mostly getting myself to pick the book back up.

I do keep puzzling over these racial/ethnic stereotypes. More than anything it feels like Pynchon's just screwing with us -- trying to get a rise out of his readership. He's got my buttons pretty well configured so far. For example, every time he says the word "invisible" I twitch. Likewise for "explosion."

On the pro/anti-Traverse(seses) debate, I'm with Andy and Cap'n M. in that they've started to really grow on me. They're certainly the most human characters in this crowd.

A few random questions: Anybody have a clear sense of what year we're in now? How old Dally is? What was in that tunnel with Dally and Frank? Mebbe these all become clear in the last 20 pages of the week's reading, but if not, and if you have a theory, shout out.

In other news, Steve Evans has once again come through with helpful notes on last week's reading.

Tuesday 3/20: A good chance for folks to catch up, as we'll be doing a relatively short week. Let's meet at the bottom of page 373, where "we're already ghosts."

(which is to say: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 373. Aim to get near that target and add a comment by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch Dichotomy

For the past week I've been moving Cecil over to a new server. The work is pretty much done and we're in that interesting limbo where there are actually two different Cecil site's out there and the web is in the process of sorting out which one to go to. I'm told it can take up to three days to fully resolve, but I think it'll be clearer as early as tomorrow night. So I'm going to hold off on posting and opening the new thread up to comments for one more day, in hopes that by tomorrow night, there will be one cecilvortex.com to rule them all.

By the way, in case you're curious, if you got to this version of Cecil, you're looking at the new site.

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 6

Until two days ago I was 70 pages behind, but a pair of flights got me (finally) caught back up. If you're one of the many good folks stuck a bit back on the trail, let me just tell ya, all you need is a stop over in Houston (real or metaphorical) and you'll be right back in the game.

In general, I'm finding AtD's kind of like Chutes and Ladders. Sometimes I move slowly. Sometimes I'm zipping on ahead. Occasionally I'm fumbling backwards, trying to figure out just what it was that I must have missed somewhere, somewhere....

This week I used a way-back chute to revisit the attempted hustle in Chapter 3. "At times there were too many cards to count, at others none at all were visible, seeming to have vanished into some dimension well beyond the third, though this could have been a trick of what light there was." (23) That seems a fair description of the way Pynchon uses throwaway characters -- a blurred sleight of hand designed to force us into keeping our our eyes open a little wider than usual.

One of the kicks of the book, I think, is that every once in a rare while all this frenzy leaves us with that Blundellian feeling that we can sense "how everything fits together, connects." Sure, as with Miles, it doesn't always last long. And more often than not, we end up "just back to tripping over [our] feet again." (24) But that's OK. I'm happy to stick around to see if some T.W.I.T. is going to pass around another batch of brain explosives.

Hope you all stick around too. While I'm required by law to love all the 'marches just the same, I'll confess between us that the commentary this go-around has been particularly swell.

Speaking of which, the mighty, the mighty, the mighty Steve Evans has come through with another invaluable batch of madeleines -- the perfect way to flash the previous week's reading into your lizard brain before ambling back onto the trail. And speaking of that...

Tuesday 3/13: Let's meet at the bottom of page 335 and the glory of a "mean, nervous, scheming servitude to an enfeebled conscience."

(which is to say: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 335. Aim to get near that target and add a comment by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 5

A few years ago, my daughter took part in what started out as an entirely unremarkable dance recital. She and maybe eight other 6-year-olds were bopping around on stage along with some familiar holiday tune. "Let It Snow"? "Jingle Bells"?

Midway through, the CD starts to skip. And it's awful. One of those 15 second stretches of time that feels like the taste of melting tar. It's not right. It's not getting better. Somebody take this melting tar out of our mouths!

Then the music stops altogether and in the silence something lovely happens. The dancers just keep dancing. In silence. They finish the song with exceptional grace. And it was probably the best dancing I've ever seen.

This week reminded me a little of that. Not that we're all a bunch of dancing 6-year-olds. Just that there was the lurch of the site. And then the silence. The silence. And then out of that silence, a graceful swirl of comments that began to spin out across the Week 4 stage almost as soon as the generators kicked back in. Lovely.

Which is all my longwinded way of saying, thanks to you all for bearing with this past week's headaches. It's fun to be back on the 'march and great to see that, if need be, we can make do without a trail for a few days.

Of course, some of us faired better than others. Without the spur of daily posts, I my ownself fell about 20 pages shy of the target. But I've got some quality airport time coming up, and I'm leaving the old cylomite at home. So I'm hopeful I'll be caught back up by next week. Speaking of which...

Tuesday 3/6: We have nothing to fear but page 280 itself, where the word on the street is, "we'd better get in some drinking..."

(in other words: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 280. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Oh, and don't forget to check out Steve Evans rockin' readin' notes for last week right here.

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 4

The trail is thick, I say thick! with boots. Great to have such a rich collection of folks to share the journey with. And nice to feel like we're starting to make some real forward progress.

I've been thinking a lot this week about the way that Pynchon plays us. He's got a great feel for when he can bring on the thick stuff, and when he should throw us some candy. I remember Part II of GR starting beautifully (was it the Casino and the Octopus mebbe?). Like a reward for getting past the first 100 pages or so. Similarly, the first big stretch of Iceland Spar was a great run of "yeah -- that's why I'm reading this book!" Around page 150, my head started to cave in. I was reading sentences three times. Felt a little bit like I was back in GR's London with the rockets falling. And then right as the pressure behind my eyes started to build, we're off to Yale, meeting the various Vibes, humming along with Mischief in Mexico.

Another kind of manipulation: Around page 167, as Yitzhak Zilberfeld began to lapse into a stereotype, I wrote in the margin: "is he trying to make us uncomfortable?" And yeah, I'd have to guess he is.

Don't forget to search for "Steve Evans" in the W3 comments to find his hugely helpful fly-over of last week's reading. You can also jump straight to it right here.

Tuesday 2/27: Let's dry our socks out on page 232, where someone's "pretend(ing) to lament."

(in other words: please use this thread to comment on anything up to page 232. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 3

And just like that, we're at the end of Part I.... Lots to like in this last stretch: The dual identities of Blinky Morgan. The Aetherists and their Asylum. That oily Zombini ("I don't suppose you'd have a spare electrical coil around?" (68) -- how could Merle not see trouble brewing?). "Skip" the ball of lightning, who seemed like a distant cousin to "Byron the Light Bulb" of Gravity's Rainbow fame.

A foul-mouthed Finn. A talking Tesla. An attack on the current administration even? ("Why, you could write a whole foreign phrase book just on what Republicans have to say." (93)) A slice of Scarsdale Vibe's past, the Traverse clan, and a rising extrasensory shimmer from Foley and Miles. All that, plus The Chums of Chance and their turn toward the Center, wherein Rodney and I get an excerpt from that Chums novella we crave....

Also: How creepy would it be to get sneered at by a guy named Darby Suckling?
Also also: On page 112, a passage that could have been plucked from Gravity's Grainbow -- the description of the rocket's ascent, followed by Darby shouting "Stop, stop! ...it sounds like Chinese!" -- as if TP's promising that we won't be going back down that road this time around.

My thanks to Steve E. for his summary notes in the comments. They're a great condensed way to give us a quick-glance back over the last week's reading. Steve, if you find the time, please keep 'em coming..... (and if anyone's looking to review them, search "steve evans" on the W2 comments page.

Tuesday 2/20: We'll plant our dynamite sticks at the bottom of page 170, right next to "the purity, the geometry, the cold."

(in other words: use this thread to comment through page 170. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 2

If I knew Tesla was coming, I might very well have baked a cake. Because, well, you know how much Tesla loves to eat cake.

Lots of fun this week -- excellent comments from an international crew of 'marchers, plus a promising start to the novel with all sorts of rich plot threads. It sounds like many of us, me included, are thinking "hey -- that was actually kinda fun." But we can't rename this a "funmarch" can we? That would just be silly. And of course, who knows what lies 'round the bend....?

Like several of the commenters, I've been making lists of characters. I tend to write "intro so-and-so" in the margin when a new character makes their first appearance. Another habit I picked up when we read Gravity's Rainbow is writing a quick summary of the action on the top of each page. So, for example, page 13 was "naked lady below," page 42 was "Lew can notice things," and page 48 was "a fight avoided."

If the slew of references gets you dizzy, bookmark the AtD wiki. I'm mostly staying in the text and avoiding a ton of extra research, but I did drop by the wiki twice this week -- once to find out what a "charabanc" was, and once to confirm my suspicion that "The Unsleeping Eye" referred to the dread Pinkerton's.

All in all, a great start. I'm really surprised how downright excited I am to back in Pynchonville.

Next Tuesday: Let's stretch our page count just a touch so we can get to the end of Part One. We'll pull over for nuts and clementines at the bottom of page 118, "toward a fate...few would willingly have chosen."

(which is to say: use this thread to comment through page 118. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment on it here by end o' day next Monday)

Pugnax!
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch, Week 1

Welcome to The Against the Day Deathmarch -- a mass-tackle of Pynchon's latest tome. This is our fifth deathmarch, and I haven't been this excited about an onine mass read of a challenging book since, well, since we tackled Gravity's Rainbow back in January, 2005.

I've read the first few pages of AtD, and I can report from the trailhead that it doesn't start out in nearly as dense a thicket as Gravity's Rainbow. But it does appear to share at least three things with GR: (1) silly names packed with portent ("Darby Suckling"), (2) a new character every 7 sentences, and (3) something particularly startling or amusing on every page. "lavatorial assaults from the sky," "the brighter star-shapes of exploded ballast-bags," "The Great Bovine City of the World"? What's not to like?

Um...OK, but how's this whole deathmarch thing work again?

Here's a quick recap for new folks....

Short version: read, comment, finish, get a prize.

Longer version: comment on every thread from this week till the end, and finish the book, and you qualify for your choice of either an AtDDM mug or magnet. (Capped at 30 winners to protect my children's college fund.) Comments can range from erudite analysis to content-free exclamations. "I've fallen woefully behind" counts as a comment. Not a great comment. But a comment. Try not to get very far ahead. And if you have zipped ahead, be sure not to get past that week's reading in your comments. Every Tuesday I'll post a new thread, and it all starts up again.

Next Tuesday: Let's meet up at the bottom of page 56, where "the temperature" is "headed down."

(In other words, use this thread to comment on pages 0-56. Try to finish reading that part of the book and to comment here by end o' day next Monday)

Merry 'marching,
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch Chit-Chat About Prizes

Got my book this week. I'm all excited, and who can blame me? I'm fighting the urge to dive in. I have read the quote that opens the book, and I have read the first line, and I can report that they are both excellent. The second sentence will have to wait till next Tuesday.

Today's post is another spot for chiming in if you're planning on joining the 'march, or for just saying hey to other 'march-types. Based on the response to the launch post, I'm guessing we'll start with something like 20 folks on the trail. A nice number to tackle such a mighty tome.

In last week's post, I mentioned prizes. A few folks are first-timers, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to explain how that works.

Tell me more about these so-called "prizes"

OK. Read and finish the book and comment every week (starting next week), and the AtDDM prize mechanism will release a deathmarch mug or a magnet, your choice, like a mother hen dropping a mug or magnet-shaped egg. (note: prizes capped at 30 winners.)

Here's a look at a couple of past prizes (note: len flares not included):

The "I Survived the 'Gravity's Rainbow' Deathmarch" mug

As you can see, the molecular structure of the GRDM mug is solid enough that all these many months later it can still securely contain a beverage such as milk, or chocolate milk, or orange juice. It calls to you, yes?

The "I Survived the 'To the Lighthouse' Deathmarch" magnet

The TtLHDM prizes should be going out to lucky winners shortly. While you can't tell this from the picture, please take my word when I say that the magnetic pull of these beauties is so powerful that I had to have them delivered to me in sealed lead boxes to avoid adversely impacting the local tides.

Alright then -- I hope the stakes are clear now and your collective mouths are watering as much as mouths can water in response to non-edible objects like mugs and magnets. See you back here next week, when we "single up all lines" and let boots and dust collide....
-Cecil

The Against the Day Deathmarch Pause That Refreshes

Back in January aught 5 a hardy band of pioneer types set forth on what some say was the very first blog-based literary deathmarch -- the so-called "Gravity's Rainbow Deathmarch," in which a crew of modern day Lewis and Clark types banded together and managed, over five months, to read an extremely difficult book.

Two years later, we've read Pale Fire by Nabokov At Swim Two Birds, by Flann O'Brien, Don Quixote by Cervantes, and To the Lighthouse by Woolf. And now it's time for perhaps our greatest feat yet. Not only will we read a difficult book, but it will be a difficult book that was published in this century. Specifically: Against the Day, Pynchon's recently released behemoth.

But when's it start?
The spines crack Tuesday January 30th. All are welcome. We'll probably need a thousand people to join this time to get three people through, which seems unlikely, but, ya know, tell a friend. If you'd like to join up, this would be a great time to pick up a copy. But try if you can to hold off on starting it till January 30th so we can all leap onto the trail in synch. The dust cloud's purtier that way.

Dare I ask...prizes?
As ever, we'll be tackling around 50 pages a week. And yep, there will be the nigh magical lure of mug prizes for up to 30 people who finish and comment every week.

So what now?
Well, right here on this very thread would be an excellent place for you to sound off if you plan on marching, with your excitement, your fear, your loathing, all your strongest emotions. We'll need to put that behind us soon. For on the 'march we can only afford ourselves steely resolve. And the occasional donut.

See you on the dirt,
-Cecil

The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse, Week 6

Congrats to the many who've made it through or are on the verge of crossing the finish line! (oh math, from hell's heart, we stab at thee. For hate's sake, we spit our last breath at thee.)

If you haven't already shouted out, or you have last thoughts to share that you were holding back for fear of spoiling endings and such, you've come to exactly the right spot. Thanks to all for an excellent 'march and most especially thanks for your high patience with me, and my, well, let's just say imprecise posting habits this time around. I should be much more on the dime when we tackle The Monster aka Thomas Pynchon's brand-new book, Against the Day. Deathmarch to start in mid-January. And may God have mercy on our souls.

Next week: Can you hear it? That sound? The whirring of machines, the gathering of magnetism? Watch this spot for...a magnet preview....

-Cecil

The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse, Week 5

Folks who've made it through the previous deathmarches can attest to the fact this one has been exceptionally botched on my end, but you've all done a great job putting up with it. And it looks like collectively the group is spitting in the eye of math -- 19 comments this near the end is mighty mighty.

If you've missed commenting one week because of the jumble, not to fear. Everyone gets one mulligan on this 'march. Post on all but one, finish the book, and verily ye shall be magnetized.

This here would be the place to comment on everything up to Part III, chapter 2 (e -- you were right about that error in last week's target....).

Wednesday Nov 29: Let's meet up at the back cover of the book for a wrap party, replete with "extreme fatigue."

The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse, Week 4

Who was the maroon who scheduled a Deathmarch right in the middle of election season? Oh yeah, I was the maroon. Sorry to all excellent Deathmarchers. I've really punked it up this week, missing Week 4 on Wednesday and remaining behind on my reading. But heck, I'm just one marcher. Fortunately, there are a lotta the rest of youse doing a great job staying up-to-date or near it. So let's charge on. With only two weeks to go, hopefully I can get my act together by next Wednesday.

Comment-wise, this would now be the place to post on anything up to the end of Part I.

And speaking of next Wednesday: I hope to see ya at the end of Chapter II, Part II, just past "an extraordinary face!"

The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse, Week 3

Never let it be said that I didn't post the thread for Week 3 before midnight on Wednesday.

Never!

Still, this is really just a placeholder. Life -- what with elections , Halloween, and all the time I've had to spend anticipating the release of the Borat movie -- has overflowed into my Deathmarching time a tad, so this will be an unacceptably thin soup of an entry, hopefully replaced tomorrow with heartier fare. I will say this: loving the book. And this: digging the conversation this week -- especially the back and forth re Mr. Ramsay.

Next Wednesday: Let's meet at the end of Part I, where rumor has it she's triumphed again.

The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse, Week 2

Welcome to Week 2.... Looks like we've got an excellent bunch of 'marchers onboard. And yes, a part of me fears I'll be bankrupted by all them magnets. But then I'm reminded of that old wax devil math. Good old math.

Since some folks are new, here's a quick word about what to post when: At the start of a new thread, post about the previous week. That is, you'd post about the first week's reading right here. As the week and the thread roll on, people tend to start posting about the current week's reading. And that's fine too. Really, there's no hard and fast rule about this. We're all just just trying to avoid dropping accidental spoilers by jumping ahead of the pack.

That bit o' business aside, let me say: golly I enjoyed this week's reading. This is my first brush with Woolf. I expected there'd be leaping in and out of people's heads. But I didn't expect anything as goofy-great as Mr. Ramsay's heroic efforts to conquer R. Or anything as vivid as that selfsame Mr. taking his leave "with a movement which oddly reminded his wife of the great sea lion at the Zoo tumbling backwards after swallowing his fish and walloping off so that the water in the tank washes from side to side..." All this and the repeated refrain from Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade -- "stormed at by shot and shell, boldly we rode and well...."

I'm sold. It's a great start, and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes us. See ya on the trail,
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: One more relatively short hop, and then we'll start to pick up speed. Let's meet at the end of Chapter XVI where we can "assemble in the dining-room for dinner."

The Deathmarch To the Lighthouse, Week 1

Welcome to "The Deathmarch to the Lighthouse" -- a group read of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.

I think we have something like 15 or 20 people planning to read this go-around -- a nice solid number. Simple math, however, tells us only that two will finish, and I won't be one of of them. Still, as my Italian nanny used to say: "il per la matematica è una cosa della cera ed i numeri sono fatti della cera." Which means (roughly) "math is a wax thing, and numbers are made of wax." She was a crazy old coot.

For anyone new, here's how it works: every Wednesday I post an entry saying how far we're reading that week. Folks drop by and comment over the next seven days.

But Are There Prizes?

Yes! There are prizes! Finish the book and comment each week, and you'll receive a genuine To-the-Lighthouse-themed talisman hand-imbued with a fractional sampling of the raw power wielded by Magneto, Master of Magnetism. (on the off-chance we get more people than we're expecting, let's cap that at 30 hand-imbued talismans)

Be sure to shout out in the comments (click on "Whaddya Think" below) if you're on the 'march, both to stay talisman-qualified, and so's we can get a headcount. Don't sweat it if you fall a little behind on the reading -- "I'm so far behind!" actually counts as a legitimate comment. And of course, If you've read the book before, try to keep comments from getting ahead of the weekly reading.

And that's it. Mostly, it's just a chance to read a great book, share thoughts and questions, and shake a fist at that old wax devil, math, by making it through to the end.

See ya on the trail,
-Cecil

Next Wednesday: We meet at the end of Book 1, Chapter 7, where someone's about to say nothing and take opium.

Are You Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Over the last year or two, a loose cabal of aliased co-conspirators has been using this site to tackle challenging books en masse -- everything from the dread pirate Gravity's Rainbow to the surprisingly Spanish Don Quixote. We call these experiences "Deathmarches," despite the increasingly rabid protestation of my erstwhile nemesis, Itto Ottagami.

The fifth in this series -- "The To the Lighthouse Deathmarch" -- is comin' 'round the bend, and I thought I'd take this moment to extend an open invitation.

How It Works

As you may have guessed, this time out we're reading Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. (More specifically, I'll be reading the HBJ hardcover edition, available on Amazon.)

We do this in small bites -- 40-60 pages a week. Every Wednesday starting 10/18, I'll post an entry up here on ye olde cecilvortex.com letting folks know how far we're aiming to read that week. In the days that follow, folks comment on the thread. These comments range from "I like donuts" to "[insert sophisticated literary analysis here]." And are all comments are viewed as equal in the eyes of el cabal.

Up to 30 Deathmarchers who make it to the end of the book and post a comment every week get prizes -- in this case, prizes that tap the awesome power of magnetic energy. I can't tell you more than that because it's a really big surprise. OK. I give. They're magnets.

So, all that said, if reading a book by Virginia Woolf and quite possibly gaining partial control over one of the most powerful forces in nature has any appeal to you, you've almost certainly come to the right place. Any questions, just drop me a line at deathmarch@cecilvortex.com.

Hope to see you out on the trail,
-Cecil

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 19

Which relates to the adventure of the enchanted blog, as well as other foolishness that must be recounted. Apologies for the late post this week -- real life intruded. I'm still about 65 pages from the finish line my own self -- just got through the enchanted head section.

"...this is enough for me to realize, O head, that you know everything."

In terms of satisying sentences sent forth to us over 4 centuries, really, what more could we ask for than that?

Thanks to all for taking the 'march, ye many who began, and yes, ye mighty who are wrapping it up. Definitely a book I'm glad I read. And definitely one I wouldn't have finished without the push. There was a great flurry of comments these last few weeks -- much enjoyed and appreciated. And special thanks to So-Called Bill for suggesting DQ in the first place.

Please use this week's thread to talk freely about the end of the book -- those of us still flipping through the last centimeter or so will just tread with caution. And speaking of us stragglers -- please do shout out when you wrap, and let me know if mug or magnet be your preference (with apologies to SC Bill for lack of true mugnet (tm) technology).

I hope y'all had a good time. We'll definitely be tackling the new Pynchon in December or January. And if we can find the collective stamina, we may well try a mini Woolf-march in the Fall, with either Mrs. Dalloway or To the Lighthouse.

May your horse be lean and your sidekick full of aphorisms,
-Cecil

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 18

Which describes the condition of the famous marchers as they skip and/or stumble toward the far side of this escapade. And yes, perhaps, like me, you've fallen a little behind again. But with so little food left on your plate, surely you've got appetite enough to pop this wee remaining morself?

Some will finish in the next few days. Others will likely finish next week in the wrap up post. As you cross the line, be sure to shout out and stake your claim to glory. Mug or magnet? Which will it be?

Next Wednesday: on to victory! (aka page 940 Grossman) where we will "undoubtedly fall to the ground."

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 17

Regarding the troubled end and conclusion of week 16. Puff puff puff -- almost there, almost there. As we near the close of this adventure, my question this week is, what's next for you? I know a lot of folks read other books while they deathmarch, but I've pretty much been reading just this, with the exception of a brief dive into "Dean and Me (A Love Story)" by Jerry Lewis.

It's looking like my next book -- not next deathmarch, just the next thing I'm hoping to read -- will be "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," which I somehow never got around to. A friend picked up a copy recently, and I think I'm gonna tag along. The other contender is an interesting bit of recent history called "The Nightingale's Song" that one of my brothers lent me for a couple of lawn-chair page-flips when I was away on vacation.

How about you -- anything in the on-deck circle?

Next Wednesday: let's meet up at the end of Chapter LXV (892 Grossman), just before what may well be my favorite italic chapter opening line yet (is there a technical term for that feature?): "Which recounts what will be seen by whoever reads it, or heard by whoever listens to it being read.).

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 16

Concerning what befell the marchers on their way to Week 16. As ever, I'm one week behind. Good meaty section, I thought. And there's the thrill of holding a thin slice of a big book in your right hand, which never gets old.

Hit one of my most favoritist moments in the book so far on page 726, whence Sancho regales the Duchess and co. thusly:

"Without saying anything to anybody, not even my master, very quietly and gently I got down from Clavileno and I played with the nanny goats, and they're as sweet as gilly flowers, for almost three-quarters of an hour...."

What's better than Sancho letting himself pretend that he stopped time and played with nanny goats in the sky?

Other miscellaneous notes:

(1) When it comes to the whole proverb thing, I'm pretty sure Sancho has a medical condition.

(2) I was struck by Cervantes prophetic vision on 716 -- after all, here in the 21st century, you can't throw a rock without hitting an air-propelled wooden horse controlled by forehead pegs. How could he have known that? How?!

(3) A dozen bearded duennas? I will admit, that twist took me by surprise.

(4) A trio of favorite DQ lines: "God endures the wicked, but not forever." "I won't remember them any more than I do yesterday's clouds." "...the first thing I recommend is that you keep clean, and that you trim your nails and not allow them to grow, as some men do whose ignorance has led them to believe that long nails beautify their hands, as if those superfluous growths that they refuse to cut were nails, when they are actually the claws of a lizard-eating kestrel: a filthy and extraordinary abuse."

Next Wednesday: Catch ya at the end of Chapter LVIII (842 Grossman), whence someone's experiencing "more shame than pleasure."

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 15

A teensy tiny entry this week, since I'm mostly offline. Here's to Week 15 and your arrival therein!

Next Wednesday: Let's meet up at the end of Chapter LI (aka page 797, Grossman), just before "the claw marks had healed."

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 14

And just like that, there it is: Week 14, in which the diverting advertures of these deathmarchers continue, along with other things that are really very worthwhile.

I'm dragging along a little behind agin' this week, but hopeful that an all-day trip tomorrow will be my key catch up time. Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the heck out of this week's exchange. Also: 13 comments in week 13 is an exact tie with week 13 of our original Deathmarch (Gravity's Rainbow), way back in April '05. What does it all mean?

Next Wednesday: It's on to the end of Chapter XLIV (746 Grossman), just before our encounter with the "perpetual discloser of the Antipodes, torch of the world, (and) eye of heaven." Finally!

The Don Quixote Deathmarch, Week 13

Welcome to Week 13, regarding matters that concern and pertain to this adventure and this memorable online reading group.

Almost caught up -- got to about the halfway point in this week's reading. Over the last week or two the thing I keep coming back to is the feeling that DQ is really living the dream. He's not just a knight errant, standing up to lions, spelunking into the unknown, "brandish(ing) his lance with so much strength and dexterity that he filled all who did not know him with fear" -- but even better, he's become a knight errant of legend, literally a character in a book, which mebbe was his real dream all along.

Like I think just about everyone on the 'march, I'm finding Part II much more compelling and flat out fun than Part I. Besides all the neat meta moments, even the language has become more lively -- I find myself underlining some cool phrase on just about every page. Looking forward to seeing where this al