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The Crying of Lot 49, Week 5

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Here we go, friends!

A mighty showing, one and all! Well done careening collectively toward the finish!

And yes, this is a wee book. But the language is thorny, scenes swirl into each other, the comedy is mixed with some horror, intentional or otherwise. And it’s a Pynchon gol-dang it. Just picking it up off the shelf earns you an arched eyebrow and a round of applause coming from somewhere unclear.

Now comes the wrap, and as always, I don’t know about other folks — but you — you’re made of the stuff.

This coming week: We charge many-as-one, Mucho-style, for the back cover. Shout out when you make it, with closing thoughts. And then next week, in addition to hinting at and not really telling you much about The Mystery Prize, we’ll also offer up a glimmer of the plan for the idea of a January Meander, with a twist or two new to these adventures.

Happy Lot 49ing — enjoy it to the last. And thanks again for the excellent companionship and commentary at every step!

-Cecil

The Sea Is Awash with Roses

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There’s this lovely poem by Kenneth Patchen that I sent out a while back on my lil poem-of-the-day mailing list (aka “The Richard Brautigan poem of the day”).

I sent it out and, you know, sometimes someone writes back, and this time a good pal wrote me to say “you should make that a song,” which I thought was a great idea.

Herewith, the first new “Virtual LP” track in a while. Lyric (c) Kenneth Patchen, who it turns out recorded this poem, somewhere along the line, in case you wanted to hear the rhythm he heard in his head.

Press Play to play.

Time: 1:27 seconds; Specs: 2.9M

A couple

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surrounded by trees surrounded by
Pittsburgh ruins
that will be rebuilt

dressed
both in blue
with just enough quirk to their style
you know they put time and thought into it.

Waiting for the wedding photographer
and when you and your wife and daughter walk by
and you say:

“you are the best-dressed muggers I’ve ever seen.”
the guy says:

“That’s so nice. Give me your wallet.”

Your arm

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A were-child

a little were-girl with ponytails and
a bike with a basket and bell

can eat her own weight in about
an hour. Which doesn’t

sound like much but you know

that’s more than your arm, your leg,
your head.

A case

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Is there a case to be made
a first affirmative delivered in defense
of collating those second-rate thoughts

you might not see again (or even miss)?
Shake them out of your hands, those
drops of borrowed blue electric ink

to make room in the sides of your fingers
for some top-notch scribble sent down
like a message

in a lunchbox on string
you once lowered through a bannister
to rest on the carpet down below

just in case
someone curious walked by.

The 5 Books Meander, Week 12 (Va-Yeḥi)

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In brief:

Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons, and once again it’s a good day to be the youngest child. Jacob then gathers his sons and delivers a series of prophecies that to be honest sound a little bit insulting here and there. For example: “Dan shall be a serpent by the road, a viper by the path”? Was that really necessary?

Jacob/Israel passes away. The Egyptians are gracious, and mourn Joseph’s loss, and Joseph brings his father back to be buried in the land of Canaan. Many years later, Joseph passes away, confident that in time his remains will also be brought back to the promised land.

A couple of thoughts:

  • A prophecy is not always as fun as a blessing. If you get invited to both a blessing and a prophecy on the same day, go to the blessing. Or you might get called a viper by the path.
  • Joseph and his clan are treated like family by the Pharaoh, a situation that (needless to say) takes a turn for the “let my people go” in Exodus. This image and the warning that comes were a part of what I was taught as a young lad growing up in New Jersey. In middle school, we could recite the list of places where things went wrong. Spain, wonderful before the inquisition; Germany, where my grandfather and his father before him were in every way Germans before they were not. The message was the same lesson embedded in Genesis. A message common I expect to all wandering people. Things may be good. But things change.
  • And that brings us back to what felt to me like the power of Genesis. It’s the book of a wandering people, a promise that there’s a place for them, someplace where they belong. There’s a God who watches over them, no matter how far they roam. And even though they may not get to that promised land in this life, their children’s children will; whatever today’s challenge, all those stars, all those grains of sand, they’ll eventually find their way back home. And who doesn’t want that?

If you’d like to join in… this is the place for comments and commentary on Va-Yeḥi (Gen 47.27 – 50.26)

Next up: Shemot (Exodus 1.1 – 6.1)
-Cecil

The 5 Books Meander, Week 8 (Va-Yishlaḥ)

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In brief:
Jacob journeys back to Esau, worried, aware of the weight of what he’s done, seeking to make amends.

Along the way, he wrestles with a mysterious figure and comes away with a limp to remind him of the struggle. These struggles, they leave their mark.

The mysterious figure names Jacob “Israel,” but it doesn’t stick for even a sentence. Seriously, the book goes like (paraphrasing): “‘OK Jacob, you are now Israel'” and then: “‘Thanks!'” says Jacob.” It borderline feels like a burn on the mysterious figure, whose naming powers are clearly so-so.

Esau, far from the wolfman I remembered from childhood, is just about the most genuine and sweethearted (albeit hairy) person imaginable, particularly given how he was raised by a family of, let’s face it, tricksters. And in a beautiful scene of reunion, forgiveness, and some pretty fierce brotherly hugging, we can’t help but start to like Jacob too.

The story shifts quickly, though, as we learn of the rape of Dinah by Shechem. Her brothers Simeon and Levi slaughter Shechem and his townsmen and take their women and children captive. There is no waiting for divine judgment. Vengeance is theirs.

In the third section, God names Jacob “Israel,” and this time (yes!) it takes. Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, and the coldness of her midwife’s words still kind of haunt me: “Have no fear, for it is another boy for you,” the midwife says … Two sentences later, Rachel is dead.

With all this, it was honestly a relief when the text turned to full-on family tree mode, and we learned about several people who gave birth to many more people. Phew!

A couple of thoughts:

  • By far the highlight of the week for me was learning what “Israel” means — something I really should have learned or at least wondered about, you know, a few decades ago. It turns out it means: “wrestles with God,” or at least that’s one of the translations. And holy cow does that resonate with me as a description for what it means to be Jewish, and how we go through this life, if we choose to go through it with faith. And perhaps this is true for all, or most people of faith. But what a powerful thing for the Book itself to codify. To be an Israelite is to wrestle with God.
  • As for devoting a whole section to the family tree? Before I started reading these weekly portions, I thought of these sorts of passages as filler — as some (honestly) goofy connective tissue. But as you flip through the pages, you start to get the feeling that these sections are at the heart of the Torah — knowing who and where you come from. Meeting the family and hearing their stories. And finding a place for yourself in those stories, among all the millions of stars and the many grains of sand.

    • If you’d like to join in… this is the place for comments and commentary on Va-Yishlaḥ (Gen 32.4 – 36.43)

    Next up: Va-Yeshev (Gen 37.1 – 40.23)
    -Cecil

    The 5 Books Meander, Week 7 (Va-Yetse’)

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    In brief:
    In Va-Yese’ we get the first of Jacob’s dreams, as well as the first mention of the tithe, one of those little ideas that has had gigantic implications.

    Jacob meets Rachel and Leah. Jacob the trickster is tricked by his father-in-law. The family grows, with as many kids roughly, as there is sand on the beach and stars in the sky.

    We find out the value of a mandrake (considerable). Jacob and Laban have an extended battle of wits and of sheet and of goats, and ultimately make their peace.

    And Jacob runs into angels of God and is pretty blasé about it.

    A couple of thoughts:

    • This was the first parasha that left me a little cold. In the back and forth with Jacob, Leah, Rachel, and Laban, there was an overhang of dissatisfaction, in which everyone was doing well, and no one was happy. Then again, with that many kids, maybe they were all just a little bit exhausted.

    If you’d like to join in… this is the place for comments and commentary on Va-Yetse’ (Gen 28.10 – 32.3)
    Next up: Va-Yishlaḥ (Gen 32.4 – 36.43)
    -Cecil