"They were possessing her in ways more intimate than had ever been allow'd him...interfering at orders of minitude invisible to the human Eye, infiltrated without need of light or Map, commanding the further branches of whatever flows in a Soul like blood,...she and her Captors whispering together incessantly, in a language they knew, and he did not, and what language could it be? not any French as he'd ever heard it,--too fast and guttural and without grace...they all spoke at incredible Speed, without pause for breath."
— Pynchon, Thomas (b. 1937)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
Henry Holt Company
Date
1997
Metaphor
"They were possessing her in ways more intimate than had ever been allow'd him...interfering at orders of minitude invisible to the human Eye, infiltrated without need of light or Map, commanding the further branches of whatever flows in a Soul like blood,...she and her Captors whispering together incessantly, in a language they knew, and he did not, and what language could it be? not any French as he'd ever heard it,--too fast and guttural and without grace...they all spoke at incredible Speed, without pause for breath."
Metaphor in Context
They were possessing her in ways more intimate than had ever been allow'd him...interfering at orders of minitude invisible to the human Eye, infiltrated without need of light or Map, commanding the further branches of whatever flows in a Soul like blood,...she and her Captors whispering together incessantly, in a language they knew, and he did not, and what language could it be? not any French as he'd ever heard it,--too fast and guttural and without grace...they all spoke at incredible Speed, without pause for breath. For where breath has ceas'd, what need for the little pauses of mortal speech, that pass among us ever unnotic'd?
(p. 539)
(p. 539)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
Pynchon, Thomas. Mason & Dixon. New York: Henry Holt Company, 1997.
Date of Entry
11/08/2010
