Something strange happened to me last night. Since Dr. Sexson said that we have to pick a page to "own," I "cracked" the book open, so to speak, to a random page and out dropped a receipt from the previous owner of the book. Apparently, this person had purchased this particular bit of literature at a Barnes and Noble in Albuquerque. They also purchased an issue of High Times, and an issue of Weed World. I kind of saw this as a bad indication of the type of book this is, and whether it would be humanly possible to understand it sober. I decided to face the "omen" head on and "own" this page of the book--Page 56. And this is the paragraph I've decided to memorize:
"Not olderwise Inn the days of the Bygning wouldour Traveller remote, unfriended, from van Demon's Land, some lazy skald or maundering pote, lift wearywilly his slowcut snobsic eyes to the semisigns of his zooteac and lengthily lingering along flaskneck, cracket cup, downtrodden brogue, turfsod, wildbroom, cabbageblad, stockfisch, longingly learn that there at the Angel were herberged for him poteen and tea and praties and baccy and wine width womean wordth warbling: and informally quasi-begin to presquesm'ile to queasithink' (Nonsense! There was not very much windy Nous blowing at the given moment through the hat of Mr. Melancholy Slow!)"
I delved into the first few pages and felt like giving up not far in. But I kept going and eventually developed a type of rhythm to reading it. I found that it helps to read it out loud, since many of the words are spelled in an Irish accent. I'm still not sure what the story is about exactly, except that there's a guy named Bygmester Finnegan ("Of the Stuttering Hands," whatever that's supposed to mean) and that there might possibly be something wrong with his back, judging by page 5, but I can't be sure.
I recognized the Deuteronomy motif on page 4, which was cool because it made sense. On page 7, he says "Grace before Glutton." This made me think a little because I think he was poking fun at traditional Judeo-Christian habits.
I'm pretty sure I also found a passage about masturbation on page 6. But maybe it's just my Sociology of Sexuality class going to my head.
I found one passage that I just really loved, and it made me realize why Dr. Sexson is making us read this damn book and why it has been so popular for so long. Page 5:
"O Sustainer, what time we rise and when we take up to toothmick and before we lump down upown our leatherbed and in the night and at the fading of the stars!"
No comments:
Post a Comment