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---
format: rst
categories: book
toc: no
...

=================
Gravity's Rainbow
=================

:by: Thomas Pynchon

Excellent German Words
----------------------
These are some of my favorites from http://www.hyperarts.com/pynchon/gravity/extra/german.html


Weltschmerz
    world-weariness
Leunahalluziationen
    gasoline hallucination
Schweinheldfest
    pig-hero festival
Purpurstoff
    purple substance
Folgsamkeitfaktor
    obedience factor
Versuchsanstalt
    research institute, experimental station
Urstoff
    primordial stuff
Kadavergehorsamkeit
    corpse-like obedience, i.e., slavish obedience
Hinterhof
    back-courtyard
Bohnenkaffee
    pure coffee

Rocket Limericks
----------------
*(These are interspersed on pages 305-335)*

::

     There once was a thing called a V-2
     To pilot which you did not need to-
     You just pushed a button,
     And it would leave nuttin'
     But stiffs and big holes and debris, too.

     <refrain:>
     Ja, ja, ja, ja!
     In Prussia they never eat pussy!
     There ain't hardly cats enough,
     There's garbage and that's enough,
     So waltz me around again, Russky!

     There was a young fellow named Crockett,
     Who had an affair with a rocket.
     If you saw them out there
     You'd be tempted to stare,
     But if you ain't tried it, don't knock it!

     There was a young fellow named Hector,
     Who was fond of a launcher-erector.
     But the squishes and pops
     Of acute pressure drops
     Wrecked Hector's hydraulic connector.

     There once was a fellow named Moorehead,
     Who had an affair with a warhead.
     His wife moved away
     The very next day-
     She *was* always kind of a sorehead.

     There was a technician named Urban,
     Who had an affair with a turbine.
     "It's much nicer," he said,
     "Than a woman in bed,
     And it's sure as hell cheaper than bourbon!"

     There once was a fellow named Slattery
     Who was fond of the course-gyro battery.
     With that 50-volt shock,
     What was left of his cock
     Was all slimy and sloppy and spattery.

     There was a young fellow named Pope,
     Who plugged into an *os*-cillo-*scope*.
     The cyclical trace
     Of their carnal embrace
     Had a damn nearly infinite slope.

     There was a young fellow named Yuri,
     Fucked the nozzle right up its venturi.
     He had woes without cease
     From his local police,
     And a hell of a time with the jury

     There was a young man named McGuire,
     Who was fond of the pitch amplifier.
     But a number of shorts
     Left him covered with warts,
     And set half the bedroom on fire.

     There once was a fellow named Ritter,
     Who slept with a guidance transmitter.
     It shriveled his cock,
     Which fell off in his sock,
     And made him exceedingly bitter.

     There once was a fellow named Schroeder,
     Who buggered the vane servomotor.
     He soon grew a prong
     On the end of his schlong,
     And hired himself a promoter.

     There was a young man from Decatur,
     Who slept with a LOX generator.
     His balls and his prick
     Froze solid read quick,
     And his asshole a little bit later.