ATD 695-723

Revision as of 18:21, 6 September 2010 by Bangorang (Talk | contribs) (Page 712)


Page 697

Cf page 489: Cyprian Latewood.

Austro-Hungarian Emigrants embarking in Trieste ca. 1907

emigrant traffic to America
According to this german Wikipedia paragraph about 3.5 to 4 Million emigrants left Austria-Hungary between 1876 and 1910, almost 3 millions of them heading to U.S.A., most of them via Hamburg but many from Trieste, too (the travel from there took about two weeks). In 1907 alone it was about half a million emigrants. In 1910 the population of Austria-Hungary was about 51.4 millions.

Cf page 529: Fiume. Present-day Rijeka.

Whitehead Torpedo Factory
Cf page 529: Whitehead works in Fiume and Robert Whitehead (1823-1905). (Wikipedia on Robert Whitehead)

German name for the town of Senj, Croatia.

Serbian/Croatian: fugitive. What Pynchon is circumscribing here is the fact that the Uskoks of Zengg were a famous pirate community. (Uskok)

Military Frontier
In reality, the Military Frontier, which was the southernmost strip of the Kingdom of Hungary (itself part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) was demilitarized and abolished as an administrative entity between 1869 and 1882, when Ottoman Turks ceased to control Serbia and Bosnia. Zengg was a Free Royal City but lay in the area officially called the Ogulin Regiment (one of the three regiments on the Adriatic coast) until 1871.

the Macedonian Question
Cf page 690: the Macedonia Question.
Raised, apparently, only among non-Macedonians. What boundaries are the Powers to create and which Power is to have dominant interest there?
Area known as Macedonia comprises five sovereign states in the present. There is a whole article on The Macedonia Question in The Encyclopedia Britannica, if anyone has access and wants to post it. Winston Churchill: "Macedonia has more history than it can consume".

This contributor tries to destill the "Macedonian Question" from Wikipedia and, just having access to the 1911 Encyclopedia Article on Macedonia, from that article:

1. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 had its origins in the Russian goal of gaining access to the Mediterranean Sea and liberating the Orthodox Christian Slavic peoples of the Balkan Peninsula (Bulgarians, Serbians) from the Islamic-ruled Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia 1

2. The war resulted in the Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878), which granted control over Macedonia to russophile Bulgaria Wikipedia 2

3. ...but got overruled by the Treaty of Berlin a few months later Wikipedia 3, thereby giving back control over Macedonia to Turkey (Ottoman Empire)

4. The 1911 Britannica says the "Macedonian Question" arises with the Treaty of Berlin read here about the complexities (last couple paragraphs)

5. All this geopolitical/-commercial/nationalist/religion-inspired madness - among which the "Macedonian Question" is just a part - leads to "Balkan Wars 1 & 2" (1912-1913) Wikipedia 4 (and WW1).

Trieste and Fiume on either side of the Istrian Peninsula
See Picture (remember Rijeka is Fiume).

Page 698

The Prater
The Wiener (Vienna) Prater is a large public park (approximately 4,000 acres) and consists of lawns, gardens, and forests source and is located in Vienna's second district Wikipedia Fotos from about 1900. Ever since the Prater was opened to the public in 1766 it has attracted fun-seekers - and prostitution.

The 1873 World Fair took place here. This site comes with interesting links about the Fair.

The knout was a heavy whip used for punishment and compulsion in Russia. A knout-fancier is a sadist specializing in this instrument.

Should be: Kapuziner in German.

It should be Kapuziner in the current orthography. Capuziner was in use in the past Entry in a German encyclopedia published between 1857 and 1865 (German orthography was regulated in 1901 and prescribed, among other things, many conversions from c to z or k in loanwords).

The Capucines were friars whose habits were hooded. One of the monks is supposed to have invented coffee with milk steamed from the urn. Owl of Minerva 18:11, 4 April 2007 (PDT)

This monk is supposed to be Marco d'Aviano, but this story does not seem to have any basis. A theory that seems much more likely: The colour of the "Kapuziner" is similar to the cloth of the Capucine's habits.

The Austrian variety of Cappuccino; it is done with sweetened whipped cream instead of milk froth.

No. A "Kapuziner" in Vienna is a Mocca to which a bit of liquid (i.e. unwhipped) whipping cream is added. What you probably mean is usually called "Franziskaner" in Vienna. See for instance this page for a list of terms for coffee in Vienna. However, care should be taken, especially the not-so-established names may vary from place to place or be entirely unknown in many places. Also, this variety is a fairly local affair, even just outside of Vienna the coffee vocabulary is severely reduced. In rural areas one typically finds only a rather small selection of coffee types.
The Kapuziner seems to have existed for a rather long time in Vienna and it is likely that the cappuccino took its name from it. It should be noted that a cappuccino as prepared in Italy differs from Kapuziner: Instead of mocca, the base coffee is espresso, which is topped up with steamed or frothed milk instead of (liquid) cream. While cappuccino in Italy became popular only in the 20th century, the Kapuziner apparently had been around for a longer time.

Page 699

Restaurant Eisvogel ca. 1865

Vienna‘s 2nd district Wikipedia. The relevant 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Vienna entry reads: "Leopoldstadt which together with Brigittenau are the only districts on the left bank of the Danube Canal, is the chief commercial quarter, and is inhabited to a great extent by Jews."

Jewish quarter north of the Prater, across the railroad tracks
The direction is wrong. The built-up areas north of the Prater are fairly recent developments (around 1900 and later) and to my knowledge were never considered a Jewish quarter. There are also no railroad tracks north of the Prater (apart from those along the Danube).

The traditional Jewish quarter, in which also many large synagogues were located, is indeed west of the Prater, towards the city center, and there have indeed been (elevated) railway tracks between this area and the Prater since the 19th century.

A traditional restaurant in the Prater. Eisvogel = kingfisher

the Giant Wheel
The Giant Ferris Wheel of Vienna, a landmark of the city opened in 1897, is located in the VolksPrater (Amusement Park) section of the Prater. This famous wheel rises 209 ft above the ground. It appeared in the movie The Third Man (1949): Joseph Cotten used the wheel as a meeting place with Orson Welles.

The following reference to "the infernal lilt of yet another twittering waltz" seems to cement the Third Man reference. Pynchon who once wanted to be a film critic (or so he says in a letter to his agent) would certainly be aware of the movie, as well as Anton Karas's Viennese waltz performed by the composer on the zither which haunts the movie (a real earworm). Also, we're definitely in Graham Greene (who penned the screenplay) noir espionage thriller down-with-Austrian-imperialism territory here. This may be a stretch but to my ear, the "twittering" seems to echo Orson Welles famous and famously glib ad-lib on the Ferris Wheel that Swiss peacenicks only contributed the cuckoo clock for world culture. Like the movie, Pynchon shows that some dark terror and buried hostility undergirds the reputation for "neutrality"

Misha and Grisha
Russian: Diminutives, nicknames, short forms of the given names Mikhail and Grigorii, Michael and Gregory. Yes, they are both masculine names (and so is Sasha in most cases).

IX Bezirk
The Ninth District (or Ward) of Vienna. Freud among many others kept an office there Wikipedia. Basically, the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Vienna entry; "Alsergrund, with the enormous general hospital, the military hospital and the municipal asylum for the insane, is the medical quarter." is still valid nowadays.

Page 700

The Colonel himself removed the blindfold
see Cyprian's conversation with his father at P.491 - "Are you a general?" "More like a Colonel."

non-Prussian, indeed crypto-Oriental, blood
Some writers were at pains to equate brutal Germans with Huns.

In case the Colonel is Max Khäutsch this recalls Lew‘s first impression when meeting him as a watchdog of Archduke Franz Ferdinand at the Columbian Fair (p. 47): "... the oblique plains of his face revealing an origin somewhere in the Slavic vastness of Europe as yet but lightly traveled by the recreational visitor..."

whipping him
Persons interested in such practices, among whom I would never *ever* be numbered, might look askance at an author who muddies the distinction between use of a cane and of a whip.

You can "whip" a cane. The action is being described, not the instrument. And yes this is hardcore and unsafe S&M, hence Cyprian's rising anxiety.

A park in Vienna‘s inner city, close to the parliament german Wikipedia

"Ritter Georg Hoch!"
a hymn (sung to this tune) to the Führer of the "Alldeutsche Vereinigung", Ritter Georg von Schönerer (1842-1921), Austrian politician, Pan-Germanist, Arch-Anti-Semite, Slavophobe, Anti-Catholic. He was a son of Austrian Railroad Tycoon Matthias Schönerer. Schönerer‘s ideas had a major influence on Adolf Hitler who lived in Vienna 1908-1913 (aged 19-24) Wikipedia interesting book

Page 701

euphemism for Christ. (according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the link between 'crikey' and 'Christ' is uncertain. It is certainly an exclamation of astonishment.)

Cf page 495: Newmarket.

Theign, Derrick
Book title, Anglo-Saxon Theign: The collapse of Roman rule in Britain was not so much a sudden catastrophe as a long and drawn-out decline. The 'Celtic' Britons retreated gradually to the highland areas of Wales, Cornwall and the south-west of Scotland. Control of the fertile eastern lowlands was lost to warriors of Germanic origin who migrated from the Continent. These Germanic conquerors have become known to history as the 'Anglo-Saxons.' The word theign (or thane) referred to a noble ruler like an earl. Macbeth was 'thane of Cordor.'

In Henry James' novel The Outcry, there's a widowed Lord Theign, who to cover the gambling debts of his daughter Kitty Imber, is planning to sell his beautiful painting Duchess of Waterbridge by Sir Joshua Reynolds to American billionaire Breckinridge Bender; code name "Good Shepherd" in Vienna.

Page 702

Pronounced ZHOO-zha. Has TRP been watching "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"? The artiste in maquillage will give Cyprian's hair a little zhözh.

A name shared, coincidentally no doubt, with the Zsuzsa Szabo of Mason & Dixon, "operator of the automatick Battle of Leuthen" on M&D crew; 551

Designer's/craftman's studio

Hotel Neue Mutzenbacher
Josefine Mutzenbacher is a (probably fictional) Vienna courtesan from the 1906 novel of the same title. The novel was published anonymously, but is often ascribed to Felix Salten (author of "Bambi"). It is regarded as the only important work of pornographic literature in the German language, but didn't find a large audience until the 1970s. Josefine gets abused as a child and starts working as a prostitute at the age of 14, both of which is described in much detail. The novel has repeatedly been subject of discussions about artistic freedom, and was indexed as youth-endangering text in Germany in 1982, which was overruled in 1990 by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. Wikipedia

The popularity in the 1970s has mostly been due to the homonymous movie version directed by Kurt Nachmann, which cleverly circumvented censorship by creating optical metaphors. The movie (rated 18+) became a classic and led actress Christine Schuberth (portraying the main character as a young adult) to minor stardom. Many follow-ups (also of openly pornographic nature) have been produced since.

Page 703

Stiftskaserne in German. Brief summary of that entry: The name means Orphanage Barracks.

This is a misunderstanding. "Stift" (being a contraction of "Stiftung") roughly translates to "foundation," in the sense of a privately funded organization or structure. The first foundation at the location of today's Stiftskaserne was an orphanage. It was later converted into an engineering academy and eventually into barracks. So it would rather mean "Foundation Barracks".

Rather imposing building in Vienna's Seventh District, dating back to 1850s in its present form, used as orphanage, school, military prison, troop quarters, today houses some offices of Austrian Defense Ministry.

Traditional Viennese two horse cab website. "Fiakerlieder" are songs about/sung by the cabbys, more often than not of the sentimental kind.

There is a famous (well, in Austria) song known as Fiakerlied by Gustav Pick, composed for the 100-year celebration of the Fiaker's guild in Prater, and sung on this occasion by the well-known actor Alexander Girardi. It became a classic piece of Schrammel music, and for some time something like an inofficial hymn of Vienna; at least the chorus ("I bin hoid a echts Weana Kind" - "I'm just a genuine child of Vienna") is still very well-known. A pre-1920 recording of Alexander Girardi singing the Fiakerlied.

One of Vienna‘s main railway stations Wikipedia. Located about a mile from the city‘s center. From here trains would leave towards the south "Südbahn". This railway wasnt nationalized until 1924.

Ostend Express...Staatsbahn
Thats quite confusing: the Vienna-Ostend-Express (on tracks 1894-1914 & 1925 until mid 1990‘s german Wikipedia) left from the Westbahnhof Wikipedia. The "Westbahn" was nationalized (german: verstaatlicht) in 1882, so "Staatsbahn" might refer to the Westbahnhof. However, from 1910-1914 the "Staatsbahnhof" was the railwaystation where trains to the east left Vienna - no trains to Belgium or a home further west there.

"A thousand Kreuzer? That isn‘t even ten quid.", ..."thirty K. per day"
It is rather unlikely that Theign hands out "Kreuzer", unless the Fiaker-ride takes place pre-1900: Austrian currency from 1892 on was the "Krone" ("Crown"; abbrevation: K.) which consisted of 100 "Heller" Wikipedia. From January 1st, 1900, on it completely replaced the "Gulden" which had consisted of 60 "Kreuzer" Wikipedia. But then, maybe, the old nomination "Kreuzer" remained as a common term for the new currency‘s smaller unit "Heller" for some while afterwards. "Quid" is slang for the British Pound Sterling Wikipedia. According to this site ten "quid" from early 1900s would equal some 700+ pounds as per 2006.

Kreuzer was the nickname for a 2 Heller coin.

...passing electric lamplight flaring...
According to this site (german) in the early 1900s most of Viennas street lights with the exception of the inner city were still gas lights.

Page 704

German: Procuring, pimping.

Not even if England expects it
Allusion to Nelson's signal at Trafalgar: "England expects that every man will do his duty."

if you turn, you die
Sodom & Gomorrah motif, as well as that of the classical Greek myth of Orpheus and Euridice, where lyre-player Orpheus descends to the Underworld and plays; as a reward he is told that his beloved Euridice may follow him up to earth and marry him -- but he should not look back before arriving home. He does, and she disappears back to Hades. Owl of Minerva 18:23, 4 April 2007 (PDT)

Page 705

"He chortles. Bitterly."
A typo ? Should be He chortles. Bitterly. without the quotation marks ?

I don't think so: Cyprian is saying this aloud, just being clever.Soupface 02:34, 2 March 2007 (PST)
I agree with Soupface. Owl of Minerva 18:24, 4 April 2007 (PDT)

Buon Pastore
Good Shepherd in Italian.

Semlin, German for Zemun, is a major suburb of Belgrade, Serbia. At the time of the novel it belonged to Croatia-Slavonia (within Austria-Hungary), so Theign did not cross the border to Serbia.

Zagreb is the capital and largest city of Croatia.

At this point I thought it is worth mentioning Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and his novel Venus in Furs (Venus im Pelz). It apparently contains whippings and (female) domination, and also a trip to Italy, Florence; in real life, Sacher-Masoch traveled to Venice in an analogous situation. However, its beginning is not set in Vienna, but Sacher-Masoch was a citizen of Austria-Hungary and lived in Vienna for some time.

Page 706

Cf page 578: pensione, a cheap Italian hotel.

Santa Croce
Santa Croce is one of the six sestieri (districts) of Venice. It lies on the opposite side of the Grand Canal to the main railway station of Venice.

Mestre bridge
Mestre is a town in Veneto, northern Italy. Located on the mainland but is connected to Venice by a bridge.

Cf page 633: Crotona in Magna Grecia Crotona (should be: Crotone) is a city in southern Italy on the Gulf of Taranto.

Some sort of strange sheep's-milk cheese from Crotona
There is pecorino crotonese, but I don't see what would be strange about it. A strange cheese from Calabria (the region in which Crotone is located) is casu du quagghiu, which contains live larvae and is also made of sheep milk. This kind of cheese can apparently be found all over Italy, the most well-known variant being casu marzu from Sardinia.

But maybe this phrase should just allude to something Pythagorean (Pythagoras and his followers were based in Crotone, then called Kroton).

Admiralty, before 1964, was the authority in Britain responsible for the command of the Royal Navy.

Arsenale di Venezia, the military-naval heart of Venice. Cf. pg 854:the image had entered the Arsenale

". . . miniature submarines . . . launched from the bow as if they themselves were torpedoes."
This might refer to the "Ortella", from which - in WW2 - the Italians launched manned topedoes Website

Spezia . . . San Bartolomeo works
Spezia is a city of Liguria, Italy, 56 miles southeast of Genoa. It is the Chief Naval Harbor of Italy since 1861. The entrace is protected by forts while a submarine embankment renders it secure. The establishment of San Bartolomeo is exclusively used for electrical works and the manufacture of submarine weapons, especially torpedoes.

Glauco class
Glauco class submarines were built between 1905 - 1909; and they were: Glauco (05), Squalo (06), Narvalo (06), Otaria (08) and Tricheco (09).

"we of the futurity"
Who is speaking from such an omniscient 'future"? If we assume the we of the futurity is the readership, it is also possible to equate us the readers, as voyagers into the past via the novel, with the they who raid the past to support an unsustainable future (our own?), raiders like Ryder Thorn (p. 551 ff, esp. p. 554-5). Which raises questions about the status of the novel itself as a device for time travel/depradation.

Siluro Dirigibile a Lenta Corsa
Cf page 529: Siluro Dirigibile a Lenta Corsa.

Page 707

A typically Russian way of abbreviating a phrase with a lot of syllables.

vozdushnyi nablyudenie
Russian: as translated in the text, but the gender agreement is wrong (should be vozdushnoye).

...they may want you back at the Metternichgasse
This refers most likely to the British Embassy in Vienna which is located at Metternichgasse 6. source, historical photos. As this adress is in the "Embassy-Quarter" of Vienna it could refer to another Embassy (Among others, the Embassies of Germany, Italy and China reside at Metternichgasse as well).

Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leics
Ashby-de-la-Zouch is a small market town in the county of Leicestershire, England.

Page 708

unreflective desire
Probably from a translation of Plato's Phaedrus.

Brand of cigar; touts itself as "The World's Richest Cigar".

Rush is a Canadian rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist, and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. Rush has become known for the instrumental virtuosity of its members, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and individualist libertarian philosophy, as well as addressing humanitarian and environmental concerns. Following the deaths of his wife and daughter, Peart embarked on a self-described "healing journey" by motorcycle in which he traveled extensively across North America. He subsequently wrote about his travels in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Their 1975 album Caress of Steel contains a track called Under the Shadow [1].

Interesting interpretation, given the Peart connection, but I think the acronym is pretty self-explanatory, since it refers to a group of speedy motorcyclists...

Page 709

the goddes Kali
Hindu goddes Kali of darkness and violence associated with Shiva; but sometimes she was considered as a benevolenet mother-goddess. "Kali" is from the Sanskrit feminine for "time" and also for "black", and has been translated as "She who is time," "She who devours time," "She who is the Mother of Time," "She who is black time," -- all of which have resonance with themes in the book.

Page 710

vecchio fazool
Mock-Italian: old bean (fazool being a vernacular version of the correct italian word "fagioli")

Santa Lucia Station
Santa Lucia Station is Venice main railway station in the city itself. The other main station (Mestre Station mentioned on page 706) is on the mainland.

Cf page 519: Graz and Graz

Page 711

the Evidenzbüro
The Military and Counterespionage Organization in Vienna; also called the Combinbed Military Intelligence Agency of Austria. This Washinton Post article, Chapter 1 of a book A Century of Spies, mentioned the Evidenzbüro in "The Czar's Spies" section. (This article also wrote about Sidney Reilly, aka Chong of page 630 ATD, in "Sidney Reilly" section).

Page 712

Mozart Piano Concerto
The first thing that springs to mind is the so-called 'Elvira Madigan' theme, which is an adagio from a Mozart piano concerto, but not K488. Nevertheless it seems relevant. Mozart was not a Romantic composer, and his adagio had nothing to do with the Elvira Madigan story of love and suicide. The association was only created by the film. So Cyprian would have to be 'prophetic' to have any such association. The general idea is that he has some kind of slow, fateful-sounding music as the 'score' for his personal film. But see below, "Romance".

"history of human emotion"
Ah, wow! Cf. 'range of emotions' earlier.

subfusc \sub-FUHSK\, adjective: Dark or dull in color; drab, dusky. It is also used in British slang to mean "under the table," in secret.

"romance" the history of human emotion..showed [with] great trembling through to "a hateful future"
Some connection. The Romantic movement in music/art led to a hateful future?
Certain elements of Romanticism, especially Late Romanticism, for example its over-the-top cult of love-and-death, heroics and Germanic mythology (Wagner) were influential on Nazism. And of course Hitler saw himself as a Wagnerian figure. On the whole Romanticism has been associated, especially by Marxist historians, with a dangerous kind of 'idealism', easily perverted into the total conviction that you're the good guy because you have the right ideals that can justify anything (anyone for 'freedom'?). As opposed to good old historical materialism (easily perverted etc. etc....).

I think Pynchon is referring to the decadent movement on the cusp of Modernism. Nazism isn't for some time, and I don't if we can fairly call that a "style" or an "emotion" so much as a form of dictatorial government. Of course, "romantic" is a vague term and can apply to nearly anything and everything, much like calling people you disagree with Nazis.

Hotel Klomser
Colonel Alfred Redl [2] was an Austrian intelligence officer who, when blackmailed by Russian Intelligence because of his homosexual activities, betrayed Austria's entire military plan for Serbia and for general mobilization in case of war with Russia. Caught by his own men, he committed suicide at the Hotel Klomser in 1913[3]. This site comes with photos of what the Hotel Klomser looks like today and a (German) account of the buildings history.

angles of repose
Positions assumed by falling objects at their final eqilibrium point (geological); title and guiding image of a novel by Wallace Stegner, also involving western mining districts.

coffee...ultramodern machines
The description suggests a vacuum coffee pot, at that time popular, though not new. For the historical background, look here.

German: epicureanism.; being a gourmet.

Page 713

history of civilization as distinguished by the asymptotic approach of industrial production some mythical, never attained Zero."

1. Six-Sigma: the processes of eliminating systematic production variance so as to approach a six sigma success rate of 99.99966% (compare to Ivory's 99.44% pure) or less than 3.4 defects per million "opportunities." Which is 0.00034% which is asymptotically approaching a theoretical, though never attained Zero.
2. Closely tied to this is the idea of computer availability at 5-Nines. Which translates to system downtown of 5.2 minutes of downtime per year. Six Sigma computer availability would be less than 1 minute of downtime per year.
3. Within the Pynchon lexicon: the history of civilization as the drive to the 00000 rocket of GR. (5 Zeros vs. 5 Nines).
4. Production tolerances -- civilization as the drive to ethnic (reproductive) purity. Germany of 1940 had 80.6MM people. At a Six-Sigma level there would have been only 275 people not within "tolerance."

Sachertorte mit Schlag
A world-renowned Viennese cake, here served with whipped cream. The next part of the exchange notes that Schlag also means a blow, English cognate - slug.

A judge in ancient Rome. It can also be a reference to the Praetorian Guard used by Roman Emperors but this is unlikely. Therefore we must assume a "praetorian apparatus" is a judge apparatus.

Hungarian name derived from the town of Miskolc.

Bram Stoker's Dracula was published in 1897 and indeed very popular at that time Wikipedia.

Hematophagy is the habit of feeding on blood. There might be a hint at the Catholic eucharist and transsubstantiation, drinking wine as the blood of Jesus; the "subcircuit of the Buda-Pesth telephone exchange" establishes a ritual community, though all religious implications apparently fall away.

first Moroccan crisis
Triggered in 1905 by a visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Morocco. Due to German economical interests, Wilhelm argued for Moroccan independence and thereby affronted France as a colonial power. France immediately got supported by Britain, which weakened Germany's position lastingly Wikipedia.

Page 714

Was written "Centralbad" back then. A bathing establishment in Viennas Inner City, nowadays the gay sauna "Kaiserbründl". website (the site comes with english "history" and depictions of "Viennese Orientalism" - for German readers the "Presse" section is the most informative regarding the history). It's architecture is said to have influenced director Fritz Lang's movies architecture source

literalism of the hydropathic
This might refer to the fact that the Centralbad - other than most of Vienna‘s Inner City houses since at least 1873, when the water supply main between the alps and the city was accomplished german weblink - still took its water from its own well. This gave rise to quite a few discussions, that the Centralbad‘s water, what with the leaking canalisation system of the city, might be unhealthy. source (German)

Dianabad - Men‘s Steambath ca. 1910

Astarte-Bad... far out on one of the "K" or river-quay lines
No establishment of that name in Vienna as far as the contributor knows. It most likely refers to a bath named after another antique goddess, the "Dianabad" German Wikipedia, though this is/was not located "far out" on the river-quai line, but is just across the "Donaukanal" from Vienna‘s Inner City northwestern corner. According to sources 1

In 1907 Viennese a nifty schema for tramway lines was introduced, which (with some simplifications and modifications) more or less is still in use today (extensive description in German). It basically assigns numbers to radial and tangential (with respect to the city center) lines. The city center itself is surrounded by the innermost "circle" of this system, formed by Ring and Kai (along the Donaukanal, a branch of the Danube). Several tram lines went on radial routes to this inner circle, ran on it, and then go radial again. In order to know whether the tram turns right or left when reachig the inner circle, index K indicated "towards Kai" and R "towards Ring". Apart from "far out" everything would work here, all K lines reach the Kai, and Dianabad is just across the Donaukanal from the Kai.

Astarte (Biblical Ashtaroth) was a Middle-Eastern goddess corresponding to Greek Aphrodite - i.e. goddess of love, fertility etc. and thus the exact opposite of the virginal Diana. Suggesting that all sorts of things probably went on that wouldn't be tolerated at the Dianabad.

Leclanché cells
A kind of wet-cell storage battery with sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) as the electrolyte.

A brand of petrolatum or petroleum jelly.

Electricity!...the 'elan vital' itself....!
'elan vital' = life force. Ironically thematic?

Oh, much more than that ! Élan Vital [4] is a term coined by French philosopher Henri Bergson in his book L'Évolution créatrice (Creative Evolution, complete English text here: [5]), published in 1907. In it, Bergson postulates a number of complicated theories with spiritualist leanings , among them a definition of "duration" which implies a subjective experience of time, as opposed to mathematical, objectively measurable "clock time." As for the link with electricity, some followers of Bergson's ideas assumed that this Élan Vital ("Life Force" or "Vital Impetus") could be injected in an inanimate substance and activated with electricity, perhaps taking literally another of Bergson's metaphorical descriptions, the "current of life". A lot of ideas developed in L'évolution Créatrice appear throughout AtD. More on Bergson here: [6]

Beda Chanson‘s "Ausgerechnet Bananen"
Friedrich Löhner-Beda (1883-1942) was one of the most successful Austrian writers of lyrics for popular music and cabarets in the 1920s and early 30s, usually signing as "Beda" weblink. He translated/adapted Frank Silver and Irving Cohn's song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" (released 1923 (!)) into German. While the original makes fun of a fruitshop-owner who cant say "we run out of bananas", Beda's german version is the lamento of a beau/Don Juan about the capricious demands - the fruit being the symbol of the exotic back then and hard to find in Europe - of the adored lady. "Ausgerechnet Bananen" translates as: "Of all things, bananas (Bananas she's asking of me)". english/german lyrics

In the pre-1917 Russian alphabet, the last letter (not available in this character set), used in a few Greek-derived words. In present-day Russian it's called izhitsa, but the letter is shaped a little like a Y and may be correctly transliterated so. "To write izhitsa to someone" means to eliminate them.

Page 715

German: darling.

German: reconnaissance office.

German: honey trap. A honey trap in espionage-speak is a seduction, either as motivator or as basis for blackmail. This passage suggests, or at least plants the suspicion, that Theign has become a double agent.

Leo Slezak
Tenor, born in Moravia 1873, performed in Europe and America, died 1946. His son was the actor Walter Slezak. Wikipedia

the Opera House
The Vienna State Opera House, a neo-romantic building, was inaugurated on May 25, 1869 with Mozart's Don Giovanni and rebuilt after World War II. The rebuilt house, seating more than 2,200, reopened on November 5, 1955.

German: junction line.

Dickwanst . . . Fettarsch
German: potbelly . . . fat-ass.

These words are rather colloquial, but typical for Germany. Viennese people, especially in those times would rather not have used them, but for instance "Gfüda" ("Gefüllter" - "stuffed one"), "Blader" ("blad" [blah-d] is Viennese jargon for "corpulent"), or (ruder) "blade Sau" ("fat pig"). Then again, the callers could have been people from Germany.

Vienna‘s 10th district Wikipedia. It is a multi-ethnic, working-class, densely populated area.

huge Socialist demonstrations
1909 - 1911 Vienna‘s Socialist Party organized several huge demonstrations culminating in one against the rapidly increasing prices for meat on September 17, 1911, with 36.000+ participants. Not only police but military as well "observed" the demonstrators, thus increasing their nervosity and aggressivity. Though the party's politicians tried to calm the masses it came to clashes after the demonstration dissolved itself. The military forces chased the participants out of Vienna‘s center back into the outer districts, resulting in three casualities, ninety wounded by the cavallery and 200 busts. website
--plausible, but confusing. This scene is set during the first Moroccan crisis, thus in 1905 or 1906. According to the website you cite, the unrest did not occur until 1911, which would coincide with the second Moroccan crisis.

--I agree: its confusing and I have quite a problem with the timetable throughout this novel. However I dont agree with: "This scene is set during the first Moroccan Crisis." The scene which is set during the first Moroccan Crisis is the one in which Theign came to appreciate the "help" provided by Miskolci (p. 713). Further up on p. 713 we have learned that Cyprian during this very jourmey to Vienna (which eventually will lead him into the turmoils of the huge socialist demonstrations in question here) happens to run into several members of Theigns "praetorian apparatus" which had been put together "over his (Theigns) years on the Vienna station." Miskolci obviously is one such member and TP tells us the story how he became a praetorian during the first Morrocan Crisis - his proposition to help Theign therefore might have happened quite some time - maybe even years - before Cyprian meets Miskolci on p. 715. Whenever the demonstrations take place on the historical timetable, Theign obviously isnt in Vienna (what with having let Cyprian travel to Vienna with the Südbahn alone (p. 710-712)), and the first Morroccan Crisis belongs to the past already. Be it as it may, there have been huge (socialist) demonstrations from 1905 to 07, too: foto That time they demonstrated for a reform of the electoral law 1 2 several times, which massively favored priests, high ranking officials and military, hugescale landlords etc.. With some success: 1907, for the first time, all males of 24+ yrs. were allowed to vote and their ballott was worth the same for poor and privileged. No records of police/military excesses during these demonstrations I could find on the web, though.

the Ringstrasse
The Ringstrasse is a circula road surrounding the Innere Stadt (Inner City) district of Vienna. The Opera House of Vienna is located here.

return of the repressed
A psychoanalytic term, from Freud himself in which our refusal to honour or recognise an impulse--usually the sexual impulse-- does not drive the impulse away. It returns in a dehumanised way, transformed into something wild and destructive. Here, applied to marching working-class men and women, the psychoanalytic meaning merges with the social meaning, it seems: 'the oppressed.' The capitalist bankers and industrialists had been able to repress the thought of the poverty-stricken and malnourished workers by living away from working-class neighborhoods, but as organized Socialists, the 'repressed' returned to central Vienna

Page 716

Czerny's School of Velocity
Music students' exercise book; velocity is of course a term in calculating a vector.
Carl Czerny (1791-1857), an Austrain piano teacher and composer. Remebered as the most famous piano student of Beethoven, he developed a reputation as one of the most significant piano teachers of the 19th Century. His pupils included Thalberg, Liszt and Heller, and his pedagogical works had and continue to have wide currency.

Mariahilf is the name of Vienna's sixth district.

Snazzbury's Silent Frock
Cf page 500: Snazzbury & Silent Frock.

Cloak of invisibility
Harry Potter reference. Any other echoes?
Sure, the Tarnhelm in Wagner's Ring operas (it appears in Das Rheingold, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung). The Tarnhelm can render the wearer invisible or make him seem to be someone else.
And pretty close to the pub date of AtD, a real-world invisibility cloak was revealed, if that's the right word.

Both offices
The Okhrana, Russian secret police, and the Kundschaftsstelle, Austrian security agency.

Page 717

the Japanese war, rebellions up and down the rail lines.
Cf page 595: Japanese won & In the East . . . up and down the railroad lines.

Inside the (Vienna) Prater an area closest to the city center contains a large amusement park known as Volksprater (People's Prater). At its entrance stands the Giant (Ferris) Wheel.

Venedig in Wien
Venice in Vienna. A theme park in Volks-Prater, was opened in May 1895. Alpha Index

the Doge's Palace
Located next to the Piazza San Marco, the Doge's Palace is one of the most famous sites in Venice. This is the home and offices of the Doges of Venice. See Doge's Palace Photo.

the Ca' d'Oro
The Ca' d'Oro (the Golden House) is one of the most beautiful palazzos on the Grand Canal in Venice. It was built between 1428 to 1430 for the Contarini family. In 1922 it was bequeathed to the State by its last owner. It is now open to the public as a gallery.

Hypatia Ca. 370-415, Alexandrian mathematician, astrologer and Neo-Plantonist murdered, physically torn to shreds, by a Christian mob.

Page 718

regulars at Dobner‘s on the day it closed its doors (1909)

Colney Hatch
Cf page 239: Colney Hatch
Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum (or Friern Hospital) was a hospital located in Colney Hatch in what is now the London Borough of Barnet. It was in operation from 1851 to 1993. At its height the asylum was home to 3,500 mental patients and had the longest corridor in Britain, and hence, its name was synonymous among Londoners with any mental institution [7].


A coffehouse located at Getreidemarkt 1. According to the text that came with the source of the foto of its interior it closed its doors in 1909. From this article on director Fritz Lang‘s youth in Vienna: "...the Cafe Dobner, on a busy corner where the Getreidemarkt cuts the Linke Wienzeile. With its billiard tables and cabaret performances, the Dobner was well-known as a meeting place for theater artists, opera stars, journalists, and beautiful prostitutes."
Dobner at Getreidemarkt Nr.1 ca. 1900

German: grain market. The street separating Vienna‘s 1st ("Inner City") and 6th ("Mariahilf") district.

Szekszárdi Vörös
Red wine from the Szekszárd region of Hungary.

White wine from Alsace. Not necessarily so, but most of it traditionally is produced there. It is an earthy white wine that tastes slightly of herbs. Its origin is North Eastern Italy (the village of Tramin in Alto-Aldige) Wikipedia

a white cloth bag of tarhonya from the previous century
Tarhonya are tiny pellets of dried pasta, a popular and well-storable ingredient in Hungarian country cooking.

the Anglo-Russian Entente
Cf page 618: the Anglo-Russian Entente.

Also spelled Romanovs, the last imperial dynasty of Russia, which ruled the country from 1613 to 1917.

Page 719

Cf page 616: Otzovists.

Vienna teeming with Bolshies
Bolshies: an anachronistic nickname for Bolshevists or Bolsheviks. Cf page 616: Bolshevists. Trotsky in pre-WWI exile was based in Vienna, Lenin also stayed there for a while, and Stalin's only taste of the West before assuming power was a visit to the imperial city.

Mrs. Burchell
Cf page 228: Mrs. Burchell.

the Serbian outrage
The assassination of the Serbian royal couple (June 11, 1903), which Mrs. Burchell predicted on page 228. Cf page 228: Alexander and Draga Obrenovich, the King and Queen of Serbia.

Russian: edginess.

Page 720

"Monsieur Azeff"
Yevno Fishelevich Azeff (1869-1918), Social Revolutionary provocateur and terrorist; in hiding outside Russia after 1908.

Socialist Revolutionary
The Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR) was a Russian political party established in 1901. It, not Lenin's Bolsheviks, played a major role in Russian 1905 Revolution (of page 595) and the 1917 February Revolution in which the Tsar regime was overthrown. The SR leader Kerensky was the Prime Minister of the new Russian Government. After Lenin's November coup the SRs faded, even though in the only democratic election held in 1918 after the Soviet came to power the SRs gained 57% of the popular vote as opposed to Bolsheviks' 25%. Lenin just disbanded the newly elected Constituent Assembly by force and arrested all those delegates who did not follow Lenin's policy. Many SRs fought against the Soviet regime in the Russian Civil War (1918-1921).

Hungarian: literally, wasps' nest. A rolled, filled pastry with almonds.

Dobos torte
Several thin layers of sponge cake and chocolate cream, topped with a hard caramel glaze.

Rigó Jancsi
A chocolate sponge cake with chocolate mousse filling. Named after a virtuoso Magyar Gypsy violinist, who made the headlines when he ran away with the American wife of the Belgian Duke of Chimay.

Váci út
A street name; the second word is Hungarian: road.

Angel's Field
Angyalföld in Hungarian, a working-class neighbourhood in northern Budapest.

Page 721

Spittelberg today

should be Spittelberggasse. The Spittelberg has been a redlight district within Vienna‘s 7th district ("Neubau") for centuries (until about 1960). It is said that Giacomo Casanova enjoyed himself and a few ladies there. After renovations started in the early 1980‘s it‘s a place for the urban rich today.

. . . the limitless civic passion for window-shopping
Two quotes from this article on director Fritz Lang‘s youth in Vienna: 1. "... to visit three of the most notorious spots on Spittelberg, regarded as an immoral part of town. "Spittelberg," as Lang put it, "was not a Berg [mountain] at all, it's just that one of the streets was called that. This was where girls with exposed breasts lay in street-level windows and invited passersby to a visit with the most obvious gestures." This was Lang's first "Scarlet Street."" 2. " The family enjoyed distinctly Viennese activities, such as the promenade past elegant shop windows in the late afternoon. Lang remembered the men in their frock coats and toppers, the military clicking of heels, the corseted women with furs and boatlike hats. Idly gazing into shop windows--kicking one in, in Rancho Notorious--became ritual behavior in Lang's films. Two of his finest Hollywood dramas, The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street, begin, with deceptive innocence, with window-shopping."

Josephstadt, commonly spelled Josefstadt, is the eighth, the smallest, district of Vienna.

A boy kept for purposes of sexual perversion. (Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)

Page 722

high-tessitura dismay
Italian tessitura (literally "texture") means the way a vocal part "lies." High tessitura means sustained singing in a high register. The phrase here means screaming or shrieking.

An occasional violent cold north to northeast wind that blows over the northern Adriatic from the interior highlands. (Merriam-Webster's Unabridged Dictionary)

Ma signori, um po' di moderazione, per piacere
Italian: Sirs, a little moderation, if you please. (should be: "un po'", not "um po'")

Page 723

Earl's Court
Earl's Court is a place in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district. Earl's Court preceded Soho as London's center of gay nightlife.

a Bank Holiday
A Bank Holiday, in Britain and Ireland, is equivalent to the public holiday of the US.

slang for penis.

Annotation Index

Part One:
The Light Over the Ranges


Part Two:
Iceland Spar


Part Three:


Part Four:
Against the Day


Part Five:
Rue du Départ


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