pelican poems

[mgts]

i know there is probably something about this already in here somewhere but i am a latecomer and have to ask... did anyone notice that the pelican poems get mentioned presumably by zampano? it's in footnote 177 in the labyrinth section. he states: "for instance, youth's peripatetic travials in the PXXXXXXX Poems; a perfect example why errors should be hastily excised." this is then footnoted 178: (by truant)"i.e. the pelican poems." which is footnoted 179 and the editor references the appendix IIB. there must be other places where there is cross talk between zampano and truant (the mom's letter with the hidden reference to zampano being the most talked of) has anyone tried to compile them??
images/smiles/icon_confused.gif

[AtLarge]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
the PXXXXXXX Poems ... i.e. the pelican poems

I was just reading this footnote, and the footnote it points to and there are 7 x's after the P, yet Pelican only has 6 letters after the P. However, Pelafina has 7 letters after the P, and I'm starting to wonder if a) Zampano is talking about the Whalestoe Letters (calling them the Pelafina Poems), or b) Pelafina wrote the Pelican Poems.

Or is it just a mistake and there's one too many X's?

[zerolous]

It could also just be Johnny reading and editing himself into the book again. He see's the quuote and the PXXXXXXX poems and it makes him think of his own youth and writing the pelican poems so he footnotes for himself "yes, like my own experience i.e. the pelican poems"

Although this does help support theories of this person was that person or who have you where, I have to go with the simplest explanation. Coincidence and hubris. Johnny see's something similar to an experience of his and comments on it. remember these comments are as much for him as they are for us. If someone were to look at my footnotes they would see personal connections that I have made, but I clearly have no connection to the book. I can't spell and my mom's name is not George.

[Synnmaster]

Depending on how you look at it, this could be more evidence that Jonny wrote House of Leaves (I gather some more info in my post THE REAL AUTHOR...use the SEARCH FUNCTION).


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
Or is it just a mistake and there's one too many X's?

I suppose it's possible it's a typo, but it's certainly not plausible. I get the feeling that MZD would have invested extra proofreading time into a novel where one mistake could have sent the whole meaning of the work spiraling out of control...

[mgts]

i agree that it is unlikely to be a typo. when i posted my query (way long ago...kudos to the search-function-user) i think i missed the discrepancy in # of Xs. i do still wonder about other points of contact between zampano and pelafina. it has been a while since i read the book...perhaps a reread is in order. as for (angry) johnny being the author of the book, i'm skeptical. (ps, just noticed that HOL is on the shelves of all the gift/mag/bookstores at the pittsburgh international airport. curious. some sort of marketing ploy??)

[g@rp]

Just a post to inform you that you can visit most of French towns without leaving your chair(and i'm thinking of the 62 rue des belles feuilles, in Paris, for exemple). You just have to go there (http://photos.pagesjaunes.fr/), tape the name of the city, the adress...and wait for the picture and the map. Don't know if it really helps, but it's sometimes funny...or deceving ! Just try it...it's cheeper than a flight ticket, i think !

[AtLarge]

I think I found another Pelafina in Zampano's text, pg 389 (the letter from Navy to Karen about why he is going back in to the house.)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
I'm leaving tomorrow XXXXXXXX though I plan to return.

If you put Pelafina in there, it becomes

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
I'm leaving tomorrow Pelafina though I plan to return.

It fits grammatically, to my eyes. I don't think that Zampano was trying to cross out whatever was there because a) he puts an actual X in blue over 'deserve', a word that does not fit grammatically, b) it seems that if he wanted it off the page, he would have struck it through like the minotaur passages.

I think that Johnny X'd out her name, and part of the reason I say that is the Font. these X's are a different font than used on pg 366 for example.

[Random]

(Forgive me if bumping this post isn't the correct thing to do here, but I've used the search function and couldn't find this mentioned anywhere. This thread seemed the most relevant place to put it.)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Maybe I'm missing something and someone can clear this up. After reading and thinking over this, I have trouble seeing how footnote 177 can even exist if it is really by Zampanò.<o:p></o:p>
Footnote 177 is first referred to in footnote 171 on page 137. The inconsistency comes when I realize that footnote comes from Johnny quoting excerpts from Zampanò's journal on page 543 and 546-67. He leads us here because of its connection with Quesada and Molino.<o:p></o:p>
The reference to footnote 177 does not appear in those original entries. So how could Zampanò have written footnote 177, if 171 didn't exist then?

Then perhaps this is a further hint that Z and JT are the same. (Although I was never completely sold on that theory)

[Emöjk]

*bump* (it's one of these days)
I read somewhere that MZD had planned at some stage to release the Pelican Poems as its own book, just like TWL. Does anyone have more info on that? I'm guessing it was scrapped, but I'd be interested to know what would have been in it.
(guess I'll have to ask the man himself...)