A Wrinkle in Time

[Psmith]

I wonder about the identity of the voice on page 636 talking about
tessaracts.

[Bhavani]

On Mar 20, 1:37 pm, Psmith <Ewagner...@aol.com> wrote:
> I wonder about the identity of the voice on page 636 talking about
> tessaracts.

The tesseract, multi-dimensional cornerstone idea seems very cool.
I suspect Pynchon planted suggestions for the voice's identity on the
previous page, and also the way it addresses them could be a clue?

The Ich Bin Ein Berliner/Jelly-doughnut fugue starting p. 626 plays
off of a mistake JFK supposedly made in his famous speech in Berlin.
He thought he was saying that he was a Berliner in in German but it
apparently literally translated as "I'm a jelly-doughnut.

"It's worth recalling, again, President John F. Kennedy's use of a
German phrase while standing before the Berlin Wall. It would be
great, his wordsmiths thought, for him to declare himself a symbolic
citizen of Berlin. Hence, Ich bin ein Berliner. What they did not
know, but could easily have found out, was that such citizens never
refer to themselves as 'Berliners.' They reserve that term for a
favorite confection often munched at breakfast. So, while they
understood and appreciated the sentiments behind the President's
impassioned declaration, the residents tittered among themselves when
he exclaimed, literally, "I am a jelly-filled doughnut."

— William J. Miller, "I Am a Jelly-Filled Doughnut", The New York
Times, April 30, 1988

[Psmith]

Thanks for the doughnut info. ("Ummm, doughnuts," says my inner
Homer.)

I wonder what Pynchon intended as the overall meaning of this novel.
I like it, but I have trouble keeping all the characters straight in
my mind.