Thursday, May 7, 2009

The Candy Scene from Gravity's Rainbow

I force people to read this - or read it to them - to convince them to go further with Gravity's Rainbow. I mean, eventually there's poop and stuff! No poop in this scene though. Sickos.
"Now I remember you - the one with the graft at the Ministry of Supply!" but he knows, from last time, that no gallantry can help him now. After that visit he wrote home to Nalline : "The English are kind of weird when it comes to the way things taste, Mom. They aren't like us. It might be the climate. They go for things we would never dream of. Sometimes it is enough to turn your stomach, boy. The other day I had one of these things they call 'wine jellies'. That's their idea of candy, Mom! Figure out a way to feed some to that Hitler 'n' I betcha the war'd be over tomorrow!". Now once again he finds himself checking out these ruddy gelatin objects, nodding, he hopes amiably, at Mrs. Quoad. They have the names of different wines written on them in bas-relief.

"Just a touch of menthol too," Mrs. Quoad popping one into her mouth. "Delicious."

Slothrop finally chooses one that says Lafitte Rothschild and stuffs it on into his kisser. "Oh yeah. Yeah. Mmm. It's great."

10 comments:

Another Kiwi said...

10 year old: Why are these called wine gums

Me; I dunno

10 y.o: They don't taste like wine, I think. They taste like sweet lollies. Which they are

Me: Wine biscuits don't taste like wine either, which is a good thing

10y.o.: Uh huh (looks out window, looks at cat chasing tail) Mrs. Cat is weird.

herr doktor bimler said...

Does 10-y.o. realise that girl-guide biscuits do not taste like
SHUT UP SMUT

Nor do maltesers taste like Maltese. Life is full of disappointments.

Righteous Bubba said...

Grey Poupon: presidential material?

Another Kiwi said...

I prefer the Grey Poopoff myself, but then I am not a socialist islamofacist.

tigris said...

I prefer poop off myself, too, and not just the gray kind.

Righteous Bubba said...

Grey Poupon may make you bitter
Unless your name is David Vitter

herr doktor bimler said...

Oopoff comes in a range of realistic fruit flavours, not just grape.

Another Kiwi said...

Oocysts, on the other hand, come in a variety of protist flavours.

Righteous Bubba said...

Then of course there's Peter Poopoff.

Righteous Bubba said...

I'm happy to defer to the wisdom of those who garden creatively.