Epigram- Boys blood and the womans flow together into one image, giving possible biological system connection, the scissors foreshadow his cybernetic arm
P11- Spatulate Fingernail
The chicken whorehouse- Bestiality drawn into question when animals can be manipulated and brought to near human like levels. Treatment of women in brothels equated to chickens in a coop.
18-19 Humans given animal slang names, Cowhead. L.A. seen as a snake, adder is a snake. Cable network as the cities nervous system. (pynchon - crying lot 49)
first section- the tv is turned on or focused on and a transition happens (pages 19,21,26,30,32,34) not on 40 11 or 41.
p21- Industrial sprawl as a cancer on a body, similar to images found in Tono-Bungay
p 20- the television has fungal luminescence. Lots of mixing of technology with organic metaphors.
P 31. Prostitutes altered sexual organs- Is it the biological signals of arousal on in hyperbole or is it an organic mimic of a flower/Mulusk
p35. "the fundamentals of a society remained unarticulated something to be lived on, not talked about
p.36 droit- right or rights in french
Mox/adder- similarities to buster friendly and mercer in do androids dream of electric sheep
telescoping time mimicking the telescoping of the sections, shorter and shorter
p57- War and sex conflated here
p66 -Adders place as psychological representation of himself? cluttered and trashy with a lot of old sexual baggage?
p70- Flash glove like a severed arm : a destructive machine is the cybernitc representation here- makes the user psychotic eventualy
p77-78 Woman who go to see adder have innatly masochistic tendencies, all the males are sadists.
p85- Useless machines - motrcyles and glove, both as power symbols
p 88 Body modification as commodity
p90 vagina Dentata image -mans primal fear? given to him by another man
p93- The Interface- Human landscapes. Adder says "It is me!" links to other organic metaphores like the cable being its nervous system. Also a meeting place of two ideologies. body machine interface?
p97- "She wont be human anymore...'
p109. dying interface- roaring motorcycle
9.113- "as if more had been removed in the amputation than his arm." the meshing of man and machine makes adder more knife like and less "human" seeming. Is it the machine or the amputation though?
p. 116 Machine interfae brings out "subconcious man" who seems to be a killer..or at least a crocodile
p117-end of part one...old woman the one he stabbed in the leg as a child? does she get off on Adders pain? Is it his mom? why's she grab her groin? wtf?
p. 127-128- Buildings as flesh
p 140 More man eater stuff here
p. 170-mechnized version of the interface prostitutes make Limmit sick
p.174 Simulated amputation- Odd concept since it was never there in the first place, whole body vs different form of body. simulated lack
p180-Visitor, another organ of this cityscape, a brain or heart or? its insane and dying so maybe the brain?
p.184- the mechanical arm has removed "adder" and allows another personality to take control. Posthuman idea here of systems and multiple beings within one? or does it still give a shout out to the humanist ego? Void/absence represented as peace.
p.204-205mox as ultimate humanist ego seperation from body- moravecs idea bout uploading a conciousness online and gaining power
p.226- Reverse (or something )Oedipus complex going on here- incest. Father sleeps with the son who is now a daughter and is then killed by her.
p.229-230- Biological invasion of blo0d and psychic force-parent absoring the child? The body is the same as the psyche here
KCID- DICK, philip k dick? or more the male ego?
Adder ends up as a jesus figure and gets to tell the whole world "fuck off".
endnotes: Overall I think this book is a gold mine of information for my project. There are so many ways to read the cyborg in this book. The entire LA cityscape ends up being turned into a sort of living breathing create with multiple possible "brains" adder, mox, the visitor. There is a definite religious element with the fathers of the prodigal son moment as well as Adder as a risen figure. The sexual side of things is interesting too and reminds me in ways of how Molly Millions in Neuromancer is eroticized by being cybernetic/ amputated (she has her read eyes removed)
