Reading Envy Readers discussion

A long time ago, when I read Infinite Jest in a different group, we kept a running list of words we had to look up. So in that spirit, I'm going to start keeping track.

Here are my words from Chapter 1!

pyrrhic - won at too great a cost to have been worthwhile for the victor.

tesserae (this is the plural)
a small block of stone, tile, glass, or other material used in the construction of a mosaic.
(in ancient Greece and Rome) a small tablet of wood or bone used as a token.

solicitude - care or concern for someone or something.

"Cubitum eamus?" - means, roughly, shall we lie down/ go to bed together?

proscenium - the part of a theater stage in front of the curtain.
short for proscenium arch.
the stage of an ancient theater
(but clearly in Tartt's usage, a metaphor for the dividing line between "us" and "them")

I marked I, 2 and 3 as well. I also marked "fallacious" (as in Bunny's Italian, and "craven" (offers of money to Richard) both in chapter 3, as Tartt uses them in ways I don't think of them being used. Buy hey, she won a Pulitzer and I didn't so she can use those words any way she wants ;)

chaptlet –n- a garland or wreath for a person's head.

prairie oysters - a drink made with a raw egg and seasoning, drunk as a cure for a hangover.

stereopticon - a slide projector that combines two images to create a three-dimensional effect, or makes one image dissolve into another.

gnomic - expressed in or of the nature of short, pithy maxims or aphorisms.

Marchpane wrote: gnomic - expressed in or of the nature of short, pithy maxims or aphorisms. .."

I marked this one too, and how great is the phrase "gnomic vulgarities."

vulpine - relating to a fox or foxes
(when I looked this up I was like oh yes, shoulld have known, maybe, but didn't.)

augury - a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen.

fibrillation - uncontrolled twitching or quivering of muscular fibrils
(the internet really wants this to be preceded by atrial)

omophagia - the eating of raw food, especially raw meat.

bibelot - a small decorative ornament or trinket.

incarnadine - a bright crimson or pinkish-red colour.

rataplan - a drumming or beating sound.

howdah - (in the Indian subcontinent) a seat for riding on the back of an elephant or camel, typically with a canopy and accommodating two or more people.

mahout - (in the Indian subcontinent and SE Asia) a person who works with and rides and elephant.

dado - the lower part of the wall of a room, below about waist height, when decorated differently from the upper part.

exegesis - a critical interpretation of a text

chiton - the loose tunic worn in ancient Greece

libation - the pouring forth of wine or other liquid in honour of a god or goddess

Ah yes, I had to look up chiton too. I never knew it had a name!