“An Apartment”
Book 1, chapter 20; Book 2, chapter 7
Characters
1.20 a woman lying on a kitchen floor of the apartment, a woman outside the apartment drinking beer, identical clothing.
2.7 an “old man” (unnamed)
General Subject/ Plot
1.20: the decor of an apartment is described containing many familiar objects, with a woman unconscious on the kitchen floor and another dressed like her on a nearby stoop.
2.7: an old man plays a sort of russian roulette with himself, using poker cards: when he deals himself a flush, he’ll swallow a bottle of pills.
Motifs
1.20 flower print, unconscious woman, worcestershire sauce, bronze lioness, “prisoner of love,” Russ Colombo, “as the phrase has it”, alcohol, twin women, black teapot
2.7 Marina del Rey, Los Angeles, Cards, suits, Mickey Finn,
Notes
Like the four Small Adventures, the two Pearl Gray Homburgs and The Apartment seem closely related enough to almost constitute their own group. (In fact, there may be other such groups four, maybe all the chapters may be divided into such groups, which would go with the idea of their being “suits.” Going further along with this idea: perhaps the first “Pearl Gray Homburg” and the second “An Apartment” are to be taken as puns on the idea of suits: suits as clothes, suits as cards.)
The first “Pearl Gray Homburg” and the second “An Apartment” involve an old man concern with suits. The first “Homburg” mentions the old man’s apartment while the second “Apartment” gives no indication of where the man is and certainly no reason as to why it should be called “An Apartment.” Meanwhile the second “Pearl Gray Homburg” (which also involves an apartment) includes the idea of twins, which is also suggested by the second “Apartment.” The apartment in this chapter has many objects found in other chapters: a studio couch (like the second “Homburg”), a bottle of Worcestershire sauce, a Philco radio, a bronze figure of a lioness (2nd “Another Small Adventure”), a black teapot (1st “Cold supper” 2nd “In the Bedroom”), an unconscious or drugged woman.
In the second “Apartment” again the mention of magic (the “magical dress” of the second “In the Diner”, the “magical route to oblivion” of the first “Pair of Deuces” etc.) Hoarding pills like first “Born Again.” ‘Mickey’ like first “Another Small Adventure”… I’m tempted to read this chapter as containing hints as to the structure and purpose of the book.
.i`` * ^ / . . . . . ` `~ 