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John Nefastis
Cohen is Los Angeles’s preeminent stamp expert who helps Oedipa inventory Pierce Inverarity’s stamp collection. Cohen identifies several of Inverarity’s stamps as complex forgeries, probably tied to the W.A.S.T.E. or Tristero mail systems. In fact, he identifies the Tristero symbol as a muted version of the Thurn and Taxis emblem, a post horn, and near the end of the novel he finds an article about Tristero’s move to the United States and a stamp that spells out the acronym W.A.S.T.E.: “We Await Silent Tristero’s Empire.” Essentially, Cohen gives Oedipa plenty of supporting details to fuel her conspiracy theory about Tristero. At the very end of the book, Cohen encourages Oedipa to go to the auction of Inverarity’s stamps because he believes C. Morris Schrift’s secret buyer might be from Tristero. Oedipa feels pity for Cohen because he is awkward and always leaves his fly down, and she finally works up the courage to tell him in this final passage. Cohen’s name is a pun on the Mongol Emperor Genghis Khan, to whom Cohen has no clear resemblance at all.
Genghis Cohen Quotes in The Crying of Lot 49
The The Crying of Lot 49 quotes below are all either spoken by Genghis Cohen or refer to Genghis Cohen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
“Then the watermark you found,” she said, “is nearly the same thing, except for the extra little doojigger sort of coming out of the bell.”
“It sounds ridiculous,” Cohen said, “but my guess is it's a mute.”
She nodded. The black costumes, the silence, the secrecy. Whoever they were their aim was to mute the Thurn and Taxis post horn.
[…]
“Why put in a deliberate mistake?” he asked, ignoring—if he saw it—the look on her face. “I've come up so far with eight in all. Each one has an error like this, laboriously worked into the design, like a taunt. There's even a transposition—U. S. Potsage, of all things.”
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Chapter 6
Quotes
“It’s time to start,” said Genghis Cohen, offering his arm. The men inside the auction room wore black mohair and had pale, cruel faces. They watched her come in, trying each to conceal his thoughts. Loren Passerine, on his podium, hovered like a puppet-master, his eyes bright, his smile practiced and relentless. He stared at her, smiling, as if saying, I’m surprised you actually came. Oedipa sat alone, toward the back of the room, looking at the napes of necks, trying to guess which one was her target, her enemy, perhaps her proof. An assistant closed the heavy door on the lobby windows and the sun. She heard a lock snap shut; the sound echoed a moment. Passerine spread his arms in a gesture that seemed to belong to the priesthood of some remote culture; perhaps to a descending angel. The auctioneer cleared his throat. Oedipa settled back, to await the crying of lot 49.
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Genghis Cohen Quotes in The Crying of Lot 49
The The Crying of Lot 49 quotes below are all either spoken by Genghis Cohen or refer to Genghis Cohen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
“Then the watermark you found,” she said, “is nearly the same thing, except for the extra little doojigger sort of coming out of the bell.”
“It sounds ridiculous,” Cohen said, “but my guess is it's a mute.”
She nodded. The black costumes, the silence, the secrecy. Whoever they were their aim was to mute the Thurn and Taxis post horn.
[…]
“Why put in a deliberate mistake?” he asked, ignoring—if he saw it—the look on her face. “I've come up so far with eight in all. Each one has an error like this, laboriously worked into the design, like a taunt. There's even a transposition—U. S. Potsage, of all things.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6
Quotes
“It’s time to start,” said Genghis Cohen, offering his arm. The men inside the auction room wore black mohair and had pale, cruel faces. They watched her come in, trying each to conceal his thoughts. Loren Passerine, on his podium, hovered like a puppet-master, his eyes bright, his smile practiced and relentless. He stared at her, smiling, as if saying, I’m surprised you actually came. Oedipa sat alone, toward the back of the room, looking at the napes of necks, trying to guess which one was her target, her enemy, perhaps her proof. An assistant closed the heavy door on the lobby windows and the sun. She heard a lock snap shut; the sound echoed a moment. Passerine spread his arms in a gesture that seemed to belong to the priesthood of some remote culture; perhaps to a descending angel. The auctioneer cleared his throat. Oedipa settled back, to await the crying of lot 49.
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