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Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes"



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Expression "A contradiction still" | Proverb: One swallow doesn't make a summer
Message Author
Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes" Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:00 am  Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes"		  
Hi,

Could you please help me with:

Quote:
The first one fell in the yard, exactly where he had aimed, and then the rest of the bombs from his own plane and from the other planes in his flight burst open on the ground in a charge of rapid orange flashes across the tops of the buildings, which collapsed instantly in a vast, churning wave of pink and gray and coal-black smoke that went rolling out turbulently in all directions and quaked convulsively in its bowels as though from great blasts of red and white and golden sheet lightning.

1. Does the first underlined part mean: in a hail of rapid orange flashes? If so, is this usage of 'charge' common?

2. What does 'its' in the second part refer to?

Quote:
Wind whistling up through the jagged gash in the floor kept the myriad bits of paper circulating like alabaster particles in a paperweight and contributed to a sensation of lacquered, waterlogged unreality.

3. Sould I take the paperweight as a transparent one?

4. How should I understand 'a sensation of lacquered, waterlogged unreality'?

Thank you!

haihao
Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1389
Location: Japan
Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes" Thu Jun 21, 2007 14:15 pm  Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes"		  
Hi Haihao,

Do you allow me to make a try? But don't take my explanation seriously as I am completely at sea today. Wink

1. Maybe you are right with 'hail' but when I read the sentence my immediate thought was that 'in a charge of' was 'in a form of'. But your assumption seems more reasonable, of course.

2.Its refers to (a wave of) smoke, I think.

3.Yes.The myriad bits of paper in a paperweight with like alabaster particles to be a simile( I think).

4. These epithets cannot be perceived literally but figuratively.

I hope other moderators will correct me! Wink
Pamela
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Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 1236
Location: Rf
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Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes" Fri Jun 22, 2007 2:22 am  Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes"		  
Thank you, Pamela, for your insightful paraphrase. It really helped, and hit the nail on the head, I think. I am happy you still remember and care for your old friends here on the site, Smile and hope you could show up more often when you have time.

Haihao
Haihao
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 26 Oct 2006
Posts: 1389
Location: Japan
Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes" Fri Jun 22, 2007 7:14 am  Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes"		  
I hope, Haihao. Thank you for your warm words! Wink
Pamela
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 14 Mar 2006
Posts: 1236
Location: Rf
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Expression "A contradiction still" | Proverb: One swallow doesn't make a summer
ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms Expression: "in a charge of rapid orange flashes" All times are GMT + 2 Hours
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