Chapter 1: Pages 5-6: Line 2

 Here have come to rest a long scarr'd sawbuck table, with two mismatch'd side-benches, from the Lancaster County branch of the family,— some Second-Street Chippendale, including an interpretation of the fam'd Chinese Sofa, with a high canopy of yards of purple Stuff that might be drawn all 'round to make a snug, dim tent,— a few odd Chairs sent from England before the War,— mostly Pine and Cherry about, nor much Mahogany, excepting a sinister and wonderful Card Table which exhibits the cheaper Wave-like Grain known in the Trade as Wand'ring Heart, causing an illusion of Depth into which for years children have gaz'd as into the illustrated Pages of Books...along with so many hinges, sliding Mortises, hidden catches, and secret compartments that neither the Twins nor their Sister can say they have been to the end of it.

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Line 2 Vulgarized:
The back room was littered with old pieces of mismatched furniture, the descriptions of which scream, "Thomas Pynchon did some old timey furniture research and/or watched a lot of Antiques Roadshow!" The most interesting piece, a mahogany Card Table, had a grain that looked like one of those three-dimensional posters that were popular in the early 1990s as well as loads of hinged writing surfaces, hidden compartments for jewelry and letters from mistresses and so many other secret compartments that the children (a set of twins and their sister) had almost certainly never found them all.

Subtext:
This book is like that mahogany Card Table. You can stare into it for years and marvel at the intricate verbiage giving an illusion of depth to the beautifully described scenes but you'll never discover every hidden gem and reference. Even if you were three people!

Subtext P.S.:
The sawbuck table contains two mismatch'd side-benches. Surely this is a vague and casual reference to the stars of our story, the scarr'd sawbuck tale representing the adventure they will have between them (see? a table sits between benches?). The other characters are the odd chairs and Second-Street Chippendales. The card table, as mentioned previously, the book within which they all reside.