Chapter 1: Page 6: Line 5

 Snow lies upon Philadelphia, from River to River, whose further shores have so vanish'd behind curtains of ice-fog that the City today might be an Isle upon an Ocean.

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Line 5 Vulgarized:
Philadelphia is covered in snow from the Delaware River to the Schuylkill River. Icy fog hangs over the rivers so thickly that the far shores cannot be seen, making it seem like the city has become an island.

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Did I need to vulgarize that bit of writing? It was already pretty clear, wasn't it? Well, just wait until I vulgarize some line that's just, "Reverend Cherrycoke gave a polite Wave." And then I'll be all, "A reverend, you know what those are, right?! Like ministers or something! A priest, sort of! Well, his name is Cherrycoke like the version of Coke that wants to be Mr. Pibb but fails drastically at the impersonation. See, he just moved his hand around in the air, a gesture to indicate friendliness and goodwill upon meeting or retreating from other people. Polite just means he didn't give the finger or nothing."

Subtext:
No man is an island is probably part of this, right?! You can't read about something being an island without thinking about that quote and also thinking about Bon Jovi. Here, Pynchon is painting a picture of Philadelphia as an island on this Christmastide, separated from all other life on the planet. We are supposed to consider the isolation here and the borders creating that isolation. BORDERS! That's what this book is about! You know what else has borders that turn the thing surrounded by those borders into an island unto itself? A book! Between the covers lies a distinct place far different from the reality surrounding it, a place that relies not on what happens outside the borders and is affected by nothing but what lies within.
    So think of this back room in this crowded house in this snow-covered and river-bound city as an island within an island within an island all inside the island of the book.
    I should probably have use the term liminal space in there somewhere, right?! Go back and add it yourself wherever it would work best! Thanks!