It is very interesting phrase for me. Could you explain it in detail..
Quadberry began sucking and licking the reed. I didn’t care much for this act, and there was too much desperate oralness in his face when he began playing. That was why I chose the drums. One had to engage himself like suck’s revenge with a horn.
Testimony of Pilot by Barry Hannah
Here is an interpretation -
Who is One, Quadberry or narrator?
It's the impersonal, general meaning of the word "one", as in:
"One must look both ways when crossing the street."
This is the same as "You should look both ways when crossing the street" or "Everybody should look both ways when crossing the street"
engage himself?
"to occupy oneself" "become involved" "to give attention to something" "to do or take part in something"
suck’s revenge?
It seems like an inside joke, a play on words, or an invented expression. I wonder if there's a Shakespearean play called "Puck's Revenge" or something. In any case, this conjures up the image of someone playing the saxophone by blowing and sucking on it violently, as if in anger (and thus revenge).
Horn is saxophone as I understood
I believe so.
How to translate the phrase in whole?
Very roughly -
"One had to engage himself (with great efforts) when playing horn."
