(urth) Travelin' Jahlee

[thalassocrat at nym.hush.com]

Roy objcts:

>An objection I have is her presumed imprinting with Chenille's 
>spirit. I
>don't think her mother(?) fed on Chenille on the _Whorl_.

I'm not wedded to Chenille as Jahlee's soul parent. In fact, J 
seems much more umm regal (in her demon-whore kind of way) than 
Chenille. She also doesn't seem to have any recognition of 
Chenille. But who knows ...

Roy also said:

>Jahlee expressed similar sentiments on her death bed, a time when 
>she had
>nothing to gain or lose by lying.

Sorry - don't understand this one???

>
>I keep thinking of Tennyson's "Ulysses". I won't presume to quote 
>it, but I
>can see (or think I do) so much resonance with _Short Sun_. Recall 

>it, or
>read it again is all I can ask. I first thought about it when you 
>reminded
>me about the Neighbor looking toward "the western stars" when 
>speaking of
>his new home. Maybe I'm just getting to be an old fool, but that's 

>my
>answer. The poem also puts me in mind of Silk's return to the 
>_Whorl_ at the
>end of RTTW.

I can see what you mean with this, but the ending of RTTW is to me 
more triumphant & less elegaic than Ulysses. I take away an image 
of Silkhorn sailing thru the galaxy spreading justice & good stuff, 
not going to meet some heroic end.  

Also: Silkhorn just isn't that old, surely. Mid/late forties? But 
he's described as if he's some raddled ancient. I don't really 
understand this. I mean, presumably he's never even had to sit thru 
an all day strategy "brain-storming" session or go entertain 
potential clients who don't speak English or do any of the stuff 
which makes me feel raddled & ancient :) 

The Neighbors, though, are definitely elegaic, and I don't hate the 
idea of them dwelling in some Neighborish Elysium beyond the world. 
It's just not my preferred view of what's going on.