(urth) Sleeping Baldanders

[Matthew Groves]

Yes, homage, I think.  It might even be winkingly self-referential.
Wolfe is laying his "cloak" -- TBotNS -- over the "worn counterpane"
of Melville's Moby Dick.

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 9:28 AM, David Stockhoff <dstockhoff at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> I have always linked these 2 scenes in my mind, but never knew what to make of it .... Homage, perhaps.
>
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>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:00:41 -0600
> From: "Matthew Groves" <matthewalangroves at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: (urth) Sleeping Baldanders
> To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth at lists.urth.net>
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> This scene reminds me of Moby Dick, where Ishmael has to sleep next to
> Queequeg at the inn.  Looking back at Moby Dick, I feel sure Wolfe is
> referring to Melville here.  Melville makes reference several times to a
> counterpane in Chs. 3 and 4, and Severian writes that before going to bed,
> "I took of my cloak and spread it on the worn counterpane."