(urth) Wolfe at Dragon*Con (AEG)

[Bruce Hayles]

Isn't it possible that "going to Woldercan to find Reis" wasn't meant to be
taken literally? It seems pretty easy to read that as Cassie was going to
Woldercan to find love.

On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 2:04 PM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:

> Any theory that seeks to reconcile these two seemingly contrary points must
>> do so within the bounds of the text, and cannot ignore such text-based
>> facts
>> as we are afforded, however inconvenient those facts may be to said
>> theory.
>>
>
> I absolutely agree with this. I made no definitive declarations about
> Reis's death or Chase being the impersonator. The last sentence in my first
> post on this subject stated "I'm not prepared to prove it is so." I truly
> appreciate you taking time to take pot-shots at my theory but 1) I don't
> have much of a theory yet to shoot at, and 2) keep your bead on the
> theory/hypothesis and not at me.
>
> The text based refutations you've offered are not as compelling as you seem
> to think they are. This is especially true for your "practical", non-text
> based refutations. I've explained why, but I don't seem to be getting
> across. As you know, anyone who believes that all the answers in a Wolfe
> novel are in the text in any emphatic, unequivocal sense is deluding
> himself. De-looooooding.  Even if the explanation is there, it is typically
> surrounded by 3 or 4 other reasonable interpretations of the explanation,
> and someone can probably point to an expert character to say it couldn't
> possibly be true. Every Wolfe novel and plenty of short stories requires
> that the reader take a jump over an abyss at some point and then look back
> to see if he has landed safely. It's nice when, as now, Wolfe gives us a
> direction to jump for.
>
> Everything Cassie said to Klauser has be read with the same suspicion that
> one reads in what the President and Chase said to each other. She's
> deliberately not telling Klauser the straight story. She's not even coming
> to him as Reis's bride. You should assume that everything she says is only
> half-true or sort-of true. If it seems that something she says was the whole
> truth, clearly stated, that should bother you. That conversation is a really
> bad well to draw from to prove anything. It can only confirm what you've
> proven elsewhere.
>
>  Now back to your original jumping-off point: If Wolfe said that Cassie was
>> going to Woldercan to find Reis, and if he wasn't pulling your leg (I
>> would like to have the full context of his remark)
>>
>
> His quote doesn't require a lot of context for anyone who has read the
> book. He wasn't talking to me directly. He was speaking on a panel. He was
> talking about one of his characters that he truly loved: Cassie. In doing
> so, summarized AEG in terms that were not especially revealing to anyone who
> had read the book. Then he got to the end of the story which he described
> exactly as I have recorded it: "Cassie loved Bill Reis and at the end of the
> novel she goes to Woldercon to look for him."
> At last he summarized the last paragraph as being heartbreaking for him
> since he was saying goodbye to Cassie.
>
> There was no camera in the room, so this is the best I can do. I don't
> understand why you are so adamant to imply I'm an idiot or that Wolfe was
> trying to pull something. I was as perplexed by the statement as you seem to
> be. Deal with it. I'm trying to.
>
>  that doesn't preclude
>> Reis having died on the island, just as the text has it.
>>
>
> Sure. But the hypothesis I've offered requires the least nuance and clears
> up certain other problems I've had with the ending, just as I've stated.
>
>  Ambassador
>> to Woldercan is a high-profile position in a digital age. There would have
>> been pictures and video in the media, both of which would have penetrated
>> a
>> magical disguise. Ambassadorships don't happen in a vacuum. Reis would
>> have
>> to have been a fool to even try such a ruse.
>>
>
> This is a ridiculous assertion. When is the last time you saw media
> coverage of the ambassador to England leaving for his post? Mind, the
> universe of AEG is not our own.
>
>  More to the point, Reis would have had no need to seek Gideon's post as
>> ambassador. He was more than wealthy enough to go to Woldercan on his own
>> dime, even if he had any reason to go there, just as Cassie did.
>>
>
> Why do you assume that's the reason he would have assumed Gideon's
> identity? The US government wasn't going to let him leave without revealing
> his secret. The aliens of Takanga seemed to have a beef with him. He might
> have used his manufactured gold to get to Woldercon, but eventually it would
> have shown up as radioactive and the government would have followed him
> there.
>
> J.
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