(urth) An Evil Guest

[Daniel Petersen]

On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 7:38 PM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
 wrote:

> Yes, there are references to time travel, though they are kind of subtle.
> Specifically, it is mentioned several times that when sending interplanetary
> electronic mail at fast enough speeds, a response to a letter can arrive
> before the original letter had been sent.  Thus, the reply to a latter went
> back in time to a point before the first letter was actually sent.  This
> causes problems, so there are restrictions on that sort of thing in the
> universe.


I love that part.  I guess I hadn't thought of it as time travel per se -
seemed like more of a spatial bending sort of thing going on there that only
*looked* like time disruption/rearrangement/delay/whatever - but ok, I think
I can see that.

So maybe this will affect or relate to the theory that perhaps even Gideon
Chase and Bill Reis are two manifestations of the same person (thought,
unlike Margaret and Cassie - Gid and Bill are never in the same place at the
same time).  Almost definitely *some* form of literary 'doubling' going on
in this novel, surely!

A lovely, playful novel, even with its (potential) problems!

-DOJP



>
> Also, the Margaret as future-Cassie theory is not mine, I found out about
> it here:
>
> http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=AnEvilGuest.MysteriousMargaret
>
> I believe there is also a reference to a "robin fighting its own
> reflection" or something to that effect, which reminds me of the double
> Hildegrins in The Book of the New Sun.  Time travel resulting in multiple
> versions of a character bouncing around different timelines are definitely
> nothing new for Wolfe!
>
> On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 2:20 PM, Daniel Petersen <
> danielottojackpetersen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> So glad to hear you liked it, Antonin!  I just finished it and found it
>> VERY interesting and exciting on certain levels (though baffling and
>> frustrating too - which is only to be expected, surely!).  I feel like most
>> of the reviews and comments I've run into so far seem more dubious and
>> negative than not.  I was utterly surprised to find that it more or less
>> ACTUALLY lived up to all the blurbs trying to succinctly describe it on the
>> book cover.
>>
>> I actually think it may end up being a helpful key or guide in certain
>> ways to reading the Solar Cycle - I feel like Wolfe more overtly showcased
>> some of his unique forms and methods of narrative in this book, and some of
>> his Solar Cycle themes also.
>>
>> Your theory about Margaret kind of blows my mind, but I'll have to see how
>> people are arriving at that hypothesis.  It would at least partly make sense
>> of why I found Margaret such an interesting minor character.  (I felt there
>> was some fairly self-conscious reference to her being - or at least being
>> like - a little 'gray' elf or sprite or fairy or some such creature.)  Is
>> there any direct reference to time travel in the novel?
>>
>> -DOJP
>>
>>
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