The Invisibles is great. <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 12:00 AM, Allan Anderson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rubel@goosemoon.org">rubel@goosemoon.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I was going to postpone commenting on this for a couple of days while I finish the book, but I can't help myself.<br>
<br>
So far, I'm thinking that any and all "borrowings" fit nicely into An Evil Guest's nature as a sort of tribute piece, a stylistic pastiche. Maybe no one thinks anyone would care about a implicit literary reference. I'm delighted to hear about these connections you've discovered! When I read "Gideon Chase", I thought of the character "Gideon Stargrave" (aka King Mob) from the comic book series The Invisibles. He's another horror/sf writer who becomes more than that profession might seem. But it's very possible that Grant Morrison referred to Mo's novel in his own choice of names: what makes The Invisibles relevant, I think, is the books' conscious blending of genre, reality, and fiction. It's an unique story, but also very much a borrowed patchwork shirt. And pulpy stories of the type AEG seems to want a family relationship with, well, they have always dipped a range of sources. So it's completely appropriate, to my mind.<br>
<br>
But here's my question: at the cast party, someone tells Cassie she looks like she's seen a banshee. Aren't Banshees often seen washing bloody clothing, as a death omen? Is that the mountain's laundress?<br>
<br>
Okay, I'll shut up and get back to reading.<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
On Apr 12, 2009, at 12:02 PM, Stephen Hoy wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Fernando Gouvea recently noted a curious coincidence between Wolfe's 'Peace'<br>
(1975) and Bartis's 'Tranquility' (2001), each work sharing a central<br>
character named Weer. Gouvea also noted certain stylistic similarities,<br>
enough to make us wonder about the extent of the parallels. Let's take a<br>
look at a couple of similar items in AEG, and see if we can detect the<br>
existence of an invisible line between literary theft and literary allusion.<br>
<br>
While reading An Evil Guest, I noticed that the character Gideon Chase<br>
shares a name with a central character in Timothy Mo's historical novel, 'An<br>
Insular Possession' (1987). This might be a curious coincidence. It also<br>
might be intentional. It's impossible to know with any certainty without<br>
asking the author (and perhaps not even then).<br>
<br>
Suppose that it's not a coincidence. Suppose Wolfe read 'An Insular<br>
Possession' some years ago, and suppose that when he invented the character<br>
of the wizard, he chose the name Gideon Chase as a reflection of some aspect<br>
of this character, intentionally reinforcing the idea of Chase as a figure<br>
bridging the gap between the two cultures colliding in AEG. Is there<br>
anything wrong with that?<br>
Let's take another case: the trembling mountain and the laundress. As Marc<br>
Aramini pointed out in October, Wolfe reviewed a work with a similar motif,<br>
Cory Doctorow's 'Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town' (2005). After<br>
reading both works, it's hard to believe that Wolfe was not self-consciously<br>
referring to Doctorow's mountain & washing machine, and, further, that Wolfe<br>
fully realized Doctorow or any reader of 'Someone Comes to Town, Someone<br>
Leaves Town' would recognize the motif in AEG. Is there anything wrong with<br>
that?<br>
<br>
To each of the above, I'd venture a guess that there's nothing wrong with<br>
either act, but I have very different reasons for each guess.<br>
<br>
In the case of the name Gideon Chase, it's not clear that Wolfe borrowed<br>
from Mo. Assuming there is a conscious borrowing, there are very few<br>
similarities between the two characters. Personally, I doubt that readers<br>
familiar with both works would suspect Wolfe chose the name as a conscious<br>
reflection of Mo's character, but the possibility exists.<br>
<br>
In the case of the mountain and laundress, it's possible Doctorow and Wolfe<br>
each borrowed from a common source, perhaps some work transcribing Algonquin<br>
legends. It's also possible Wolfe asked Doctorow's permission to use the<br>
idea--although one might expect to see a word or two about it in AEG or<br>
perhaps even in an interview about AEG.<br>
<br>
But assume Wolfe borrowed these two things without explicit advance<br>
permission, somehow slipping them past the legal team at his publisher. But<br>
is this any different from Wolfe's explicit use of a Baskin-Robbins in an<br>
early chapter? Does anyone imagine that either Mo or Doctorow would object<br>
to Wolfe's particular use as they appear in AEG?<br>
<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
</blockquote>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net" target="_blank">urth@urth.net</a><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>