<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1555" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>I
recently picked up Peace for the first time, and now that I've
completed a first read of this delightfully complex horror story. I'm
mulling it over a thing or two. One thing we know about Peace, which we can
learn either from the evidence in the novel or from urth-l archives,
that Julius Smart's Cassionsville factory produces an acrid golden
nectar marketed under the name of Tang. As I was reading, I noticed
how frequently we run into 'tang' throughout Peace. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- the blade of a Boy
Scout knife</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- the sound of a
bell at the bottom of the ocean (twice 'tang')</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- china left by
Olivia in the cave with the skull</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- Olivia breading a
Pekingese to restore the lion-dogs of the Tang dynasty</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- the
porcelain pillow aka the Golden Millet Dream (written in the Tang
dynasty)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>I'm sure I'm
missing quite a few others. One additional tang I found with a dictionary
search, </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- the title PEACE =
tang in Welsh.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>One other
reminder...Olivia, Peacock, and Weer finding a skull in
a mid-cliff cave:</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009>----------------------------------</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>She squeezed my
hand, and after a moment whispered in my ear that she had left her little dish
with the hen on top in the cave. "For me. Because I had olives in it--do you
see, Den? And besides, it's china."</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009> I
pointed out that it was milk glass.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009> "The
bottom," she said firmly as Professor Peacock took his seat, "was
china."</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009>- Peace p
59</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009></SPAN></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009>----------------------------------</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009></SPAN></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009>I can't figure out whose skull lies inside the cave,
but Olivia's words alerted me that something from the Golden Age of
China lies at the bottom of Peace. The novel turns on the Golden
Millet Dream, and that's more than sufficient reason for an author to offer
variations on the Tang theme throughout the novel. Perhaps that's all there is
to it.</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009><SPAN class=040573202-27062009><SPAN
class=040573202-27062009>On another topic, in speaking of the Dresden figure of
Napoleon, Weer cites Ludwig's 1924 bio as a source for his understanding of
the pose. Nowhere in Ludwig will you find a direct discussion of portraiture,
nor is there a copy of David's Napoleon in His Study, the likely model for
the Dresden figurine. However, Ludwig quotes a verbal portrait given by Madame
de Stael, in which she states that Napoleon is at his best when he adopts a
contemptuous air. Ludwig later elaborates this view of Napoleon,
citing "the three fountains of his soul: contempt for mankind,
understanding of the masses, and the critical aloofness of the foreigner who has
chosen a new fatherland." Reminds me of Julius T.
Smart.</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>