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António Marques wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:4EC5A400.60600@verizon.net" type="cite">That
looks to me a lot like the kind of thing y'all accuse Gerry of
doing - saying that something which is actually there when it
needn't needn't a special explanation. Something tells me that if
your confidence were absolute, you'd try to find a cool way in
which the cap actually strenghtened your case </blockquote>
<br>
I really don't see a need for the callotte-donning to buttress my
case. But it is a fact that the way "Pike's ghost" was wearing the
callotte, then disapperates, and the callotte following to the
floor, made me me immediately doubt we were looking a "real"
gothic-style ghost. I'm not the only one based on the conversations
at the time. The whole question "If this is the Rajan, then explain
why he wore Pike's callotte!" reminds me of this question and
answer:<br>
<blockquote>List: What was Typhon's goal in sending the Whorl in the
first place?<br>
<br>
Wolfe's answer: I'm sure Typhon would have had any number of
reasons for sending out the Whorl.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Basically, I don't understand how "Pike's ghost" wearing Pike's
callotte undermines the understanding that he is the Rajan in
Time-travel. <br>
<br>
On 11/17/2011 6:28 PM, António Pedro Marques wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:FF3356EC-F2B0-4DC6-AE2F-9DDBD0A8E54F@gmail.com"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">No dia 18/11/2011, às 00:17, David Stockhoff <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:dstockhoff@verizon.net"><dstockhoff@verizon.net></a> escreveu:
</pre>
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Not everything can be deeply hidden mythical clues.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap="">Oh, for crying out loud!
(I suppose this is one of the in-jokes you salt your contributions with.)</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
Personally, I don't see myself as the anti-Gerry. When critiquing
the theories of others, Gerry presents himself as one seeking to
stamp out any suggestion of literary-style allusions in Wolfe's
works. I, alternately DO NOT seek to denounce naturalized behavior
in the books in order to insist that every cup, twitch, or sigh has
a Deeper Meaning. I believe, that the allusions serve the story as a
signal to what is going on. I also think the story often riffs on
references to myth, literature, and SF pulp. It goes both ways. I'm
open to allusions when I detect them, but I don't sit down a read
every scene with the thought "Let's find the secret meaning here".
<br>
<br>
When I see a parallel to some outside source in a story I wonder
whether Wolfe intended it. If I see that Wolfe continues to track
the source, I draw the conclusion that he probably did. And so, if I
come to a point where there is some gap in the text that leaves me
wondering, I consult the pattern to see if it might possibly provide
illumination. I don't expect that it must. I hope that it might.<br>
<br>
Antonio, let me give you an example of the way I read Wolfe and you
can see if it is useful to you as well. When I read The Book of the
Long Sun the second time. The names of the three sybs: Rose, Mint,
and Marble combined with the Sun St. Manteion led me to the story of
Aristaeus, the prophet of Apollo. It just so happened that my
reference on this was Robert Graves' "The Greek Myths". As I read on
I realized "Hey, this part of the LS story is sort of like the next
part in the Aristeaus story the way Graves tells it. If Wolfe is
tracking this story, I should see such-and-such next." And I did.
The story kept riffing on the life of Aristeaus. And then I also
discovered that according to Herodotus (the major source for the
first two Latro volumes) Aristeaus appeared in Italy after his death
and claimed that he had been Apollo's raven-- hmm...there's some
Silk in there. And I learned that Pindar (also a major character in
the Latro story) had written a major work on the life of Aristaeus
so it now I was pretty certain that Wolfe was quite familiar with
Aristaeus. Finally, I was consistently troubled that whenever Incus
played a part in the elements of Long Sun version of Aristaeus's
life, he played a female (and I also noted that he played the role
of Hesphaetus's "mechanical woman"). So that was how I decided Incus
was female and learned the identity of the mysterious Maytera Corn.
And I expected next that Silk would have a son, who would be turned
into a deer and killed by his own hounds. Boy was I disappointed. I
didn't try to MAKE it fit, though. I just said, "Wolfe isn't
carrying it that far." Then eventually I realized that the greenbuck
Horn encountered resurrected his body and taken his mission...until
his own men turned on him in Green and killed him. And afterwards I
realized that this tracked to the story of the son of Aristaeus and
I was glad. Anyway, that's how I do it.<br>
<br>
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