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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=marcaramini@yahoo.com
href="mailto:marcaramini@yahoo.com">Marc Aramini</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, November 18, 2011 2:44 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=urth@lists.urth.net
href="mailto:urth@lists.urth.net">The Urth Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [BGSpam]Re: (urth) Babbiehorn?: Was: a sincere question
mostly for roy</DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<TD vAlign=top><BR><BR>--- On <B>Thu, 11/17/11, James Wynn
<I><crushtv@gmail.com></I></B> wrote:<BR>
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<DIV>Fairly interesting James. The way that I read him is I look
for identity statements that seem impossible the first time through, and
then note any confusing disjunctions between dialogue and character or
any confusing scenes. Then I extensively cross reference
them. Every appearance of wind, or tree, or horn, or pig, for
example. I rely on the patterns of the text to spit out a meaning
in conjunction - sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't.
</DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have a ‘method’ as such.
Insofar as I do it is probably closer to Marc’s than to James’s. I
really do not care at all about any classical referents of names he has
chosen for his characters, and not too much about the referents of their
actions or stories (though the latter, unlike the names, I consider
meaningful, i.e. probably intended). [By which I mean, if a
character is named Thesop and he sees a spider, I pay no heed to the
matter, but I can spot a minotaur even if he doesn’t have horns.]
Also, I think Wolfe’s references are generally not very deep or
obscure. Be that as it may, I don’t really look in any of the
foregoing for understanding of the books.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I mainly look at events and metaphor, perhaps in that order.
Character should be more important, but character in Wolfe must be
deduced, which weakens it as a primary source. Character, to some
extent, falls in the category of explanations for events. I try to
understand events, and I put down events I don’t understand as mysteries
to be solved. I’ve started my re-read of Short Sun, but I’m only 4
chapters into it, so I am still in the relatively simple scene-setting
phase. Still there is much information, and a number of
mysteries. I try to read carefully, especially where I know
mysteries will come later.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Some musings: Horn is writing as Horn, but he’s in Silk’s body and he
knows it. There is a suggestion that he Horn had a death wish from
the start: “time to close” (shades of the airship?). He also even
tells us that ”my own interior sight refuses to focus upon matters I find
agonizing”, and mentions his glasses and having to find paint for the lens
(over his missing eye). There’s an interesting metaphor relating to
a black cock killed by Pike, spraying blood over the room as if that would
keep him alive. That’s Horn and his writing, I think. He
searches for Silk as much as he dares (though not by sending letters,
which he himself declares a farce) but if he finds him he (Horn) will be
gone. When he runs out of ink he’ll be gone anyway.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Horn identifies the Outsider with the Maker of all things, including
“Pas and his wife”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Some mysteries, not exhaustive: Why does Mucor say that Silk says
Horn’s visit will be dangerous for Silk and Hyacinth, and did Silk
actually say it? And which Silk? What is the beast with three
horns? Horn says he was riding it at the time he was fatally wounded
on Green, so it *sounds* like something that will answer itself. Of
course, “fatally wounded” could be ambiguous in the context of Horn.
I kind of like Marc’s idea about Babbie, but does it fit this, or is Horn
wrong in his identification? I shan’t read ahead for now.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Who sent the fish on the rock? My first thought was that Mucor
possessed them and made them kill themselves, as she surely could do (but
maybe not three at once?). Horn suggests that she is getting help
from someone underwater nearby, and I suppose we should take the
hint. Maybe it’s not that important, just a hint about the existence
of the Mother.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>What’s the Vanished God’s altar on Howling Mountain – will we visit
it? And will the Vanished Gods help humanity?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Anyway, those are the things foremost in my mind at the moment.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>- Gerry Quinn</DIV>
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