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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Hi, Robert,<br>
<br>
Interesting points! And probably my own reply is not too
interesting. I was not thinking at all the Gideon was the author
of the book. But I do think a writer pours into each character a
little of herself or himself. A bit of the author goes into a
character, esp a beloved character. And sometimes it might please
the author to set up a little signal for the thoughtful reader. I
think Gene Wolfe does this sometimes, but in a subtle, rather than
an artless way. And I think it's mostly just for the slight humor
of the thing, rather than anything oracular or grand.<br>
<br>
>>> It struck me that you used the word "jackpot" here.
There is a bit in the book that has always given me the fuddles:
"That girl wouldn't have unlocked the door for Jacob, Jack Pot,
and Joan of Arc". AEG, pg. 29. Who is "Jack Pot" as used here?<br>
<br>
Hmmm. I bet if we go looking we can find a fairy tale that
involves a chap named Jack Pot. I have various editions of Lang,
Andersen, Grimm, and a few others around here, but in paper book
format, and if I dive into that today, rather than doing my work,
I'll have a great time but probably regret it later. =) I know
that Wolfe likes fairy tales. I used to love them, myself. I still
do and wish I had more time to read them. Heck . . . I wish I had
more time to read. ;-)<br>
<br>
In any case, of course, I was just using "jackpot" as a . . .
hamhanded colloquialism. A scrape, a jam, a bad situation, like
grad school.<br>
<br>
>>>Yeah, it's a neat little statement. But why? Just
because it's funny? What would have been gratuitous about its use
earlier?<br>
<br>
Well, this reader thought it was funny and endearing. It made me
like Cassie more. Why gratuitous, if used earlier? Pacing, I
think. But, this is only my take on it.<br>
<br>
>>>>Why does a person with a supposedly killer body
and magically enhanced sex-appeal admit that she likes to eat much
too much? In fact, she does eat much too much throughout the
book. Why?<br>
<br>
Hmm. Maybe, like many women, she has been taught by a patriarchal
society that she should, indeed, be concerned about what she eats.
Personally, I like a woman who eats with gusto. One of the
pleasures of my life is cooking good meals for my wife (and my kid).<br>
<br>
>>>Why, that would be 1987's "The Other Dead Man".<br>
<br>
Thank you! that's right. I'm gonna go find that one sometime
today.<br>
<br>
Wishing you all a great day.<br>
<br>
Eric</font><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><br>
</span></font>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/16/2018 4:20 PM, Robert Pirkola
wrote:<br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr" style=""><font
face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:
14.6667px;">On March 7, 2018 Eric Bourland wrote:</span></font></div>
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<div class="PlainText">> I respect how she managed
herself in every jackpot she got thrown into. <br>
<br>
It struck me that you used the word "jackpot" here.
There is a bit in the book that has always given me
the fuddles: "That girl wouldn't have unlocked the
door for Jacob, Jack Pot, and Joan of Arc". AEG, pg.
29. Who is "Jack Pot" as used here?<br>
<br>
<br>
>Chase is Wolfe . . . it took me a while to
understand this. I think <br>
>after I did understand, Chase made more sense to
me. He's slightly <br>
>sinister and we never really know about him. But
also a magic man, and <br>
>omnicompetent, but with those gifts comes
uncertainty of intent.<br>
<br>
I think that identifying GC as GW is interesting to
think about but leaves me cold in the final analysis.
What can this do for the book? Does it make it an
exercise in elaborate meta-fiction? That GC is the
"author" of the book and thus capable of writing in
any changes he wants without explanation? If true, he
can, with a stab of the keyboard, make ho-hum CC into
a star! He can turn Alexis from the star of The Red
Spot into a waitress within a few pages! He can deus
ex any machina he wants (and perhaps every
inexplicable part of the book is made explicable by
this omnipotent ability of the character as author).
It can explain why GC is the only character other than
CC who the third-person narrator reports on without CC
being present (the opening chapter at the White House
and the scene where GC is shot). But if the
explanation behind AEG's most inscrutable head
pounders is simply GC is magic because an author is
magic and he's Gene Wolfe, you see? so PRESTO!, then
count me out. I'm not suggesting that this is
necessarily your thesis, but I would be interested in
hearing your take on why it is important to identify
GC and GW outside of a "hey isn't that clever, Gene
Wolfe put some of himself into Gideon Chase!" It is
such a confounding book, any toe-hold can be a fun way
to re-read the book, and maybe if you did so with this
in mind, some interesting stuff would pop out.<br>
<br>
>Wolfe adores Cassie, just as Gideon Chase adores
Cassie. And I think he <br>
>respects her. Both fellows respect her.<br>
><br>
>"Like eat?"<br>
><br>
>"Much too much," Cassie told her darkly.<br>
><br>
>That statement arrived at just the right time,
later in the story. Given <br>
>earlier, it's gratuitous. <br>
<br>
Yeah, it's a neat little statement. But why? Just
because it's funny? What would have been gratuitous
about its use earlier? Why does a person with a
supposedly killer body and magically enhanced
sex-appeal admit that she likes to eat much too much?
In fact, she does eat much too much throughout the
book. Why?<br>
<br>
>She loved her king (Reis, whose name is king, and
whose meaning in the <br>
>story is king) with a love much more profound than
her love for Chase. <br>
>Yet she flies to meet Chase in the end, on
Woldercan. I think she <br>
>expended her beauty in order to obtain a craft
that will convey her to <br>
>Chase . . . and out of the story. She fought her
way out, with great <br>
>sacrifice and peril, but fair and square.<br>
><br>
>I like to think about the things that Cassie
wished for; what she <br>
>actually got; what she got free of or escaped
from; and what she was <br>
>traveling to meet in the end.<br>
<br>
Her fighting her way out of the story, out of the time
loop that is a closed novel, to be with GC/GW on
Woldercan is also appealing. Is this book really that
"meta"? See my comments above on the ultra-meta
approach and ditto them here. <br>
<br>
>William Reis is the name of a character in another
Wolfe story, I forget <br>
>which one.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div class="PlainText">Why, that would be 1987's "The
Other Dead Man".</div>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Eric Bourland
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