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<p>Dear Robert,</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Actually I don't think you're all wet. Maybe she is pregnant.
Maybe with twins. ;-) I need to go back, read the materials that
you have suggested, and read some or all of the book again -- all
of which will be pleasurable. My instinct as a reader is, she's
not pregnant, mainly because she does not have to be, to make the
story work. Then again, maybe I have a limited view of how AEG
works as a story. I'm ready to think more about it.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>I think the AEG story is already doing a lot. It's a busy story.
Would Wolfe, as a writer, add yet another component -- Cassie
being pregnant, possibly with a demon child? Maybe so. But she's
already got a lot to do.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>I'm delighted to be wrong, and learn something interesting. If GW
has left clues that Cassie is, or was, pregnant, then I would like
to review them. I'll go back through your notes when I get some
time, this evening.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In any case, it's a beautiful story, which is, I admit, what's
most important to me. ;-)<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Eric<br>
</p>
<br>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/20/2018 5:26 PM, Robert Pirkola
wrote:<br>
</div>
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<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0"><span style="font-size:
11pt;">On March 20, 2018, Marc Aramini wrote:</span><br>
</p>
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<div class="BodyFragment"><font size="2"><span
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<div class="PlainText"><br>
>Cognitive dissonance incoming from the fasciest of
textual fascists (me):<br>
>ideally people should be able to engage the text
on the level they feel<br>
>comfortable with . . . sometimes it is necessary
to let people read as they want to - for<br>
>some, Wolfe really is just a fun read. . . . I
agree that we should be speculating on Cassie's<br>
>condition ... but if that isn't important or
central to the goal of other<br>
>readers I think it is okay. We all read for
different things(but that<br>
>doesn't mean our plot exegeses are wrong, of
course).<br>
<br>
I agree with your above-quoted points, Marc, and do
not intend to spoil anyone's fun. I foisted the book
on my mother to see what she would think of the thing
and she was bemused and amused about equally, but she
didn't go on a quest to figure anything out beyond
what stuck with her in her first (and likely only)
read-through. The point I hoped to make about Eric's
approach was that he was actively putting on blinders
to what the text was communicating about CC's body.
And he was apparently doing so because he had decided
that it would be unfair to measure Cassie Casey if she
were in fact a flesh-and-blood person. I'm reading
Madame Bovary at the moment. If I were strongly
opposed to adultery as a commandment violation worthy
of the death penalty, would I:</div>
<div class="PlainText"><br>
</div>
<div class="PlainText">(A) read the book and filter out
those bits that offend me, or </div>
<div class="PlainText">(B) not read a book about
adultery? </div>
<div class="PlainText"><br>
</div>
<div class="PlainText">I certainly don't mean to suggest
that you shouldn't be free to read the book, stick it
up your nose, or paint with it. But reading someone
advocate for the conscious exclusion of textual
evidence here on this forum was a bit like finding a
tortoise at the top of a flag pole -- there it is, but
*how* in the *world* . . . ?!<br>
<br>
It would be unfair to Eric to classify his views and
approach by only the last post which I disagreed with,
however. I know from following this list for years
that Eric has posted several observations and
questions that indicate the opposite of what I accuse
him -- that is to say, he has shown a willingness to
pry into obscure corners of Wolfe texts and get down
with the minutiae. I hope he will continue to do the
same and tell me why I'm all wet with this pregnancy
thing. <br>
<br>
</div>
</span></font></div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Eric Bourland
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:eb@hwaet.com">eb@hwaet.com</a>
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