Subject: (urth) Peace: non ho capito

From: CRCulver <crculver at aol.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 05:37:13 +0000

Friends,

I've just recently returned to my home from a vacation to the southern states.
While there, I read _Peace,_ and I have no idea what it was about. Is Alden
Dennis Weer a time traveller? Is he dead? Who is the woman who some readers
think he killed?

About the only thing I did understand about _Peace_ are the many references to
and borrowings from Jorge Luis Borges.

Any help on understanding this difficult tome would be appreciated!

Christopher R. Culver <crculver at aol.com>
http://members.aol.com/crculver/index.html
------------------------------------------------
"The darkest dreams are the ones that come true."
-Warren Defever

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

---

From: Jason Voegele <voegele.6 at osu.edu>
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 08:29:50 +0000

Whoa there!  That's a BIG can of worms.  We had quite a good discussion of
PEACE early on in the list, so you should be able to get some good info from
the archives.

For starters, it does appear the Weer is dead from the outset of the
book--many have noted that the falling tree disturbs his grave.  On other
theme in the book that I'm fond of (though I've had little luck convincing
anyone of this) is solipsism.  Weer's universe seems to exist solely in his
thoughts, but his relating of the stories of the dead breathes new life into
those old bones.  Also note the "Rest in PEACE" theme, in that by telling
the stories of the dead, their souls may finally R.I.P.

See Clute for a good discussion of this work.  Also, someone on this list
(was that you, Damien?) has written an excellent essay on PEACE, which can
be located in the archives.

Jason Voegele

-----Original Message-----
From: CRCulver at aol.com <CRCulver at aol.com>
To: urth at lists.best.com <urth at lists.best.com>
Date: Sunday, August 23, 1998 1:45 AM
Subject: (urth) Peace: non ho capito

|Friends,
|
|I've just recently returned to my home from a vacation to the southern
states.
|While there, I read _Peace,_ and I have no idea what it was about. Is Alden
|Dennis Weer a time traveller? Is he dead? Who is the woman who some readers
|think he killed?
|
|About the only thing I did understand about _Peace_ are the many references
to
|and borrowings from Jorge Luis Borges.
|
|Any help on understanding this difficult tome would be appreciated!
|
|Christopher R. Culver <crculver at aol.com>
|http://members.aol.com/crculver/index.html
|------------------------------------------------
|"The darkest dreams are the ones that come true."
|-Warren Defever
|
works
|*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/
ranjit at best.com
whorl at lists.best.com
|
|

---

From: William H. Ansley <wansley at warwick.net>
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 00:15:43 +0000

>We had quite a good discussion of

I am not sure if I am thinking of the same discussion of _Peace_ that you
are (although I remember only one) but if I am then "good" is perhaps
overstating it. What I remember is a lengthy discussion (which I started)
about what Weer knew about Napolean's hand. It reached no definitive
conclusion.

No wait, that's wrong. I am just remembering that there was also a
discussion about whether Weer killed everybody else in _Peace_, long before
I joined the list.

I just looked it up. The original _Peace_ discussion was in the Urth Mail
Archive Volume 1. The "Napolean's Hand" discussion, which also has its
points of interest was split over Volumes 10 and 11.

Here is a long interview with Wolfe that includes info on _Peace_:
<http://world.std.com/~pduggan/gwjbj.html>. I got the URL from this Wolfe
page (check it out for many other good Wolfe links including more
interviews) <http://world.std.com/~pduggan/wolfe.html> which I got from the
Whorl web page <http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/>.

William Ansley

---

From: Jason Voegele <voegele.6 at osu.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 01:35:13 +0000

|I am not sure if I am thinking of the same discussion of _Peace_ that you
|are (although I remember only one) but if I am then "good" is perhaps
|overstating it. What I remember is a lengthy discussion (which I started)
|about what Weer knew about Napolean's hand. It reached no definitive
|conclusion.
|
|No wait, that's wrong. I am just remembering that there was also a
|discussion about whether Weer killed everybody else in _Peace_, long before
|I joined the list.

Yes, this is the one to which I was referring.  OK, maybe "good" was
overstating it some, since we barely scratched the surface, but there were
multiple posts covering multiple subjects, so at least a good start to a
good discussion has been set in place.

|I just looked it up. The original _Peace_ discussion was in the Urth Mail
|Archive Volume 1. The "Napolean's Hand" discussion, which also has its
|points of interest was split over Volumes 10 and 11.