Subject: (urth) More on Peace

From: CRCulver <crculver at aol.com>
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 23:16:22 +0000

Jason Voegele wrote:
<Whoa there!  That's a BIG can of worms.>

But so is every Wolfe book. <g>

<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.>

Because my computer has only enough memory to let me view one volume of the
archives before I have to reboot my computer (it's 12 years old), can you give
me the specific volume?

<For starters, it does appear the Weer is dead from the outset of the book>

What is all this business about his stroke? 

One thing I find positively creepy is the absence of Weer's parents. They are
only mentioned in the section relating his childhood, and then they are not
actually present. It has occurred to me that they died and Olivia, because
Weer was very young, just told them they were on vacation. This hypothesis
fits in with the changing on the vacation from a planned one year to more than
two years. However, I'm not sure if this is write.

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: William H. Ansley <wansley at warwick.net>
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 01:11:53 +0000

>What is all this business about his stroke?

It is as certain as anything can be in a Wolfe book that Weer is dead, a
YADP (Yet Another Dead Protanganist - another useful term I offer to Wolfe
scholars), both from internal evidence and because Wolfe has said so. It
also seems pretty certain to me that he doesn't know he is dead or at least
is almost completely unaware of his state; although he may be close to this
realization at the very end of the book.

>two years. However, I'm not sure if this is write.

It is creepy but I am sure that are not dead since Weer refers more than
once to his parents' return in the past tense. Because of the confusion of
time in the book, this doesn't *prove* anything, of course. But I find the
passage where Weer says words to the effect that his parents had finally
returned but would forever remain strangers very convincing. Actually, I
*can't* find it; I just skimmed the book for it but missed it. Maybe I'll
reread _Peace_ again to search it out. It is my favorite book by Wolfe and
one of my favorite books, period.

William Ansley

---

From: Jason Voegele <voegele.6 at osu.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 01:13:34 +0000

-----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 7:22 PM
Subject: (urth) More on Peace

|Jason Voegele wrote:
|<Whoa there!  That's a BIG can of worms.>
|
|But so is every Wolfe book. <g>

True, so true. ;-)

|
|
|<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.>
|
|Because my computer has only enough memory to let me view one volume of the
|archives before I have to reboot my computer (it's 12 years old), can you
give
|me the specific volume?

I feel pretty certain that it's volume one.  Anyway, it was early on in the
archives, so if volume one fails reboot and try, try again ;-)

|<For starters, it does appear the Weer is dead from the outset of the book>
|
|What is all this business about his stroke?

Perhaps this is how he originally died, and since he hasn't come to grips
with this fact he is haunting Cassionsville.  This sounds like some literary
artistry, though, so mantis probably has a good modernist interpretation of
this one.

|One thing I find positively creepy is the absence of Weer's parents. They
are
|only mentioned in the section relating his childhood, and then they are not
|actually present. It has occurred to me that they died and Olivia, because
|Weer was very young, just told them they were on vacation. This hypothesis
|fits in with the changing on the vacation from a planned one year to more
than
|two years. However, I'm not sure if this is write.

This is odd, and odder that I've never considered it.  Sometimes I get so
caught up in the mysteries that a skeleton could jump up and dance in front
of me and I'd never notice.

Perhaps another reread is in order.

Jason Voegele|