{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/2184", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "urth", "thread": { "id": 2184, "subject": "Strange Travelers again. Sorry.", "messages": 2, "voices": 2, "first": "2000-04-07T13:11:28+00:00", "last": "2000-04-07T15:31:09+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Tony Ellis", "address": "tony.ellis at futurenet.co.uk" }, "date": "2000-04-07T15:31:09+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Strange Travelers again. Sorry.", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Do I win a prize for being Last Person To Read Strange Travelers? My\ncopy arrived 2 days ago. Apologies for discussing stuff everyone else\ngot bored of months ago.\n\nI've got as far as 1-2-3 For Me. I'd just like to say that I agree 101%\nwith William H. Ansley's view that this is a ghost story, pure and\nsimple. In particular it's an M.R. Jamesian ghost story, and I was a\nlittle surprised to see no one else suggest this connection. For me\nthere's a definite sly wink in the direction of James's classic \"Oh\nWhistle, and I'll Come To You, My Lad!\" Especially when you compare the\ntwo titles: Wolfe's reads like a deliberately cheeky, modernistic\nresponse to the Master. Why whistle, when you can tone-dial?\n\nIn Jame's story it's an ancient whistle that's dug up, and out of an old\nTemplar's chapel rather than a post-future city. Rather than numbers the\nwhistle has a Latin inscription, but blowing it summons a Something,\njust as surely as dialing that old mobile phone does.\n\nNow, before everyone jumps on me, I'm well aware that the old\nartifact-that-summons-a-nasty plot has been used in a thousand ghost\nstories other than James's, but I also think it's fair to say that this\nis a device James pretty much made his own. More importantly, the Pusher\nthat the phone summons is absolutely an M.R. James ghost. One of the\nmore disturbing aspects of the old boy's stories is the sheer\nunpleasantness of his ghosts. They're not ethereal, wispy things:\nthey're corporeal, skeletal, fleetingly glimpsed, and often hairy.\nHorribly hairy.\n\nWhy did the mobile phone turn up in Jak's backpack when he thought he'd\ngot rid of it? Because that's what cursed items do, folks. It's in the\nrules.\n\nVarious conspiracy theories involving bots and loss of cultural symbols\nseem to have been spun out of this one, but I don't think this story has\nparticularly more to say about societal collapse than any other which\nuses a Fallen Civilisation backdrop. Vanity of vanities, saith the\nPreacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath man of all\nhis labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? One generation goeth, and\nanother generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Jim Jordan", "address": "jbjordan at gnt.net" }, "date": "2000-04-07T13:11:28+00:00", "subject": "Re: (urth) Strange Travelers again. Sorry.", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Don't apologize, especially if you have such interesting things to post.\nGot any more insights?\n\nNutria" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "At 04:31 PM 4/7/00 +0100, you wrote:\nDo I win a prize for being Last Person To Read Strange Travelers? My\ncopy arrived 2 days ago. Apologies for discussing stuff everyone else\ngot bored of months ago.\n\nI've got as far as 1-2-3 For Me. I'd just like to say that I agree 101%\nwith William H. Ansley's view that this is a ghost story, pure and\nsimple. In particular it's an M.R. Jamesian ghost story, and I was a\nlittle surprised to see no one else suggest this connection. For me\nthere's a definite sly wink in the direction of James's classic \"Oh\nWhistle, and I'll Come To You, My Lad!\" Especially when you compare the\ntwo titles: Wolfe's reads like a deliberately cheeky, modernistic\nresponse to the Master. Why whistle, when you can tone-dial?\n\nIn Jame's story it's an ancient whistle that's dug up, and out of an old\nTemplar's chapel rather than a post-future city. Rather than numbers the\nwhistle has a Latin inscription, but blowing it summons a Something,\njust as surely as dialing that old mobile phone does.\n\nNow, before everyone jumps on me, I'm well aware that the old\nartifact-that-summons-a-nasty plot has been used in a thousand ghost\nstories other than James's, but I also think it's fair to say that this\nis a device James pretty much made his own. More importantly, the Pusher\nthat the phone summons is absolutely an M.R. James ghost. One of the\nmore disturbing aspects of the old boy's stories is the sheer\nunpleasantness of his ghosts. They're not ethereal, wispy things:\nthey're corporeal, skeletal, fleetingly glimpsed, and often hairy.\nHorribly hairy.\n\nWhy did the mobile phone turn up in Jak's backpack when he thought he'd\ngot rid of it? Because that's what cursed items do, folks. It's in the\nrules.\n\nVarious conspiracy theories involving bots and loss of cultural symbols\nseem to have been spun out of this one, but I don't think this story has\nparticularly more to say about societal collapse than any other which\nuses a Fallen Civilisation backdrop. Vanity of vanities, saith the\nPreacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath man of all\nhis labor wherein he laboreth under the sun? One generation goeth, and\nanother generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever." } ] } ] }