Subject: (urth) Edogawa Ranpo

From: James Wynn <crushtv at hotpop.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 17:00:06 +0000

Anyone here familiar with the works of Edogawa Ranpo? He's (apparently) an
influential Japanese children's mystery author who died about 1964. I was
wondering about his (remotely possible) influence on Wolfe, but I can't find
any of his works in English.

-- Crush

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From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 17:28:37 +0000

>any of his works in English.

"Edogawa Ranpo" was the pen name of a Japanese author (the name itself is a
not-really-disguised "Japanification" of "Edgar Allan Poe").  I associate
Edogawa Ranpo's work with Japanese Gothic, with weird psycho-sexual
imagery; I was not aware that he wrote any work for children, but I
wouldn't be surprised if it is true.

Movies have been made of his work, and I've seen (I think) two: one called
"Trousseau" and the other, name I can't recall, but it involved a castle
near a cliff overlooking the sea, and the habit of a nobleman there to ride
his horse at gallop toward the cliff at a certain hour of the day.

Now Crush, what trace, however obscure, led you here?

=mantis=

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From: James Wynn <crushtv at hotpop.com>
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 16:32:39 +0000

mantis asked
Now Crush, what trace, however obscure, led you here [to Edogawa Ranpo]?

Crush responds
This is the sort of libertine association that wedges itself so firmly in
the craw of Roy and others and to which Agia once referred as "imagination
plus". Yet, the fact remains that my starting point was associating Crane
(from the Long Sun) with the god Ranpo:
http://gene-wolfe.tripod.com/chems.htm

So here's a peek into the twisted way I think. Imagine you're a writer who
is a fan of Edogawa Ranpo whose detective fiction (like your own) is known
for it's weird touch.  You also have a long time interest in alchemy. You
naturally know that the word comes from the same origin as Egypt, which
intersects with your other interest in ancient mythology. So eventually you
come across a picture of the Egyptian *god* Chem standing next to this other
god, Ranpo. Don't you think that god other would stick in your mind? Now
your writing a story about a guy who is also a something of a detective, and
your going to riff of concepts based on the word "chem". Maybe you'd work
Edogawa in in the same way you have in the past with Jorge Borge....

Nice theory, but the probability wave shrinks when one learns that the
author's name is not "Ranpo" but "RaMpo". The connection is still plausible
when one considers the name game Wolfe plays throughout the Long Sun with
connections as tenuous as Silk = Sand. Yet, clearly the connection is now as
thin as a spider's thread (if I may play the game as well).

--- Crush

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From: James Wynn <crushtv at hotpop.com>
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 16:18:30 +0000

mantis asked

Crush responds

--- Crush

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From: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net>
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 17:53:49 +0000

>http://gene-wolfe.tripod.com/chems.htm

Interesting slip you made there; I wonder if alga appreciates it? <g>

-Roy

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From: James Wynn <crushtv at hotpop.com>
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 2002 18:56:54 +0000

Roy said

Oops! My apologies to Alga. I hope if she gives a hoot one way or the other,
she appreciates it.

--Crush

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From: Alice K. Turner <aturner6 at nyc.rr.com>
Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2002 01:34:09 +0000

> Oops! My apologies to Alga. I hope if she gives a hoot one way or the
other,

She does. With some surprise that she never noticed it before.

BTW, the Gnostic primer, the easiest and most available text, spelling out
all the surviving myths, remains THE GNOSTIC RELIGIONS  by Hans Jonas. There
is, of course, a lot of on-line stuff by now.

-alga

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