Subject: (urth) Dr. Island on WolfeWiki

From: Matthew Groves <matthewalangroves at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 21:22:11 +0000

We have been working on the entry for "The Death of Dr. Island" on
WolfeWiki.  It's only begun, really, but it could use input from
contributors with a background in mythology, or a knowledge of the
poems, especially Enoch Arden and Il Penseroso.  Or someone with a
background in abnormal psychology or brain science.  Or someone who
can talk about the physics of the Dr. Island satellite habitat, and
all that sciencey stuff.  Or just someone who likes this story.  It's
one of those masterpieces of Wolfe's short fiction that seem to
resonate thematically with all his other major works.

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From: Matthew Keeley <matthew.keeley.1 at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:19:23 +0000

I really don't know too much about Dr. Island, having read it only once, but
I might be able to help out just a bit on "Il Penseroso." The main character
of "The Death of Dr. Island" has a split brain and two personalities, while
"Il Penseroso" is a companion piece to Milton's earlier "L'Allegro." "Il
Penseroso" discusses the enjoyment of melancholy, while the speaker of
"L'Allegro" is more conventionally "happy" (not really the right word I'm
afraid). Essentially, the two poems form a dialectic or polemic (I get the
impression that Milton himself preferred the worldview expressed in "Il
Penseroso"). I'll try and take another look at the poems in the next few
days; I'm writing this from memory, and it's been about a year and a half
since I've taken a close look at either poem. In any case, count me in.

-Matt

On 7/28/07, Matthew Groves <matthewalangroves at gmail.com> wrote:
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From: Matthew Groves <matthewalangroves at gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:04:23 +0000

Matt Keeley wrote:
> The main character
> "Il Penseroso" is a companion piece to Milton's earlier "L'Allegro."

Excellent!  I knew about the poetic pairing but I didn't connect it to
Nicholas's divided brain (one of which is *silent* while the other
does the talking!).  Also, I should have linked to the page on DoDI:

http://www.holkar.net/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Stories.TheDeathOfDrIsland

As I say, it's just a beginning, but I think if we can get some people
together with a little expertise in the areas I listed, we could
really make some headway on interpreting this story.

Matt G.