Subject: (urth) Tree Is My Hat & AEG

From: James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:34:03 +0000

Questions arising as I re-read AEG:

[page 13]
"On Earth, this guest was known as Gideon Chase"

What are his other names? And where is he known by them? He claims to the 
President to have not returned to Woldercon since he was a small child.  He 
could be lying or he could be known by other names by the aliens of Takanga.

[page 14]
President says: "[Reis] was smart enough to see the big money went to them 
that had friends in high places. You want to bellyache about it? I have, 
more'n once. Don't do any good."

Strange statement coming from the President. Apparently, 'friends in high 
places' did not refer to politicians. The aliens of Takanga? I presume so. 
Aren't the true "evil guests"?

So what is the relationship between the US government and Hanga's people? 
The protagonist in 'The Tree Is My Hat' is a fellow who had recently had a 
nervous breakdown. He was chosen by the government to be assigned there and 
was told that he would be absolutely alone. He seems to have had few duties 
there. But, when he at last brought family, Hanga immediately tried to kill 
them all.

Was Bill Reis's goal to lead a world-wide coup against all the Earth 
governments in order to drive out the real powers of Earth: the Takanga 
aliens?

[page 15]
"I said if there was only one evil man in the whole world, it'd have to be 
Bill Reis. There's a hell of a lot of evil men in the world."
"Three in particular"
"We haven't gotten to that yet, John, an' I don't think we will."

This has been pointed out before, but I'll note that the "three evil men" 
relate directly to the issue of Bill Reis. They were an *issue* in the Bill 
Reis affair but the President chose not to address it.

J. 
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From: James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:04:32 +0000

More questions:

Who is the "evil guest"?

Gideon Chase is referred to as "the guest" on the first page. He is even characterized in ways that imply he is evil. At least the President thinks so.

[page 230] Cassie calls herself a guest on the island. She asks Hanga whether he is a guest at the island and he says "no".

[page 217] When Scott Zeitz's death by werewolf was reported in the newspaper, he is referred to as a "guest" at an unnamed hotel.

Any other references?

Wolfe has repeatedly referred to Bill Reis (and only Bill Reis to my knowledge) as a villain.

I'll bet the title "An Evil Guest" is a reference to ghost story writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu's "The Evil Guest". But I've never read the story. I've only read his "The Green Monkey". Does anyone else have any knowledge of this story or more extensive knowledge of Fanu?

J.
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From: Mo Holkar / UKG <lists at ukg.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:30:04 +0000

At 18:04 14/09/2009, James wrote:
>Who is the "evil guest"?
>
>Gideon Chase is referred to as "the guest" on the first page. He is 
>even characterized in ways that imply he is evil. At least the 
>President thinks so.
>
>[page 230] Cassie calls herself a guest on the island. She asks 
>Hanga whether he is a guest at the island and he says "no".
>
>[page 217] When Scott Zeitz's death by werewolf was reported in the 
>newspaper, he is referred to as a "guest" at an unnamed hotel.
>
>Any other references?
>

The book's epigraph suggests that the 'evil guest' is gold.

best,

Mo

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From: James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:05:41 +0000

> The book's epigraph suggests that the 'evil guest' is gold.

Yeah, but almost all Wolfe's novels have epigraphs. It's not typical for him 
to hang the entire title on one.

That still doesn't necessarily mean that the title means anything strongly 
related to the character and plot of the book. He has Lovecraftian aliens in 
a story centered around a Lovecraft town.  Perhaps he said "I'll just stick 
on a title reminiscent of a story by another gothic horror writer. Who cares 
that this isn't gothic horror?" On the other hand, "The Tree Is My Hat" 
might qualify as gothic horror.

J.