{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6516",
    "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": 6516,
    "subject": "The Land Across (letters, hands, and shoes)",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "2014-03-02T20:53:39+00:00",
    "last": "2014-03-02T20:53:39+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<53139A53.7080800@kurzawa.us>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Greg Kurzawa",
        "address": "greg at kurzawa.us"
      },
      "date": "2014-03-02T20:53:39+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) The Land Across (letters, hands, and shoes)",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "** potential spoiler alert **\n\nI'm working on analyzing one particular evening in \"The Land Across,\" \nand I'm hoping someone can offer a bit of insight, or maybe just another \nperspective. The evening in question is Grafton's second night at \nNaala's (the first night they slept together). Grafton claims that he \nand Naala showered separately, then went to bed together. Later that \nnight, the hand climbed into bed and attempted to strangle Naala. They \nsearched for it high and low, to no avail.\n\nI have two theories, and one question.\n\nTheory 1(a): Grafton wrote a letter to someone while Naala showered. I \nfeel like this is fairly obvious; the text practically states it. \nGrafton is wondering how to get in touch with Russ, then mentions \nsharpening his pencil and tearing a couple of flyleaves from one of \nNaala's books. He even says, \"I did it while Naala was in the shower.\" \nThe only thing he doesn't specify is exactly what \"it\" is. But does he \nreally need to? Pencil + paper + time alone = he wrote a letter.\n\nQuestion 1: To whom did Grafton write that letter, and what did it say? \nRuss seems the most likely recipient. I'm thinking Grafton outlined his \ncurrent situation with Naala while requesting that he and Russ help one \nanother if possible. If he did write the letter to Russ, it might mean \nthat the events of that night (Yelena being attacked and Rosalee \nescaping prison) are consequences of his writing that letter. It might \nalso explain why Grafton appears so broken up about Yelena's death, for \nwhich he might feel personally responsible.\n\nTheory 1(b): What good is a letter undelivered? I'm thinking that maybe \nGrafton gave it to the hand for delivery. At this point in the story, \nGrafton has already repeated the idea that the hand came from Russ (pg \n140) so it's logical to assume that it would know how to get back to \nhim. With Naala showering, Grafton writes his letter, tucks it into the \nhand, and lets it out the front door. Later, while Naala sleeps, Grafton \ngets up and lets the hand back in. We learned that Naala sleeps deeply \nwhen Grafton got up the previous night to use the bathroom. When he \nflushed the toilet it \"made so much noise I felt sure it would wake up \nNaala, but it did not\" (pg 101).\n\nThe hand then attempts to strangle Naala, and hides so well that it \nseems to have vanished.\n\nTheory 2: Grafton found the hand and hid it from Naala in his shoe. Why \nin a shoe? Earlier, Grafton states, \"If I ever got my hands on something \nreally fancy I would put it in my shoes.\" (pg 103). Of their search, \nGrafton says, \"we searched [the apartment] good. I did, particularly.\" \nNaala never had a chance of finding the hand because she \"was looking \nfor a person, but I was looking for the hand.\" (pg 147). The next \nmorning they visit the prison and learn of Rosalee's escape. Naala sends \nGrafton off to hunt for Rosalee (a wild-goose chase, but that's a \ndifferent puzzle) while she claims to spend the entire day turning the \napartment upside down looking for the hand, which she fails to find. \nAfter a long day in the city, Grafton returns to the apartment for a \nsuspicious little sequence involving shoes (pg 182). He removes one, \nafter which he seems to want Naala out of the room. As soon as she's \ngone, \"something\" touches his hand---perhaps the hand climbing from the \nshoe he's probably still holding? Only after he's had some wine does he \nget around to removing the other. It's my belief that Grafton had the \nhand with him all day, although maybe not in his shoe the whole time.\n\nMy hope is that someone will either tell me I'm wrong (and why) or else \nconfirm that others have thought the same thing. I know that these are \nfairly minor points, but it seems as good a place to start as any.\n\nGage"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}