{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6592", "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": 6592, "subject": "Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "messages": 6, "voices": 2, "first": "2014-08-01T14:07:34+00:00", "last": "2014-08-25T20:10:02+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2014-08-01T14:07:34+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "*We will return to the few long novellas I skipped soon from the 70s - I\nhave saved a space in the numbering and am working on completing them.\n\n“A Criminal Proceeding” first appeared in *Interfaces* in 1980.\n\nSUMMARY:\n\n Late at night on Good Friday, Stephen Brodie is arrested by New York and\nPhiladelphia police, the secret service, FBI, and others, with news\ncoverage. With that live coverage, it becomes a ridiculous spectacle. Rumors\ncause mobs, and jury selection begins on November 17th with 300,000\nwatching. Jurors are selected from a pool of 5,000 by March of the\nfollowing year, with concessions made for interest groups such as the\n“male-grocer-Oriental-American community”.\n\nThere are riots in January and February. The first justice, Frederic K.C.\nMcGrail, orders a recess while the Bronco stadium is equipped to handle the\ntrial. The following year, the trial begins. 336,781 seats were left open\nfor an audience after all of the essential and media personnel. Further\nabsurd delays ensue, and the government’s case eventually begins on May 31st\nby Eli Braincreek. Mention is made of a private yacht chartered by\nAntropopos armed with heat-seeking underwater projectiles, and audiences\ngrow to over 30 million watchers. An act attempts to make some of the\ncharges brought up against Brodie ones with a mandatory death penalty, and\nthe female president signs it. Brodie attempts suicide using strips torn\nfrom his shirt and slashes his wrist with fragments of his artificial eye,\nand as the trial continues events become increasingly absurd, involving\nbombings and bringing in even UN officers, with several stating Brodie had\nhoped to gain world-wide control “on or before the occasion of the U.S.S.A\ndebacle”. When Brodie finally takes the stand in his own defense, he\nthrusts his hand into the divine fire and swears his innocence and the\nMosque of Omar collapses, the last wall of Solomon falls, and a voice\ncalling out “Pan is reborn!” is heard near the Isles of Paxi.\n\nThe account ends with the ominous, “I believe it is safe to say that all of\nus felt then that the real prosecution had not yet begun.”\n\nDiscussion:\n\nThe Wolfe-wiki says “Brodie is arrested on Good Friday, which is surely an\nintentional reference to Christ's crucifixion. While Christ's trial shares\nsome absurd qualities (notably the unruly crowd) with the trial depicted in\nthis story, Christ was arrested on the Thursday prior to Easter Sunday,\naccording to Christian scripture, so Brodie is not a Christ figure per se.\nThe presiding judge's name (McGrail) could be Christian reference,\nhowever.”\n\nWhich is flirting with the point but misses it: On Good Friday, Christ dies\nand actually goes to Hell. We are in the harrowing of Hell, and it is not\nBrodie alone, but everyone who watches it and becomes embroiled in it, who\nfalls victim to the spectacle. There will be no Easter Sunday and\nredemption in this interminable trial. All the absurdity with its\npsuedo-realistic detail is like a demonic farce, and finally, at the end,\nthe mosque collapses, the temple falls, and Pan is reborn — the pagan\nfestivities and the bachannalian revelries have come to life, where so much\neffort and money is spent on a farce for entertainment, the moral center\nand the restrained religious sentiment of non-pagan religions is lost. There\nis no redemption, just excess and spectacle.\n\nThe media and movies, like the “sly spy movies”, actually influence the\ntestimony of women with code names and prompts increasingly ridiculous and\nasinine testimonies. Much like “The War Beneath the Tree”, the real\nmeaning of what is transpiring is missing, justice and crime are almost\nunimportant, but the glitzy sham trial consumes the world’s attention. Note\nthat Pan died when Christ was born, and here, the death of morality,\nrestraint, propriety, and reason prompts the return of pagan values — Pan\nreturns, in all his excess, and the zeitgeist of Christ, Judaism, and Islam\ndies. The Mosque of Omar is the oldest and only mosque in Bethlehem. We\nsee Solomon’s Temple fall forever, the traditional keeping place of the ark\nof the covenant lost. Mention is made of the U.S.S.A. debacle, which\nprobably is hinting at the attempt and failure of socialism for the United\nStates.\n\nThe adjective which describes the proceeding actually does describe it:\nthis proceeding is criminal in its excess. The prosecution of the people\ninvolved, whose society is so ridiculous, has not yet begun.\n\nNAMES AND DATES:\n\nWhile I don’t think there is much of any significance to the majority of\nthese names and dates, save possibly in identifying a few religious feast\ndays. The final date, when Brodie puts his hand into the divine flame,\nmight actually be on Maundy Thursday. Since events and testimonies are\nsupposed to seem random and designed to be absurd, let’s look at a few\nselected examples just for the sake of completion.\n\nGood Friday at 11:43 PM: Stephen Brodie arrested. (Christ dies and\ndescends to hell).\n\nNovember 5: rumor that the trial would begin on November 6th instead of 7th\ncauses mob\n\nNovember 17, a Monday: jury selection begins\n\nNovember 20, Thursday: first juror selected\n\nMarch 16: Jury selection complete — This is the first day of the\nBacchanalia in Roman history!!\n\nMay 3 of the following year: arena prepared and trial begins, opening\nmotion delays trial (lots of events in history, but the only feast day that\nmight possibly apply is that of Antonia and Alexander — she was forced to\nwork in a brothel for refusing to marry, and the Christian soldier came in\nand traded clothes with her to allow her to escape — both executed by being\nburned alive)\n\nMay 31 trial reconvenes (May only has 30 days), Braincreek begins\ngovernment case (Feast of Saint Hermias involves a Roman soldier who\nconfessed Christ and was tortured and cast into a flame which did not burn\nhim)\n\nJune 20th — testimony of Ethel Saltzlust and gesture towards Ella\nMoneypenny-Hubert made (earliest possible date of the solstice, also the\nfeast of Summanus in Rome, the nocturnal god of thunder)\n\nJune 25th: governments? case ends\n\nSeptember: Perkins-O?Farrell act considered\n\nOctober 31st: Female president signs the bill with death penalty, Brodie\nattempts suicide — this is Halloween — an explicitly pagan remembrance —\ninteresting that this date consigns Brodie to death if he is found guilty.\n\nTwo weeks before Christmas: the girls with pseudonyms take the stand\nagainst Brodie and the UN involvement on a guided missile carrier called\nthe *Mayaguez Incident* is mentioned. (The Mayaguez incident was the last\nofficial battle of the Vietnam War, when the Khmer Rouge seized the SS\nMayaguez)\n\nTen day recess — 17,000 people are injured by Scholla mausoleum\nflamethrowers\n\nJanuary 25th — trial reopens, but closes again when bombed.\n\nFebruary 14th- Brodie pleads guilty to several charges and not guilty by\nreason of insanity to others. Valentine’s Day — named after a martyr who\ndied on the Via Flaminia.\n\nMid-march- Prosecution completes case.\n\nMarch 24th: Brodie takes the stand and casts his hand into the divine\nflame, proclaiming his innocence. None of the feast days seemed to resonate\nvery well with this date. The trial spans almost 3 years. This is\ncertainly during Lent, however, and it may be possible to determine the day\nof the week if one were so inclined — I believe it would fall on a\nThursday, and could be an extremely early candidate for Maundy Thursday\n(Easter is set by its relationship to the Pascal Moon) — and instead of\nChrist being seized for trial, it is the world.\n\nStephen Brodie: Stephan means “wreath, crown, honor, or reward”, Brodie\ncane mean “ditch” or ?mire? ? I think we see honor and the crown dragged\ninto a ditch in these proceedings.\n\nJustice Frederic McGrail, Hopkins, and Justice Russell? the last name\nMcGrail actually comes from the personal name Niall, but I do think the\nchanging names of the justices, which will also include a Russell, which\ncan imply red, are meant to be part of a pattern — renowned blood spilled,\nheld in a cup, in light of the symbolic death of all Christian values and\ncommon sense in the spectacle — a return to cathartic paganism.\n\nEli Braincreek- the chief prosecutor for the government, in light of the\ngood Friday arrest we should probably consider Jesus? use of “Eli, Eli,\nlama sabachthani” on the cross. The second name, Braincreek, shows where\neveryone’s brains are. His mention of “Antropopos” might mean something\ncloser to poop-man instead of the more common name for Christ, the\nTheoanthropos (God-man).\n\nRidiculous names like Ethel Saltzlust and the pseudonyms are rather obvious\nin their over-dramatization (lust and bitterness intertwined).\n\nUNANSWERED QUESTIONS: Since this is an intentional exaggeration and satire,\nprobably the whole point is that Brodie’s crime is never mentioned. But —\nwhat was Brodie arrested for?\n\nCONNECTION TO OTHER WORKS:\n\nWolfe’s absurd satires are actually pretty rare, though I feel “Forlesen”\nis a much more serious and realistic satirical look at society. I feel like\nthe attempts at humor leave it with something in common with “From the Desk\nof Gilmer C. Merton” and the very rare but also ultimately funny\n“Planetarium in Orbit”. For those interested, there is a female president\n— of course, we are metaphorically in hell throughout the story.\n\nWolfe’s comments on the story: ?'A Criminal Proceeding' is just my\nimpression of real-life courtroom drama as it's presented in the popular\npress. When I read one of these things, usually while buttering yet another\nslice of toast, I never know who anyone is or what the person on trial is\nsupposed to have done. Do you?\"" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Robert Pirkola", "address": "rpirkola at hotmail.com" }, "date": "2014-08-25T16:04:12+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Marc Aramini wrote on Aug 1, 2014: \"May\n31 trial reconvenes (May only has 30 days):\"\nActually May does have 31 days. Was there something in the story saying the number was different?\n \t\t \t \t\t " } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2014-08-25T16:36:35+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": " forgot to edit that out I guess. thought I caught it." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 9:04 AM, Robert Pirkola \nwrote:\nMarc Aramini wrote on Aug 1, 2014: \"May 31 trial reconvenes (May only has\n30 days):\"\n\nActually May does have 31 days. Was there something in the story saying\nthe number was different?\n\n\n\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2014-08-25T16:37:54+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "there is an old saying 30 days has September april something and November\nand when I was writing it I messed up the third month as May, then thought\nI edited it out when I looked at a calendar. Dumb mistake. June, right?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 9:36 AM, Marc Aramini wrote:\n forgot to edit that out I guess. thought I caught it.\n\n\nOn Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 9:04 AM, Robert Pirkola \nwrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Marc Aramini wrote on Aug 1, 2014: \"May 31 trial reconvenes (May only\nhas 30 days):\"\n\nActually May does have 31 days. Was there something in the story saying\nthe number was different?\n\n\n\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Robert Pirkola", "address": "rpirkola at hotmail.com" }, "date": "2014-08-25T18:59:18+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I have never been terribly good at remembering such things myself. That coupled with the fact that one never knows in sf if common facts are being tweaked for narrative purposes, so when I read that in your commentary I went back to the story and couldn't find anything in there and so on and so on. Just clarifying for the sake of the posters in posterity. \t\t \t \t\t " } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2014-08-25T20:10:02+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Short Story 78*: A Criminal Proceeding", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "No problem, I appreciate your close reading. I was on the lookout for\nthings like the House of 31 February and got overzealous. I am glad you\nare reading them over! My pace has accelerated lately so I am bound to make\nsome mistakes that need editing and rethinking.\n\nWaiting for a primary source to arrive in the mail with the Philip Rahv\nessay mentioned in \"My Book\" and I will finish up the write up on Redwood\nCoast Roamer/Four Wolves as one entry, do an entry on Bibliomen, the\nfour novellas I skipped in the 70s (two of which are going to be a bit of a\nnightmare), a New Sun Essay which I probably won't post on the list, and I\nwill be halfway through. Quite a relief. Anything you notice please bring\nit to our attention.\n\nWolfe's short fiction in the 90s seems unusually difficult after the\nrelative \"lightness\" of most of the work in the 80s, but he was not as\nprolific in that decade. After Short Sun I think his short fiction became\nsomewhat easier and more thematic again, with a few notable exceptions that\napproach his most difficult work." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 11:59 AM, Robert Pirkola \nwrote:\nI have never been terribly good at remembering such things myself. That\ncoupled with the fact that one never knows in sf if common facts are being\ntweaked for narrative purposes, so when I read that in your commentary I\nwent back to the story and couldn't find anything in there and so on and so\non. Just clarifying for the sake of the posters in posterity.\n\n_______________________________________________" } ] } ] }