{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6769", "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": 6769, "subject": "first half of sorcerer's house write up", "messages": 13, "voices": 3, "first": "2018-01-05T20:41:10+00:00", "last": "2018-01-08T12:10:53+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-05T20:41:10+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Here is the start, for setting up that it is a scam. I still need to write\nthe second half and make conclusions about lupine, the hound of horror,\nkiki, and Shell's corroboration of a thin man with funny hands looking for\nBax with a Greek. there are one or two unfinished segments in here. Any\nadvice would be welcome.\n\n# THE SORCERER’S HOUSE: THE INNER RING OF THE TRIANNULIS" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "So I talked all this over with Madam Orizia. She is my psychic adviser. I\nsaid, “Do you think George will hurt his poor brother?” She tried the cards\nand looked terribly frightened. After that, the little crystal. That is the\nreal one, as she told me two years ago. There is a big one, too. It is\nplastic but it looks like crystal and it tells everybody what they want to\nhear. She uses that one all the time." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "But the little one is real. She said she saw great danger for George and\nhis brother (you) too. BE CAREFUL. (Wolfe 114)." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Wolfe has produced a lot of dense masterpieces. His later fiction can be\njust as complex as the work which skyrocketed him to, if not fame, a\nreputation as one of the genre’s most accomplished literary artists. After\na first reading of *The Sorcerer’s House*, readers should be reminded that\nhis stories are often also entertaining and fun even if definitive\nconclusions are never reached. In this novel, an educated con man\nstruggling to make ends meet after incarceration contacts his twin brother\nin a series of letters that serve to flatter his brother’s wife just as\nmuch as they hope to attract his twin’s attention. He claims to inherit a\nsprawling and sinister house as well as a strip of land that will guarantee\nhim a fortune; sorcery, multiple twins of different temperaments,\nshape-changing foxes, werewolves, a professional psychic, real estate\nagents, and his mother from fairyland all people a fast-paced plot that\nfinally puts he and his brother George face to face (maybe). It has been\nlabeled as an excellent introduction to Wolfe, and even the final\n“compiler’s note” ends with the claim that “Baxter Dunn was unquestionably\na most imaginative and picturesque liar, but all that he tells us cannot be\nfalse. — How much is true” How much fabrication? Perhaps we shall never\nknow? (300).\n\n\n\nWolfe usually plays fair, but an ending like that casts doubt on whether we\ncan ever meaningfully discern the “real” events from the fabricated or\nexaggerated ones. Luckily, we have at least one powerful metaphor to help\ncontextualize the structure of this complex epistolary web. While the\nstrange symbol of the three-ringed triannulis serves to indicate how the\n“magic” in the novel works, it also seems to be, in its own way, yet\nanother metaphor for the novel as a whole. Everything found on the inner\nring is on each of the external rings, but there are extra figures that\nappear on each successive layer, such that some images on the second ring\nare not found on the first, while images graven into the external third are\nnot present on the two more central rings. If we look at the quote which\nopens this essay, we may have a fairly good idea of how to proceed: the\n“smaller” ring introduces truths from Bax’s real life, which are then\nembellished according to Baxter’s increasingly large ambitions. If we\nfollow this metaphor, Baxter is attempting to con his brother in many of\nhis letters, but the brief and quick notes to Sheldon Hawes, his cellmate,\ncontain only a fraction of the details included in Bax’s other missives. At\none point, he finds three coins, and pawns one of them at face value in\norder to try to get enough to make more money later: “I will sell one of\nthe larger coins. It should bring a considerable sum, and with that I can\nredeem the smallest” (77) Even this act reflects Baxter’s aim: he might be\nattempting to “sell” the larger stories in the hopes of material gain to\nredeem his actual meager existence — which is a coin sold at “face value” —\nthe truth. However, this does not mean that the genre of the novel is a\nstrict realistic con game, as there are just enough hints of a different\ntype of supernatural menace in the short letters to Shell and in the\nmissives from Madame Orizia, and just enough threat in the opening quote,\nto suggest that Bax might lose mastery of his plans, as he does not\nentirely control the parameters of the real and unreal.\n\n\n\nBefore getting into further discussion, we shall discuss the triple nature\nof Bax’s story. At one point, he borrows a wheelbarrow from his neighbor to\ntransport a recliner left on the curb to his new estate. [That neighbor is\npicturesquely named Mrs. Nabor — when Bax names his fox Winkle, he says,\n“Do you recall Mother’s pretty white cat, George” The one whose kittens you\nkilled? Never having been an original thinker, I have borrowed her name?\n(41). Mrs. Nabor’s name might be an apt name for Bax to choose for a\nfictional person next door if he actually does lack originality.] As Bax\nsits in the chair, he notes, “I found fifty-five cents in the crack between\nthe seat and the back. — fifty-five cents is a significant sum to me just\nnow” (40). Perhaps the easiest way to make fifty-five cents is with two\nquarters and a nickel — three coins. Soon, he finds three gold coins inside\na desk in the attic, of Greek design, and these are the coins which he\nintends to pawn above. [His areas of specialty and interest are the\nclassical world of antiquity and nineteenth century literature]. After\nthis, Bax finds a mattress in the attic: “Assisted only by [the fox]\nWinkle, I was — barely — able to drag the mattress down the spiral stair I\nhave described and into this room. I am seated on it now, and sit proudly”\n(77). Of course, he discovers ridiculous amounts of money in this mattress\n(but why isn’t he sitting on the recliner?), just as he found money in the\nchair and the desk, each find increasingly unbelievable and unlikely. This\ntriple pattern, three in one, might also shed light on the organization of\nthe novel as a whole.\n\n\n\nTriplication allows other permutations and elaborations on themes, motifs,\nor legends within the novel. When he first goes out to eat with the\ninterested real-estate agent Doris Rose Griffin, he hears a story from her\nabout Mr. Black’s old butler, who had a tendency to steal clothes-lines\n(106). Her story soon presents the potential immortality of the butler and\neven evolves into a suggestion that he serves the head of John the Baptist\non a platter, though the disparate parts of the butler’s tale seem to be\ncobbled together from multiple urban legends. In a letter to his old cell\nmate, Baxter then indicates that he is learning from the woman who tells\nthis tale: ?If I am really as smart as I like to think I am, I can learn\nsomething of shrewdness from her. As for technique, I have learned quite a\nlot from both [Doris and Winker]? (112).\n\n\n\nIn the next letter, a hobo shows up squatting in Bax’s house, and soon\nreturns claiming to be the legendary butler. Still later, the “butler” Nick\ncasts aside this identity and a more vampiric iteration of the butler\nemerges from the locked trunk of the car in Baxter’s garage. In this case,\nwe can see how there might be three “uses” of Doris’s story and the hobo:\nafter his introduction as a story, the tale of the butler becomes real, and\nhe begins to serve Bax. Soon, when that figure’s role in the story changes,\nthe butler is re-introduced in the form of a different character, with\ndifferent details and features, and the first butler becomes Zwart Black,\nincognito. If we are to assume that Bax is constructing different versions\nof his tale (such as a tame exaggeration of romantic conquests to entertain\nhis old cell mate) and a more fantastic one to attract George and Millie\n(for different purposes, we would hope), then we have three iterations of\nthe butler: as a story, as a living man who serves Bax, and as a vampire or\nzombie liberated from the trunk. (Though this final figure seems to be a\nthreatening one, Nicholas *still* calls Bax on the phone with the same\nverbal habits and subservient attitude as Bax’s previous butler, in an act\nwhich has no previous precedent in the text, perhaps symbolically\nsuggesting that the man in that trunk actually works for Bax. When the\nghostly figure of the “vampire” jumps out of the trunk, Bax describes it as\n“horrible, almost like a skull. Sunken cheeks. Big teeth showing through\nthin lips. White, as white as bone.” The police officer Kate Finn asks,\n“Could it have been a mask” It sounds like one? (269). Any scene with\nGeorge present should at least be considered partially valid, even if it is\na set-up, as George believes when he chases after the figure.)\n\n\n\nIf Madame Orizia’s statement about her larger con crystals are to be\nbelieved, then the inner ring of the triannulis is synonymous with the\nsmall crystal: “That is the real one.” The large, convoluted web of\nfabrications resonates with the crystal that just “tells everybody what\nthey want to hear.” Unfortunately, Wolfe makes life hard for everyone by\ncorroborating some (but not all) of the supernaturally seeming events in\nshort letters from Sheldon and Madame Orizia — though after some reflection\nit seems that Bax himself describes exactly what Sheldon, who might\nrepresent the middle ring of the con game, would want: “You have been\nwaiting for the sex, if I know you. The problem is telling you so that you\nwill believe it” (156).\n\n\n\nWolfe’s late fiction often does two different things at once, and some of\nthe subtext actually seems to be intended as metatextual or symbolic\nillustrations for the reader to begin to piece together the background\nstory. In the case of *The Sorcerer’s House*, perhaps Madame Orizia’s and\nBax’s contradictions, suggestions, and hints might point to the\ninconsistencies in the more fantastic version of the story. Besides Bax’s\nwillingness to lie in the narrative at certain points (“I was lying, to be\nsure, but I was not under oath” (93)), he also offers a few other\nguidelines for telling truth from fabrication: ?[A]nything one disbelieves\nis forgotten very readily? (161). At the very beginning, Bax offers two\ndiscussions of the broken side door of the Black House which seem to be\nmutually exclusive. When he considers how the young and strangely dressed\ntwins might enter the house and determines that it must be from a cellar\nentrance, he notes, “Earlier, you see, George, I had searched the house\nfrom within; it was by that means that I discovered the broken side door”\n(53). However, when he first describes the house to George, he says:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Please pay attention. It is important to me at least." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "[The house] stands half a mile, perhaps, from the Riverman. I had noticed\nit more than once, a white house in good repair but a house that had\nclearly been vacant for some time. A few windows were boarded up, and the\nlawn was full of weeds; a few days ago, I investigated further." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "The front door was locked, as I expected. The back door was locked also;" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "but a small side door had been broken open. I went in. A vagrant had\ncertainly camped in the house at one time. (12)\n\n\n\nWould Bax truly forget that the broken side door was the method through\nwhich he originally entered the house from the outside? However, given the\nentrance of Madame Orizia and George later in the text, it is difficult to\ndeny that the house exists, even if Bax’s story of entering it is not\nconsistent with later details. Wolfe’s “Please pay attention” suggests that\nthis is not an unintentional error on his part, but a telling\ninconsistency. This is not the only inconsistency, of course. Late in the\nnovel he explores the basement searching for the reporter Cathy Ruth,\naccompanied by Doris Griffin. When a large rat threatens her, Bax clubs it\nwith his flashlight, “and it dropped to the floor and scuttled away” (227).\nWhen they come to a locked door, Doris tells him to shoot the lock. Inside,\nhe confronts the malevolent dwarf Quorn, whom he jestingly notes seems\nbased on the Dickens character Quilp from *The Old Curiosity Shop*. Even\nthough Bax pulls the trigger of his gun, “the pistol did not fire” (228).\nLater, Bax will request advice from Sheldon: “I told you about the old guns\nand shooting the wolf. I shot at a door with one, too. After that I wanted\nto shoot at a rat. He was a great big bastard and I thought I could not\nmiss, but my pistol would not fire. Since then I have been shooting at\nbottles in the river” (252). There is no mention of the evil dwarf, and the\nrat in Bax’s earlier letter accosted Doris before they reached the locked\ndoor.\n\n\n\nThere are several other key items in the text which are always described\ndifferently, though this might be easily understood by their “magical\ncharacter.” The ring he discovers in a fish, which probably belonged to the\nsorcerer Ambrosius (if we are to buy into his surface story) is first\ndescribed as a bit of junk. Later, Dorris will see it as a “cat’s-eye opal”\n(which supposedly has healing properties — here Doris seems to be\nattempting to get over the death of her husband Ted, though there is reason\nto believe she is primarily interested in money). When Bax runs into the\npawnshop man again, he identifies the ring differently: “You brought in a\nring — costume jewelry — for me to look at yesterday. I’d like to see the\none you’re wearing now — That’s a fire opal, I believe, the best I’ve ever\nseen” (48). [The fire opal was often noted for healing deficiencies in\nvision and straightening the sight — definitely something which resonates\nwith all of the strange “window” visions outside of Bax’s house]. Later,\nthe jeweler, named Dick Quist, says, “that’s a star sapphire, the best I’ve\never seen” (190). [The star sapphire was supposedly valued as a love charm\nin antiquity]. While “magic” would explain the different appearances of the\nring, the three-in-one pattern of the novel might also be established in\nthese scenes. However, our hint as to whether this ring might exist at all\nis probably found in Emlyn’s casual discussion of the triannulis:\n\n\n\n“The middle ring has everything that’s on the inside ring and some more\nthings of its own. Look here. See this symbol?”" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I did. It was an oval surrounding something that might have been a flame." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "?It’s not on the inner ring, but it is on middle ring. See? (63)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "While the talk of “rings” might here be coincidental, the oval with the\nflame could very easily be describing a cat’s eye opal — it appears on the\nmiddle ring, but not on the central small ring — in other words, it is not\nreal. The other possible interpretation of the flame might be the\n“longlight” which allows sorcerous numen to accumulate. This could be the\nclearest indication that Ambrosius’s ring is in fact not legitimate, given\nits appearance. Bax’s story suggests that he is wearing two rings — one a\nplain golden band that belonged to Ted Griffin. When the man in the post\noffice asks to see the ring, Bax says “both the rings I wore were mine”\n(48) However, the response is “Are there two” The gold ring with the large\nstone? (48) It seems that only one is visible, and in light of later\ndevelopments, they might ultimately be Ted A. Griffin’s rings.\n\n\n\nLate in the novel, Winkle takes Bax to a lion-headed figure from Asian myth\nidentified in the letter title as Manjushri. After showing the mysterious\nfigure the “challenge” written by his brother George which suggests that\neach of the brothers will their estates to the other and struggle to the\ndeath, the bodhisattva gives Bax some practical advice, saying that he will\n“find” his brother only after he and the policewoman Kate Finn team up.\nWhile he actually employs her in the letter to help him search for his\nbrother, she serves a vital role in the final court scene in getting the\nsentence of “George J. Dunn” commuted to community service, and “George”\ndrops his own countercharge against her. Manjushri symbolizes transcendent\nwisdom, and, more importantly, is depicted with a flaming sword which cuts\nthrough ignorance and duality. In this sense, the symbolic implication of\nManjushri actually implies cutting through multiplications like Ieuan,\nEmlyn, and even, ultimately George, possibly leaving only one twin left in\nreality. (Baxter’s discovery of his brother’s challenge is also strange,\nconsidering that he has been lost chasing after Nicholas the Vampire Butler\nin the house and also seems to have been arrested for violating his parole,\nfurther highlighting Madame Orizia’s suggestion, found a few paragraphs\ndown in its entirety, that attention must always be paid to who is present\nat each supernatural manifestation.)\n\n\n\nThere are other small details which seem contradictory, including Bax’s\nclaim to box and fence at university: “I will not say I was expert at\neither; those who were regarded with contempt. Yet I did those things.”\n(54) Earlier, (right after he switches hands for the second time in the\nnovel), he finds Winkle in the attic and describes himself in a slightly\ndifferent fashion: “I have never been athletic, as you know, but I mounted\nthe oak rungs without great difficulty and managed (rather less easily) to\nclamber into the attic itself” (41). (Boxing, especially, is an\nathletically demanding sport even for its less accomplished practitioners,\nthough I admit to bias here.) Of Winkle, Bax asserts, “In the presence of\nothers she would become (I believe) an ordinary fox, red with black\nmarkings. You need believe nothing of this, of course” (55).\n\n\n\nHaving established these small inconsistencies, we should consider that\nMadame Orizia offers further advice to Bax that might just as well serve\ncritical readers of Wolfe’s novel:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "[I]t would be well for you to review all recent manifestations. I would\nsuggest that you give each one a short name, such as “Gray Figure in the\nGarden” or “Piano Played at Midnight.” Be as specific as possible regarding\ntimes and places. Also, *persons present*. It is a key element. I will\nquestion you as to other details. Just what was seen, if anything? Just\nwhat was heard, if anything? Was there an odor? A sensation of cold? (221)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Madame Orizia’s final advice in this particular note might also be worth\nconsidering: “Your sister-in-law has told me you were attacked by wolves of\nmore than natural size, and mentioned, as you did in your letter, that you\nfeel that your car, as well as your home, is a site of supernormal\nactivity. Such may be the case, but I think it unlikely. More plausibly, it\nis *you yourself*. We must examine this possibility” (222). While Bax\nmentions multiple romantic interests and obtaining a house in the short\nletters shared by he and Shell, he does not mention fairyland — nor does he\never speak directly of the twin brothers who haunt his house, Emlyn and\nIeuan, the sons of Zwart Black. After all, as Bax says, “Words really mean\nvery little. Men can be defrauded with words and women can be seduced with\nwords, and it really comes to about the same thing” (195). One of the most\ntelling techniques for discerning truth and fiction in Bax’s own letters\ninvolves his ability to write with both hands: “Have you ever seen me write\ndifferent things simultaneously, Millie” One with each hand? It is a parlor\ntrick, I confess, but since I have very few I am absurdly proud of it?\n(167). This might describe Wolfe’s writing practice in the latter half of\nhis career, and at each point that Bax “switches” hands we should consider\nthat he is about to perform some trick — and perhaps these “tricks” might\nindicate how he could at least afford to rent a sprawling house and be in a\nposition to fool his brother when he arrives.\n\n\n\nOf course, the problem with assuming that all of the drama in Medicine Man\nis merely an elaborate set up undertaken by Baxter to lure his brother into\na trap does seem to involve some initial investment. Where could that money\nhave come from? When Baxter first learns that Mr. Black has left him the\nhouse through Martha Murrey, we get a discussion on the painting of the\nhouse, which was originally black. When Martha suggests that she might have\npainted it dun rather than white, Bax says, “A yellowish gray, isn’t it”\nWith darker mane and tail. Horses are that color sometimes. Do you play the\nraces, Mrs. Murrey? (20) It is at this point when he pulls the first of\nhis “tricks” by changing his writing hand:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "(This is getting lengthy, I find. I shall switch to the other hand.)" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "?I did for a while, I said. “It cost me quite a bit of money in the long\nrun, though I enjoyed it at the time. I’ve always liked horses.” (20)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "He will switch hands again right before he introduces Winkle (as a being\nnamed after something from his past, his mother’s pet, whose kittens he\nblames George for killing, establishing a motive for his hatred). Later,\nwhen Doris takes him out, he orders a dinner special called the Lakeshore\nHat Trick: “Three kinds of fish, all cooked different. There’s pike\nblackened with Cajun spices, a blackfish cake — that’s a Chinese delicacy,\nsir — with a sweet Oriental glaze, and whitefish in black butter. Three\nsmall portions, sir, but taken together they make a big meal, and it’s only\nnine ninety-five.” (37). The Hat Trick is not actually a term denoting some\nkind of sleight of hand (though in this case it might metatextually show us\nBax’s trick) — it is achieving three goals or notable achievements in a\nsport in a row (after which, according to the original coining of the term,\na hat might be passed around for impressed onlookers to donate to the\nvictor). Bax might actually be a shrewd sports bettor, and have funded the\nhouse through either legal or illegal gambling. His “second” benefactor is\nAlexander Skotos (though eventually this persona collapses into Zwart Black\n— even though Zwart supposedly attends Skotos’s funeral at about the same\ntime that Bax was incarcerated). In any case, Bax says that the name Skotos\nsounds familiar, though he cannot place it:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I said that, George, because I judged it contrary to my best interests to\ncommit myself one way or the other so early. How was I to know whether I\nhad, at some time in what I know you will concede has been a checkered\ncareer, come across an Alexander Skotos? Perhaps I had. Or more likely,\nAlexander Skotos was a name assumed by someone I had known under another\nappellation. I knew a man called Sandy Scott at Churchill Downs, for\nexample. (97)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Often in Wolfe, a possibility which is originally put forth seems to be a\nclear incidental detail or misunderstanding which actually engenders a\nfuller understanding of the truth once other patterns are established.\nChurchill Downs is the home of the Kentucky Derby horse races, and perhaps\nthe mention of betting on horses when he meets his first benefactor, Martha\nMurrey (who will assume the mantle of his birth mother as the story goes\non) in conjunction with his first mention of betting on horses actually\ndoes reveal the trick of how Bax came into the money necessary to fund his\ncon-game.\n\n\n\nEven if we take Bax’s letters to George and Millie at face value, there are\nstill some inexplicable moments in the text involving his trips to\nLakeshore with Doris that must be explored (including the manifestation of\na huge white horse that might be understood as a water spirit or kelpie on the\nsurface, or might remind us of Bax’s love of horse races), and this serves\nas Bax’s final switching of hands in the story, and so might be worth some\nexamination:\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n## What They Want to Hear\n\n\n\nIt is quite clear that Millie, George’s wife, wants to hear beautiful\nthings, proving her gullibility with every word she writes, and that Bax\nhad anticipated both her gullibility and her discovery of the letters from\nthe very start. George, more skeptical, is eventually provoked to seek out\nhis brother based on the vague promise of wealth which he feels is owed him\nafter being defrauded by Baxter, or for the more certain possibility of\nproving Bax’s insanity. Bax knows how to exploit George’s quick temper to\nhis own ends.\n\n\n\nGiven that Sheldon Hawes goes by the nicknames “Shotgun” Shell, it might\nnot be out of line to consider that he is a weapon that Bax plans to\nutilize. The story Bax feeds Sheldon might be more realistic than the\nletters sent to George and Millie, but Bax might still have an agenda here,\nespecially given his knowledge that Sheldon will be interested in Bax’s\nromantic entanglements, giving the incarcerated friend a chance to provide\ninsight and advice and feel like a valued member of Bax’s inner circle.\n\n\n\nMadame Orizia, on the other hand, is something of a con woman all on her\nown. When she first offers her services to Bax, she indicates that her fees\nare ?$500 to $5,000, in addition to her travel expenses. In Bax’s more\nfantastic letters, we learn that she is saved from rape and agrees to\nperform her services gratis: “To prove my gratitude, I will charge no fee.\nNone! I must ask you to compensate my travel costs, however” (229). In her\nfinal report, she demands a travel reimbursement of ?$4,387.76, though she\nadmits “I promised to charge you no fee” in connection with Mr. Quorn\n(294). This sum might be enough to consider Madame Orizia firmly in Bax’s\nemploy, though her earlier impressions might be reliable. It might be\nworthwhile to consider the versions of each story as a whole before coming\nto some specific symbolic conclusions.\n\n\n\n## The Story Bax Tells Sheldon Hawes and Other External Points of View\n\n\n\nBax reveals to his roommate over the course of many letters that he has\ncome to Medicine Man “to get away from my brother George and his friends\n(the people whose money I took) and the university” (23). He has been\nunsuccessful in finding work and misses his old cellmate and their friend\nLou (who might be a forger and is not allowed paper and writing materials).\nHe says “I am going to try to get my brother to front me some money if I\ncan” (9). In his next letter to Shell, he reveals that he has come into a\nlarge house somehow, though the side-door is a problem and kids come in at\nnight — in addition, he is hearing many noises there. He has resolved to\nfix up the house and sell it if possible, and is trying very hard to get\npower returned to the estate.\n\n\n\nSheldon writes that he hopes to “get to this haunted house you got before\nHalloween” since he has a hearing coming up in September (41). He shares\nsome personal childhood memories with Bax about how much he enjoyed freeing\nhimself from the others at summer camp, calling it the best time of his\nlife, and noting that “With the other guys I say it was the night I screwed\nsome bitch, and sometimes it is a bitch I really screwed and sometimes just\none I wanted to. But I have told you the truth” (44). This sentence might\ninspire Bax to embellish his romantic conquests, despite Sheldon’s honesty.\n\n\n\n In his next letter to Shell, Bax reveals that he has come into possession\nof three golden coins, but fears that trying to sell them might get him in\ntrouble with the law. While he notes that he found the coins in an old\ndresser in an attic, he makes no statement about the other supernatural\nevents which bookend this event in his longer letters to his brother\nGeorge, which we shall omit here. He asks Sheldon if he knows of a lawyer,\nalso indicating that he has met several women without giving any\ndescriptive details [though they are probably at this point Martha Murrey\nand Doris Griffin.].\n\n\n\nSheldon tells Baxter of a local attorney who likes to see his name in the\npaper named Ben Ramsey (whom Bax will employ for his brother when the time\ncomes). A man named Rick knows about Ramsey, and he is described as a a\n“Tall guy, boosts cars, bad complexion” (99). Shell also advises Bax that\nthere are only two types of women: “There are women who make trouble for\nyou and women you make trouble for” (99). By this point in the book, Bax\nhas become aware that he might even be left a lucrative plot of property\nknown as the Skotos Strip, but he gives no indication to Sheldon at this\npoint that this is the case, instead noting that he has given his parole\nofficer his change of address. “I still haven’t gotten a job, but I am\nstarting to see some possibilities. Not office work, but something that\nmight keep him off my back” (112). He reveals more details about the women\nin his life: a small and submissive Oriental woman and the widowed Doris:\n“She has tattoos in unexpected places — She likes money, but I cannot hold\nthat against her. So do I” (112). He characterizes her as shrewd, and vows\nto learn from her [which supports the idea that he has perhaps begun to\nfabricate many details about his life to his brother George].\n\n\n\nAt this point in the book, Baxter begins getting letters from George’s\nwife, Millicent, who has talked over some of the letters with her psychic\nadvisor, Madame Orizia. Millicent warns Baxter about Doris and suggests\nthat he pursue Mrs. Murrey, whom Bax has not seemed to mention directly to\nSheldon yet. Soon, Baxter also receives a note from Madame Orizia, who\nsuggests that his home is a node and “may well be possessed” (135). She\noffers her services and notes that her fees are between $500 and $5000,\nthough she must be compensated for travel (136).\n\n\n\nBax’s letters to Sheldon seem to skip over many important events, as the\nnext one we have access to indicates that his brother has come to town and\nhas faced a hostile welcome: “I have never been present before while\nsomeone held a gun on someone else. That happened last night, and the\nsomeone else was my brother George” (155). He tells Sheldon how he has\nconvinced his parole officer that he is earning a paycheck, saying he\n“bought into everything I told him” (155). [This parole officer never\nappears in Bax’s letters to George and Millie.] Bax has established a bogus\nbusiness, A Plus Tutors, and suggests that the president, who signs the\nchecks, might be recognizable to Shell. It is only here that Sheldon learns\nof the inheritance from Alexander Skotos:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "A kindly old gentleman called Alexander Skotos has left me a nice piece of\nreal estate. Does that name ring bells with you? Skotos is Greek, so he\nwould be Greek or at least look Greek enough to pass. I have been rummaging\nthrough every last memory I can turn up, and I have not found a Skotos or\nanyone who owed me and might use that name. Ask around please. I could\nhandle everything here much better if only I knew who Skotos really was." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "(156)\n\n\n\nObviously, this has occurred after the reading of Skotos’s will and\nGeorge’s interruption, but he leaves out many of the details leading up to\nthis, including the murder which occurred while he was eating dinner with\nMartha Murrey. Once again, he describes Winker and Doris, but no mention is\nmade of Martha at all.\n\n\n\nBaxter ends the note with the almost metatextual imprecation:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Remember, please, that the big question is “Alexander Skotos.” Who was he?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Any information at all. Have you head of a Mary King? There is probably no\nconnection, but she and Alexander Skotos lived here in Medicine Man or\nclose to it, and both are dead. Please let me know, Shell. (157)\n\n\n\nThis is the most trouble detail in reconstructing a coherent picture of\nwhat has and has not happened, because if the timeline established in the\nnote is to be believed, this is written right after George arrives in\nMedicine Man and is presented before Doris and Baxter pick up the ghostly\nhitchhiker who disappears from the car named Mary King. The emphasis in\nthis section, of determining who Mary King, a minor character, and who\nAlexander Skotos, a major benefactor, are, seem to be given a lot of\nweight, especially since Mary King will not appear in his other notes\n(possibly on the same night that George was arrested) until several letters\nlater, when Bax and Dorris stop to pick up a hitchhiker (the third female\nBax picks up on the road in his narrative) who calls herself Mary King,\nsaying that she is going, “Where you are going” before disappearing as\nthey pass by a cemetery visible under a full moon obscured by clouds (200).\n\n\n\nIn Shell’s next letter, which is *still* presented before the appearance of\nMary King, he says he is writing quickly because of what Baxter said about\nhaving two women. Shell tells Bax he has heard something about the Greek\nand warns him against having two love interests. “You never trust a\nprosecuting attorney, a automatic, or a chick. Never!” (197) Shell\ndescribes how his acquaintance Iron Mike was put in touch with a Greek who\nwanted to talk to him at a diner. “The Greek came all right and had a long\nskinny torpedo with him. He says the skinny guy never said a word, just\ngrinned the whole time. — The Greek ordered two coffees, only the skinny\nguy never touched his” (198). The Greek asks about Baxter and who he was\nclose to. The threat made if Iron Mike should lie echoes the story of the\nButler who stole clotheslines: “the skinny guy gets out a piece of\nclothesline and starts running it through his fingers. Mike said he had\nfunny fingers” (198). This is external corroboration of a Greek man and the\ntall figure who will at the very least assume the part of Nicholas in the\nmain narrative, and it seems they have been looking for Baxter, but it is\nnot clear if they are hostile to Baxter or not. (This also gives us no\nindication how the skinny man might have wound up in the trunk of Baxter’s\ncar, however). We shall return to the implication of this later.\n\n\n\nMary King finally makes her appearance in the next chapter, which is\naddressed not to George or Millie, but to Mrs. Pogach/Madame Orizia, and\nBax tells her that he fears the paranormal activity actually extends beyond\nhis house to an antique limousine in his garage. He describes how Mary King\ndisappeared, though does not mention his second hitchhiker Kiki or\nwerewolves, and invites Madame Orizia to come. In his letters to Millie\nright after this, he mentions that they are surrounded by wolves on the\ndrive back, but makes no mention of Mary King. Instead, he notes that Emlyn\n“introduced” him to a woman he admires: “Lupine, the psychotic I had met\nbeside the river” (202). None of this is related to Sheldon Hawes.\n\n\n\nIn his next letter to Sheldon, Baxter assures him that the Greek must have\nbeen the man he referred to earlier, but he is puzzled by the identity of\nthe tall man, asking Shell to pay attention to any further news. He sends a\npackage with smokes and candy to Shell, some of which he might be able to\ntrade (and perhaps suggesting in their coded language that *he* wants to\ntrade for Shell’s services). He also signs up Shell for magazine\nsubscriptions and offers to send money to his wife. He closes by saying\nthat he has succeeded in shooting *something*: “I hit the animal, but it\nwas just about on top of me and I could hardly miss” (210).\n\n\n\nThe next letters not written by Baxter are from Madame Orizia and Millie.\nOrizia suggests that he begin noting the persons present at strange\nmanifestations and that Bax himself might be the actual locus of the\nsupernatural activity. She also suggests that the wolves he wrote about to\nMillie were not werewolves. The letter from Millie asserts that she has\nreceived a call from George, who cannot leave town without being arrested\nagain. She demands the keys to their good car, which was left at the\nairport if Bax sees George, and she hints that Madame Orizia did not\nbelieve her story about werewolves: “This was the only time I have ever\nsaid anything and had her not believe it. Don’t you think that is sad” I\ndo? (224).\n\n\n\nIn Shell’s next letter, he indicates that he gave a woman named Vicki Bax’s\naddress “and told her to get in touch if she needs some money” (235).\n(Presumably, this is Shell’s wife, and she will not appear in the text,\nthough it is tempting, given the appearance of Ben Ramsey, to suggest that\nall of the characters mentioned in Shell’s letters eventually show up in\nMedicine Man). Shell proceeds to give him some shooting advice, advising\nhim not to stall.\n\n\n\nAt this point, a letter from Millie indicates that she has grown\nincreasingly upset from Bax’s letters, and that she has heard from Madame\nOrizia in an unconventional fashion:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "She has never phoned me before and I do not know how she got my number." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "She told me a lot, especially about Geroge. I do not think she really likes\nhim but she would not say that. I explained that I do not, either, but she\nstill would not say it. She had seen him in the lobby. She had seen you in\na trance, so she thought George was you! When she saw George, she wondered\nwhat you were so mad about!" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "She thinks that house is dangerous and you ought to move out right away." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "(238-9)\n\n\n\n(This seems to contradict Madame Orizia’s earlier conviction that it was\nBax himself who might be the source of supernatural disturbances. We will\ndiscuss this further below.)\n\n\n\nIn Bax’s next letter, he indicates that Shell should tell him anything\ntheir friend Les might want to tell him. Bax seemingly corroborates some\ndetails from the climactic excursion in the basement of his house which we\nshall describe below, in which he shoots at handle of a door and at a large\nrat. He also indicates he has been practicing his aim by shooting at\nbottles in the river. He does reveal an interesting feature of a dueling\npistol which comes up for the first time in Shell’s letters: “the touchhole\n— was clogged with burned powder. There is a pick to clear it screwed into\nthe butt of each gun; they have had work to do from that time until this”\n(252).\n\n\n\n He indicates that he is going out of town with a man he knows to practice\nshooting at targets, and says that antique guns are not illegal for a felon\nto have. He also reveals that George “punched out a nice copchick I know”\nand made bail before disappearing, though he does not know what might have\nbefallen his brother (252).\n\n\n\n“My brother and I do not get along well. I know I have told you much more\nabout that than you ever wanted to know. Now a woman who knew the man who\ngave me the pistol thinks he did it so my brother and I would use them on\neach other — that he wanted one of us to kill the other.” (252)\n\n\n\nHere he attempts to present a more benevolent attitude towards his brother:\n“I have not the least desire to kill George, although he has never treated\nme like a brother; but if I must kill George to keep him from killing me I\nwill” (253). He also suggests a job offer on letterhead from Martha\nMurrey’s company, GEAS Inc., if it might accelerate Sheldon’s parole\n(though he does not mention Martha Murrey by name).\n\n\n\nIn his final letter to Bax, Sheldon gives him further shooting\ninstructions, and finally suggests that Bax cheats in order to win. “He’s\ngoing to shoot you, so shoot back first. Only I do not think any of it will\nreally come off. Take it easy. Be cool” (272) This imprecation to “be cool”\nhas far more significance in light of Bax’s discussion of Emlyn and Iuean\nas “hot” and ?cool? tempered individuals, further insinuating that Bax\ncorresponds with Iuean rather than “Emlyn the Good.”\n\n\n\nThere are three more letters from external points of view, and two of them\nare strangely contradictory ones from Dorris Griffin. She admits in a “Dear\nJohn” letter that she was interested in the money which Bax had, then says\n“You were not particularly good in bed, but you were getting better but all\nthis is just too crazy. You are crazy, your house is crazy, and when I am\nwith you I am crazy too” (273). She mentions the woman Bax picked up while\ndriving, Kiki, and says that she has quit her job. A postscript indicates\nthat he should “keep Ted’s ring until I send you my new address” (274).\n\n\n\nHer next letter, titled “A Terrible Mistake,”" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Ab de Vos", "address": "foxyab at casema.nl" }, "date": "2018-01-07T11:03:11+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "You might not know this but Zwart is the dutch word for Black.\n\n\nOp 5-1-2018 om 21:41 schreef Marc Aramini:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Emlyn and Ieuan, the sons of Zwart Black" } ] }, { "message_id": "<8691f57f-815f-ca6d-1527-876665295454@casema.nl>", "from": { "name": "Ab de Vos", "address": "foxyab at casema.nl" }, "date": "2018-01-07T11:05:59+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "And skotos is greek for darkness.\n\n\nOp 5-1-2018 om 21:41 schreef Marc Aramini:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Emlyn and Ieuan, the sons of Zwart Black" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Ab de Vos", "address": "foxyab at casema.nl" }, "date": "2018-01-07T11:37:35+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I could not find triannulis. I did find annulus. Trianullis might mean \nwith three annulluses\n\nhttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/annulus#Latin\n\nThe translations of annulus on the wike page like Portuguese: anel \n? or Corsican: anellu \n \nmake clear the proximity to the word leuan.\n\n\nOp 5-1-2018 om 21:41 schreef Marc Aramini:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "While the strange symbol of the three-ringed triannulis serves " } ] }, { "message_id": "<1D861998-D0DB-468A-A838-D0B50CF3EFA9@gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-07T13:15:37+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "In folklore the bad Kikimora from the forest is married to Leshy, who is surrounded by wolves and bears. Bax thinks a bear might have killed the first one, but he does see wolves. From wiki “Because of his propensity to lead travelers astray and abduct children, which he shares with Chort, the \"Black One\", Leshy is believed by some to be evil. Others view him as more of a temperamental being like a fairy”\n\nI think bax is dealing with House spirits. The Kikimora also appear as a woman to have sex with men and drain them of vitality at night (winkle). \n\nSent from my iPhone" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Jan 7, 2018, at 4:03 AM, Ab de Vos wrote:\n\nYou might not know this but Zwart is the dutch word for Black.\n\n\nOp 5-1-2018 om 21:41 schreef Marc Aramini:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Emlyn and Ieuan, the sons of Zwart Black" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-07T13:53:42+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "The question here is whether bax, who is being conned by house spirits, is guilty of setting up the man in the trunk who looks like the man who threatens iron mike in Shell’s letters, who hangs out with “the Greek”. That might not be supernatural, but the inheriting of power from black is just a fevered dream - the Kikimora are set on ruining relationships with real women (probably Doris Rose griffin - there’s a reason she has that middle name)\n\nBax is trying to con his brother but his dreams get away from him. The House spirits are agitated when there is family strife. The sniffing out of the candle, wolves and bears, talking dogs, spectral appearances of the owner, sexy women in dreams - all are features of associated with the Kikimora and her husband, and Martha Murrey calling herself a scarecrow implicates her as a manifestation of a house spirit as well, given Kikimora in some traditions means scarecrow.\nSent from my iPhone" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Jan 7, 2018, at 4:37 AM, Ab de Vos wrote:\n\nI could not find triannulis. I did find annulus. Trianullis might mean with three annulluses\nhttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/annulus#Latin\n\nThe translations of annulus on the wike page like Portuguese: anel or Corsican: anellu make clear the proximity to the word leuan.\n\nOp 5-1-2018 om 21:41 schreef Marc Aramini:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "While the strange symbol of the three-ringed triannulis serves" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-07T16:33:10+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "So I am going to revise this slightly to conclude that the house is conning the con man. I still think he is trying to get his brother to come and the reading of the will is a set up with the intention of true revenge, but the House spirit is corrupting his dreams (Orizia reveals that at one point his trip to fairyland is a dream from which he awakes). No sorcerous inheritance will be forthcoming. \n\nThe last issue, given that leshy or Chort (the black one) is surrounded by wolves and bears (and bax sees a leering bear with the face of a man on one haunt through the woods) involves the Greek and the silent man who seems to be Nicholas in Sheldon’s letters. The men bax defrauded coming after him? How did that man wind up in the trunk, which clearly contained something vile if the smell and temperature (though it rattled) were to be trusted, as Madame Orizia says? Warm and cold are also associated with fortune and the Kikimora - with cold indicating bad news. \n\nDoris? letter says that she fears she may wind up as crazy as Kiki, granting her external corroboration. " } ] }, { "message_id": "<9FE44A4C-0104-4DE4-9099-2C070B63524D@gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-07T20:19:00+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I am changing to title to Sorcerer’s House: Con man conned by House Spirits" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "PAUL RYDEEN", "address": "rydeen at bellsouth.net" }, "date": "2018-01-07T20:20:35+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "<9FE44A4C-0104-4DE4-9099-2C070B63524D@gmail.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Now that’s a twist I hadn’t thought of!" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Jan 7, 2018, at 2:18 PM, Marc Aramini wrote:\n\nI am changing to title to Sorcerer’s House: Con man conned by House Spirits\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "<000001d38804$c3523df0$49f6b9d0$@bellsouth.net>", "from": { "name": "Paul Rydeen", "address": "rydeen at bellsouth.net" }, "date": "2018-01-07T22:13:37+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Interesting twist!\n\n\n-----Original Message-----\nFrom: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Marc Aramini\nSent: Sunday, January 07, 2018 10:33 AM" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-07T22:31:04+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "All the weird things with Ieuan and Emlyn, the dwarf, and even mr black (chort/leshy and his bears and wolves) resonate with some feature of the Kikimora house spirit, who even appears as a vixen to have sex in dreams (Winker) ... Kiki, the wolves, and Quorn appear in m Orizia and Doris’s letters at the end, but Ieuan, mr black, and the triannulis never appear in Bax’s letters ... not because he doesn’t think they are real but because of the meta structure - they are deceptions of the Kikimora (scarecrow) ... Martha Murrey calling herself a scarecrow is wolfe at his dirtiest.\n\nSent from my iPhone" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Jan 7, 2018, at 1:20 PM, PAUL RYDEEN wrote:\n\nNow that’s a twist I hadn’t thought of!" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "On Jan 7, 2018, at 2:18 PM, Marc Aramini wrote:\n\nI am changing to title to Sorcerer’s House: Con man conned by House Spirits\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "<368EA276-3EFD-4627-9B86-6185AE9715AF@gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-07T22:32:34+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "<000001d38804$c3523df0$49f6b9d0$@bellsouth.net>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Never appear in Bax’s letters to shell*\n\nSent from my iPhone" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Jan 7, 2018, at 3:13 PM, Paul Rydeen wrote:\n\nInteresting twist!\n\n\n-----Original Message-----\nFrom: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Marc Aramini\nSent: Sunday, January 07, 2018 10:33 AM" } ] }, { "message_id": "<6C06CA11-62EA-494A-BC96-0267EE404BC5@gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "Marc Aramini", "address": "marcaramini at gmail.com" }, "date": "2018-01-08T12:10:53+00:00", "subject": "(urth) first half of sorcerer's house write up", "in_reply_to": "<000001d38804$c3523df0$49f6b9d0$@bellsouth.net>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Also ... the Kikimora reputedly travel through keyholes, thus entering the trunk of Bax’s car and traveling with him even if it is not unlocked. Sweet. \n\nIt would also explain who the woman helping George was - the House spirits are agitated by domestic strife and familial feuds." } ] } ] }