?Tracking Song? (and other stories)

Solomon, Joshua · 06 Jun 2007, 09:15 · from 2007-June.txt.gz

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From: J.A.Solomon at city.ac.uk (Solomon, Joshua)
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:15:28 +0100
Subject: (urth) ?Tracking Song? (and other stories)
Message-ID: <C28C39C0.17069%J.A.Solomon at city.ac.uk>

> Matthew Groves wrote:
> 
> Wolfe's underworld type-scene: Where does it come from, and what is
> its significance?  We have it in "Tracking Song" (with the Min), in
> the mine at Saltus in BotNS (with the ape men), in "The Eyeflash
> Miracles" (Little Tib dreams of a cave with gnomes and a Gnome King.
> Here, the reference is also to Munchkinland from _The Wizard of Oz_,
> but they are in a *cave*, and the Gnome King made me think of Mantru
> from "Tracking Song".)  I'm sure shows up in other places I haven't
> noticed or don't remember.

You may be onto something here, Matty. Caves also pop up in Fifth Head. My
memory of Fifth Head has degraded somewhat, but I think that the
mythological abo (Sandwalker?) made a pilgrimage to one in "A Story." This
cave is a thematical doppleganger of Aunt Jeanine's basement room in the
first novella.

j
-- 
Joshua A. Solomon
http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/~solomon

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