Sleeping Baldanders

Matthew Groves · 30 Dec 2008, 19:12 · from 2008-December.txt.gz

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From: matthewalangroves at gmail.com (Matthew Groves)
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:12:12 -0600
Subject: (urth) Sleeping Baldanders
In-Reply-To: <495A3E08.3050205 at verizon.net>
References: <mailman.14446.1230650400.16269.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net>
	<495A3E08.3050205 at verizon.net>
Message-ID: <39ed084f0812301112qb04c035q8c74bb5419c2004a at mail.gmail.com>

Yes, homage, I think.  It might even be winkingly self-referential.
Wolfe is laying his "cloak" -- TBotNS -- over the "worn counterpane"
of Melville's Moby Dick.

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 9:28 AM, David Stockhoff <dstockhoff at verizon.net> wrote:
>
> I have always linked these 2 scenes in my mind, but never knew what to make of it .... Homage, perhaps.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:00:41 -0600
> From: "Matthew Groves" <matthewalangroves at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: (urth) Sleeping Baldanders
> To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth at lists.urth.net>
> Message-ID:
>        <39ed084f0812291800j7ae2f9fetd825faf2bcd78293 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> This scene reminds me of Moby Dick, where Ishmael has to sleep next to
> Queequeg at the inn.  Looking back at Moby Dick, I feel sure Wolfe is
> referring to Melville here.  Melville makes reference several times to a
> counterpane in Chs. 3 and 4, and Severian writes that before going to bed,
> "I took of my cloak and spread it on the worn counterpane."

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