AEG: a Wolder on Earth

Mo Holkar / UKG · 02 Jan 2009, 09:39 · from 2009-January.txt.gz

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From: lists at ukg.co.uk (Mo Holkar / UKG)
Date: Fri, 02 Jan 2009 09:39:42 +0000
Subject: (urth) AEG: a Wolder on Earth
In-Reply-To: <1bf4dd40812241047v54539820nf7f4289e61d32b45 at mail.gmail.com
 >
References: <1bf4dd40812241047v54539820nf7f4289e61d32b45 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20090102093940.D577B48043 at diego.dreamhost.com>

At 18:47 24/12/2008, you wrote:

>Mo Holkar wrote:
>>
>>I must have missed something here. Why do we postulate any connection
>>between Mme Pavlatos and Reis's first wife? Other than general
>>suspicion of Wolfean reluctance to create new characters when he can
>>
>>subtly re-use others referred to earlier, what is there to link them?
>By the same logic, Dorcas was just a random woman Severian happened 
>to pull out of a lake. We know Wolfe loves to do puzzles like this.

Only if Dorcas had just wandered off immediately after being pulled 
out, never to be seen in the book again.

Wolfe does of course love such puzzles, but normally the results of 
said puzzles are meaningful. This one grates for me because if true, 
there s nothing significant about it for the story or themes -- just 
"oh." Mme Pavlatos is such a minor character in the book that 
relating her to Reis etc would be meaningless. I think it would be 
beneath Wolfe to throw away a puzzle on her.

>The clues match up well:
>1) Rich -- Rian's mother had to be rich to afford to consult Chase.
>2) Beautiful - Reis liked to marry beauties.
>3) Motherly.
>4) The Jackie Kennedy Onassis parallel, which hints at an Irish 
>background (for Rian's name).
>5) In the credits even though she has only a small paragraph in the narrative.
>6) Present in the vicinity of the islands soon after Reis' death. A 
>mere pleasure-cruise in an area that had a recent hurricane? Or 
>maybe inheritance issues concerning Rian?

Hmm, I think these are mostly pretty vague or else disputable (was 
Jackie Onassis really notably Irish?) apart from the last one, which 
needs too much guesswork to be conclusive. I'm not dismissing them, 
just feeling that by Wolfe's standards there should be a clearer 
pointer than these, if the theory is true.

>Wolfe goes out of his way to say that Reis was married twice, which 
>invites us to find his other wife, too. Who in the credits makes the 
>best candidate?
>1) India -- gay.
>2) Ebony -- likewise ("How is life in India?").
>3) Margaret -- not glamorous enough.
>4) Alexis -- not much money from the divorce, if she wound up as a waitress.
>5) Sharon -- has too little info about Reis.
>6) Norma -- the only one who admits to a prior marriage with a 
>strong Reis connection ("I used to be married to the volcano god").
>7) Tabbi -- Took over the role of Reverend Brown's wife from Norma, 
>so she's a possible.
>8) Zelda -- her story of starting her own agency doesn't fit

I think the successful candidate (if there is one) will be someone 
for whom the uncovered fact of the marriage sheds an interesting and 
significant light on her relationship with Cassie and the rest of the 
story. So Norma would be my favourite.

best wishes,

Mo

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