Wolfe at Dragon*Con (AEG)

James Wynn · 11 Sep 2009, 18:04 · from 2009-September.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:04:41 -0500
Subject: (urth) Wolfe at Dragon*Con (AEG)
In-Reply-To: <002801ca32fb$a4a77b20$05d04a0c@rclackey>
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	<002801ca32fb$a4a77b20$05d04a0c@rclackey>
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> Any theory that seeks to reconcile these two seemingly contrary points 
> must
> do so within the bounds of the text, and cannot ignore such text-based 
> facts
> as we are afforded, however inconvenient those facts may be to said 
> theory.

I absolutely agree with this. I made no definitive declarations about Reis's 
death or Chase being the impersonator. The last sentence in my first post on 
this subject stated "I'm not prepared to prove it is so." I truly appreciate 
you taking time to take pot-shots at my theory but 1) I don't have much of a 
theory yet to shoot at, and 2) keep your bead on the theory/hypothesis and 
not at me.

The text based refutations you've offered are not as compelling as you seem 
to think they are. This is especially true for your "practical", non-text 
based refutations. I've explained why, but I don't seem to be getting 
across. As you know, anyone who believes that all the answers in a Wolfe 
novel are in the text in any emphatic, unequivocal sense is deluding 
himself. De-looooooding.  Even if the explanation is there, it is typically 
surrounded by 3 or 4 other reasonable interpretations of the explanation, 
and someone can probably point to an expert character to say it couldn't 
possibly be true. Every Wolfe novel and plenty of short stories requires 
that the reader take a jump over an abyss at some point and then look back 
to see if he has landed safely. It's nice when, as now, Wolfe gives us a 
direction to jump for.

Everything Cassie said to Klauser has be read with the same suspicion that 
one reads in what the President and Chase said to each other. She's 
deliberately not telling Klauser the straight story. She's not even coming 
to him as Reis's bride. You should assume that everything she says is only 
half-true or sort-of true. If it seems that something she says was the whole 
truth, clearly stated, that should bother you. That conversation is a really 
bad well to draw from to prove anything. It can only confirm what you've 
proven elsewhere.

> Now back to your original jumping-off point: If Wolfe said that Cassie was
> going to Woldercan to find Reis, and if he wasn't pulling your leg (I
> would like to have the full context of his remark)

His quote doesn't require a lot of context for anyone who has read the book. 
He wasn't talking to me directly. He was speaking on a panel. He was talking 
about one of his characters that he truly loved: Cassie. In doing so, 
summarized AEG in terms that were not especially revealing to anyone who had 
read the book. Then he got to the end of the story which he described 
exactly as I have recorded it: "Cassie loved Bill Reis and at the end of the 
novel she goes to Woldercon to look for him."
At last he summarized the last paragraph as being heartbreaking for him 
since he was saying goodbye to Cassie.

There was no camera in the room, so this is the best I can do. I don't 
understand why you are so adamant to imply I'm an idiot or that Wolfe was 
trying to pull something. I was as perplexed by the statement as you seem to 
be. Deal with it. I'm trying to.

> that doesn't preclude
> Reis having died on the island, just as the text has it.

Sure. But the hypothesis I've offered requires the least nuance and clears 
up certain other problems I've had with the ending, just as I've stated.

> Ambassador
> to Woldercan is a high-profile position in a digital age. There would have
> been pictures and video in the media, both of which would have penetrated 
> a
> magical disguise. Ambassadorships don't happen in a vacuum. Reis would 
> have
> to have been a fool to even try such a ruse.

This is a ridiculous assertion. When is the last time you saw media coverage 
of the ambassador to England leaving for his post? Mind, the universe of AEG 
is not our own.

> More to the point, Reis would have had no need to seek Gideon's post as
> ambassador. He was more than wealthy enough to go to Woldercan on his own
> dime, even if he had any reason to go there, just as Cassie did.

Why do you assume that's the reason he would have assumed Gideon's identity? 
The US government wasn't going to let him leave without revealing his 
secret. The aliens of Takanga seemed to have a beef with him. He might have 
used his manufactured gold to get to Woldercon, but eventually it would have 
shown up as radioactive and the government would have followed him there.

J.

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