some mysterious stuff in Long Sun

Marc Aramini · 16 Jan 2011, 16:02 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: marcaramini at yahoo.com (Marc Aramini)
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2011 08:02:53 -0800 (PST)
Subject: (urth) some mysterious stuff in Long Sun
In-Reply-To: <221685.67847.qm at web161806.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <249669.57021.qm at web161804.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>

Well, its always been my general style to note confusing or ambiguous things when I read Wolfe, and see if they ever become clearer.  There are a few things I noted doubt but can't remember coming to a satisfactory answer to.

The tessera in the tunnel is "Thetis".  Does anybody say this throughout the book?  Why is it important?

As previously mentioned, why Echidna wants Villus/Auk and confuses them.

I still feel Silk has crazy powers of translocation way before he ever meets inhumi "(Buried, he had been wherever he had thought to be)"  p314 of Epiphany from the end of Calde)  /That stuff in paranthesis in Wolfe is usually deadly important detail, it sure was in Peace.

Here's one that blows my mind:  HYRAX is in bold in the glossary for Exodus, not the god, who is in small print, but someone described as "The dead man in the doorway."  Why is he in bold?  ECHIDNA is, Scylla is not, Hierax is not, TARTAROS is.  Otherwise only major characters with a lot of screen time are.

Was Titi the dead "woman" in the tunnel in, I believe, Lake?

And there are some funky funky auguries with plates and dishes and all kinds of weird symbols that are about as cryptic as one can get.  I will see if I can plot events to them or if they seem to be just so much white noise, which I think mostly unlikely in Wolfe.

I do think that in Wolfe most of this stuff can eventually be applied and solved logically, or at least somewhat explained.  The one begging for explication is Echidna and Auk's connection.

I am going to read through Long Sun carefully by February.  Anything else puzzling someone else wants me to keep an eye on to see if any inferences or explanations come to mind?

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