Earth to Urth Pt 3: Addenda

Nigel Price · 06 May 1999, 20:35 · from urth-v0026.mbox · original

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From: Nigel Price <NigelPrice1 at compuserve.com>
Subject: (urth) Earth to Urth Pt 3: Addenda
Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 20:35:33
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#Addendum 1

Meant to mention, in connection with Wolfe's use of Dickens and his
imitation of Dickens' realism, the interesting story "Our Neighbour by
David Copperfield", which is included in "Endangered Species".

First published in 1978, the story is an example of Wolfe explicitly
practising a Dickensian pastiche.  I wonder whether we should regard this
short piece as a sketch for certain aspects of the larger canvas on which
Wolfe was beginning to paint in the late Seventies, namely The Book of the
New Sun?

#Addendum 2

Also meant to mention the thematic connection between the free board and
lodging provided for the young couple in "Kevin Malone" with the titular
free board and lodging provided in "Free Live Free".  Any one else agree
that the latter is also, in some perverse and deeply fascinating Lupine
way, an allegory of Grace?

#Addendum 3

Who was it who wrote that brilliant essay on the list recently in which
they explained Wolfe's use of masks, and how, as a Catholic, Wolfe would
regard God as able to use all sorts of imperfect images and agents as
symbols of his power and love?  It was very good, and I must lok it up
again... =20

(After a brief search: my poor memory - more Latro than Severian - tends to
conflate and distort list messages and essays over time, but I think that I
was recalling excellent postings from Nicholas Gevers and Alex Groce.=20
Thank you, gentleman - and everyone else who joined in - a fascinating
discussion.  Well, I liked it, anyway!)

My suspicion is that that is what is probably happening in "The Eye Flash
Miracles", as so well detailed in William H. Ansley's recent posts.  The
references to "The Wizard of Oz" seem to act as an imperfect symbollic
vocabulary through which Little Tib perceives something of the divine and
the "spiritual" battle taking place around him.  Presumably the images come
from "The Wizard of Oz" books either because Little Tib had read the books
or had them read to him, so that the images were latent in his memory, or
because the images partake of some sort of archetypal symbolic system
universally accessible to children.

It's late, what am I talking about?

Nigel Price
Minety, Wiltshire

"Carry On Torturer": Barbara Windsor IS Thecla!

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

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