Like a good Neighbor

James Wynn · 21 Nov 2011, 16:42 · from 2011-November.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:42:59 -0600
Subject: (urth) Like a good Neighbor
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> David Stockhoff wrote (21-11-2011 15:25):
>> Why do you think a death here harms the story?
>
> Ant?nio Pedro Marques wrote:
> I think the problem with Horn dying at this point is the consequence 

I absolutely see that. But I think we need go where the text is taking 
us. As I said, Horn dying and being resurrected is a mystery that we 
should discuss. WHETHER he dies and resurrects is pretty 
straightforward. Nothing is more undermining of Wolfe criticism than 
taking one of his stories and saying, "This is such-and-such kind of 
story." Wolfe is about subverting those expectations.

> - that either there is no more Horn or Horn resurrects. The first 
> makes the whole story a sham (not so much for us as for the characters), 

No more a sham than discovering at the end of Long Sun that the whole 
thing was written by Horn and Nettle.
It doesn't require rejecting what the narrator says, only reinterpreting 
it. After all, the whole book the narrator is saying "I am Horn" as the 
all the other characters condescendingly smile and say "No, you aren't. 
You're just a little mad."

But there IS a Horn. His memories persist...or at least the memory of 
his memories.

> the second introduces an element that not only seems to be otherwise 
> absent from LS/SS, but is applied to Horn in particular with no 
> justification.

Well, there IS an awful lot of justification for resurrection in the 
Long Sun/Short Sun. I don't prefer the theory, but there is foundation 
laid for that.

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