5HX

Marc Aramini · 24 Aug 2014, 18:58 · from 2014-August.txt.gz

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From: marcaramini at gmail.com (Marc Aramini)
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:58:28 -0700
Subject: (urth) 5HX
In-Reply-To: <53FA2EC5.8020108 at bindweed.com>
References: <BLU175-W46FD9C550E369CC2EEFA89CFDE0 at phx.gbl>
	<53FA032A.80500 at bindweed.com>
	<CAF1072xDD_uTQGXVcBp++PufuhXc=t2Bp6MLkb8o8DJM2qofyA at mail.gmail.com>
	<CAF1072xaHgWVoz8T9OPtwYze0NNz6fnfoAWrQk5JC8=pTs4ufw at mail.gmail.com>
	<53FA2EC5.8020108 at bindweed.com>
Message-ID: <CAF1072wT7ExxCBV1jiXdWjD=eboqawN_+9dX-ePv+dfqz_e_3w at mail.gmail.com>

You have to explain away the death of the cat, the death of the boy, the
presence of two alien species, the presence of Veil's hypothesis, believe
that number five dreams of abos by coincidence the day after he meets his
aunt, the name of the city, the weird lack of new buildings in the last 140
years ... prophylactic has a nice double meaning, I admit, but the bite of
the abo that switches Eastwind and Sandwalker symbolizes all that confusion
of indentity as well - Easwind, Sandwalker, the abos, the shadow children,
the humans - they are all confused about who they are, and if that
confusion ISN'T in the text, you haven't been reading the same book.  The
main cast outside of a story are confused about who they are as well.  The
story is about being confused about who you are.  But if we know the life
cycle of the abos and their imitative properties, a street named after
larva and mention of at least one of the species being long and living
between the branches of trees actually resonates a bit.

My life cycle schema makes the narrative you MUST dismiss as a lie and
fabrication (the murder of the cat, the death of Victor) literally true and
also gives it narrative reason (at least, the slaying of the cat).

Yes, we have one plausible means of persecution. I mentioned it already,
Gerry - humans on abo.  Do you see that below?  It's the same thing you
reiterated. see that there?  "abo incarcerated by humans OR" That OR
implies there are two plausible scenarios given the species we have been
introduced to. The first is the first logical conclusion we can come to
before we understand the life cycles at work.

But your advantage is not an advantage, because then Victor has to be
COMPLETELY DELUSIONAL about his own death and the murder of the cat, very
very concrete matters.  Either way, delusion ensues.
On Sun, Aug 24, 2014 at 11:28 AM, Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com> wrote:

>
> On 24/08/2014 17:52, Marc Aramini wrote:
>
>> It takes about three days for Marsch to be reborn on Easter Sunday from
>> the bite as something different - his body undergoes a harrowing over that
>> period of time.  The existence of two alien races is simple: it creates a
>> means for "Other" to be persecuted -  abo incarcerated by humans or shadow
>> child incarcerated by abos who believe themselves to be human. Abo
>> incarcerated by abo makes no sense. The officer making a slave open the
>> document with a knife and then showering prophylactically shows a strange
>> unhandiness and a fear of saliva. This multiplication of species must serve
>> a narrative purpose.  The switch of Sandwalker to Eastwind and the human
>> landers suddenly not knowing what open hands mean shows the climactic
>> switch when humans are replaced by abos who now believe themselves to be
>> humans.  Why bring up Liev's postulate at all if it isn't even a
>> possibility?  It is present in the text.  So are meta statements like
>> "don't ask me how big a child is".  The details of A Story honestly don't
>> make much sense unless they are pointing to a symbolic representation of
>> Marsch's fate to elucidate the two life cycles at work - larval, adult,
>> sessile carapace/tree and an infectious empathic one.
>>
>>
> We *have* a means for 'Other' to be persecuted: abos persecuted by humans
> (and of course plenty of intra-human persecution, particularly on Sainte
> Croix).
>
> Why can't the officer simply fear spirochaetes of the ordinary kind?  He
> shares the girl with the other officers.  If people on Sainte Croix are
> terrified of being infected by alien mind-controlling parasites (or by the
> wrong sort of alien mind-controlling parasites) why don't we hear more
> about it than a passing reference to an officer who likes to wash after sex?
>
> The French landers hold up open hands - it is Sandwalker who doesn't
> understand the significance because his people don't use weapons.
>
> The major advantage of the interpretation, boring as it might seem, in
> which nearly everyone in normal society  (now) is human apart from a few
> abos who slip under the radar, is that no character in any of the three
> novellas is required to be completely delusial about concrete matters.
>
>
> - Gerry Quinn
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