Castleview Haloo

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 05 Jan 2001, 12:47 · from urth-v0030.mbox · original
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From: "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes" <ddanehy at siebel.com>
Subject: (urth) Castleview Haloo
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 12:47:34
Message-ID: <urth-v0030-0230 at digest.urth.net>
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Speccahtickled Bear done wrote:

> At 10:55 2001-01-04 -0800, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:
> >Okay... Having now reread CASTLEVIEW under somewhat better
> >circumstances (i.e., at home, not lacking massive quantities
> >of sleep, etc.), I'm still puzzled by the puzzlement.=20
> ...
> >So what's the problem here?

> Does that mean you can answer all, many, or even some of the
> long list of questions I posted a few weeks ago?

The short answer is "no." Unfortunately, you left out my very=20
important caveat.=20

I wrote:
> > The only major puzzles I think left by the book's ending are
> > whether certain characters are mortal or fay.

I suspect that if we could decide clearly who was and who was not=20
Fay, the rest would fall into place -- at least, as much as you=20
can expect things to do with Faerie to fall into place.=20

Many of your questions either fall into that category or would most=20
likely be answered as a side effect of answering one or more=20
questions in the category. I guess I'm just comfortable with the=20
uncertainties the book leaves -- I don't see them as puzzles so=20
much as a direct result of the slippery nature of Faerie.

The answer to the big question ("what's going on here?") seems to=20
be: "Two factions of faerie-folk are fighting over something. At=20
least a part of the subject of the fight is Morgan's wish to bring=20
her brother (who is [in some sense] Shields) back to dwell in her=20
castle." (Morgan's brother is, traditionally, Arthur; nobody ever=20
seems to notice that if Morgan is fay, Arthur ought to be also.)

One can ask the subsidiary question as to which faction a given=20
faerie belongs to, but the question disintegrates: faeries are,=20
by nature (or at least by tradition), treacherous; I suspect that=20
they change sides much as they change clothes, and perhaps more=20
often.

Given all that, I'll attack at least some of those questions...


> Is Shields really killed?=20

Flip answer -- "Yes, but he got better."

Serious answer: Define "killed" so as to give the question=20
meaning. In particular, define it as it pertains to a native=20
of Faerie -- which Shields, in some sense, is. For that=20
matter, define the word "really" (or "real") in that context...


> But what about the rest of the details? Who is Liam Fee,
> and why does he want to buy the house?=20

I have no trouble saying, "Yeah, _he's_ fay." The questions then=20
become: "Which side is Liam Fee on when he wants to buy the house?
And why does he want to?"

I suspect that he doesn't actually want to buy the house --
I think that's a sort of reverse-Maguffin, something which
has no real importance at all, but which a character (Liam
Fee) uses to prod others into behaving the way he wants.


> Is he really an alien or monster, as he appears to be when
> Hwan Lee stuns him?

I think this is another question that needs to be taken into a=20
different context -- again, the word "really" is perhaps not=20
meaningful here. I mean: where do you get the idea that a faerie=20
_has_ a single, "real" form? We do not see the fair folk; we see=20
what they want us to see.=20

I don't know whether he's _an_ alien or _a_ monster, but he's=20
certainly alien and monstrous.


> Are Jose Balanco and Hwan (which sounds a lot like "Juan")
> Lee the equivalent of Balin and Balan? There's the names
> and the killing of a brother.

I would say that, yes, there is a definite and deliberate resonance=20
there. (Which  raises the most interesting question of who reflects=20
the Fisher-king role in this particular resonance-pattern ...)


> Who is Lucie? Why is she pretending to be French, or if
> she really is French, why does she sound American for a
> while to Sally?=20

Another faerie, I'm pretty sure. I'm not clear at this point which=20
side she's on at any given moment.=20


> Do we agree that she appears and disappears a lot, and doesn't=20
> show up in mirrors?=20

Yes.

> She's afraid of water too, like a cat, and her name, Carabas,=20
> is from Puss in Boots. I can't buy Robert Borski's theory=20
> that she is the same as G. Gordon Kitty, though!

I'm inclined to agree - though come to think of it, I don't recall=20
that we ever see them together 8*)


> G. Gordon Kitty is great fun, and one of the most
> explicable figures. I take him to be just what he seems,
> Judy's cat transformed by the magic of the fairy realm.

This is hardly a "just what he seems" kind of answer! I came away
with the idea that this is as much his "real" form as the one he=20
shows at home: nothing certain, but suggestive enough to entertain=20
the idea that he's a Faerie-cat that Judy has (unknowingly[? but=20
who knows what, in her so-imaginative heart, Judy really knows?])=20
taken in.


> What's all the business with the organ playing in the museum?

Cool effects?=20

Sorry, flip again. Try it this way:, who took (blanking on his=20
name) from the museum and why, and why'd they let him go --=20
especially out near-or-at the camp?=20

Is he fay? (And on which side?) I'm not sure. But clearly at least=20
some of the characters who want us (or who want the residents of the=20
town, or whom Wolfe wants us) to think they're mortal aren't, and=20
he's not a bad candidate.


> There are hints in it of trolls, which tells us who took the
> diary, but why? Why play the music?

This is a "damifino" question. I forgot about it completely.


> Viviane Morgan appears to be Vivian *and* Morgan le Fay.
> How does she manage to be both?

-- and the Lady of the Lake, who is not _always_ the same=20
person as Viviane. I gather that "identity" is not the same=20
thing to faeries as it is to us -- you may be me tomorrow?


> Does Sally really take up with von Madadh at the end?

It kind of looks that way. I wouldn't want to stake money on=20
it, though; the story ends with no real sense of what is going=20
to happen afterwards.


> How does Mercedes feel about that, if he killed her father?

Did he? Are you sure? More important: Is Mercedes sure? Do we
see Mercedes seeing what Mercedes sees? What does she see and
when?


> Von Madadh is King of Hounds or Wolves, and he's the dog
> that Sally thinks is Rexy. But what's he doing? Is he just
> there to lure everyone to the Castle?

I suspect he's someone who's on neither side. I'm pretty darned=20
sure that he has to do with the Wild Hunt. (H'mmm. Does the horned=20
king show up again after Von Madadh appears...? Is Von Madadh...=20
Ah, never mind...)


> Is all the trouble at Meadow Grass to do with the attempts
> to kill Wrangler? It all seems rather indirect if so. If
> not, what is it about?

Lucie, at least. And Shields, once he shows up there.


> What is Sally doing in the wagon with the wild horsemen?

See above re: Von Madadh.

--Dan'l


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