prophecy in a novel, Q's coming for dinner

Michael Straight · 21 Jun 2000, 16:28 · from whorl-v0010.mbox · original

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: (whorl) prophecy in a novel, Q's coming for dinner
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 16:28:58
Message-ID: <whorl-v0010-0374 at digest.urth.net>
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On Wed, 21 Jun 2000, Michael Andre-Driussi wrote:

> Re: the prophecy thing.  I'd like to point out that TBOTLS is a novelistic
> construct even within its own context.  A historical novel written by Horn
> to capture the lost world of his youth; like Twain or Proust, if you will.
> More than usual, even with Wolfe: after all, this is part of the deep
> tension in the Short Sun series (or so it seems to me); the clash between
> the "realistic historical record" and something that seems (or is wanted =
to
> be) larger than that (the seed of a new religion, among other
> possibilities); the gap between talking the talk and walking the walk.

Good point.  I left off "Horn embellishing" from my list of possible
explanations for the dreams/prophesies.  That whole ambiguity regarding
Horn's role as the storyteller is one of my favorite things about the
series.  I gather there's more good stuff to come in OBW in that regard.

-Rostrum

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