_Peace_: Another solid date

Emil Ludwig's biography of Napoleon was published in 1926, and when Weer was 13 he had read it "a year or two ago". So, if that means he was 11 or 12, he could not possibly have been born before 1914. (Peace, p. 2) The biography was a best-seller in 1926 or 1927, so that is a very likely time for Olivia (or Julius, if was in the library for a while) to have purchased it. Like most bright kids, Weer probably scavenged in the available bookshelves, so we don't have a latest possible date for his birth, but this definitely gives the earliest. (Scavenged this from my posts in volume 10 of the list). -- Dave Lebling, aka Vizcacha

Hey vizcacha!

Very nice! I mean, I agree with the argument re: 1914, and the dates all match up--but the angle I find even more exciting is the fact that we have determined that Olivia dies in 1928, and here is a snapshot from 1927 (it must be, since he is living with the Smarts; his parents haven't come back yet), in the midst of big changes (Olivia married; Olivia growing large; Olivia committing adulteries, repenting, committing them again) on the cusp of big changes (parents will return; Den will live with them again; Olivia will die). Julius (un-named) has given her a Napoleon of china. Wow, that seems, er, pregnant with portent, in a book which gets so crazy about porcelain. In fact I wonder if it comes next in the sequence: olive pit in china hen; Chinese Egg; . . . china emperor? "someone else saying no, the president is a little man . . . " (152), like Napoleon? =mantis=