Urth Net
↳ in reply to
Stephen Hoy
Ah yes, lost R'lyeh resurfaces.
Cthulhu phthaghn!
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11 quoted lines
A couple of news items this week made me think of places in An Evil Guest.
The first was a report of a large quake (7.1 magnitude) associated with the eruption of an undersea volcano--about 130mi southeast of the main isle of the Tonga group. I seem to recall earlier discussions on-list mentioning the Friendly Isles as an analog of Wolfe's Takanga; I don't have much to add to what's already been noticed.
The second news item was about the fatal accident of actress Natasha Richardson at a ski resort in the Laurentians. This directed my attention to Mont Tremblant. In an early chapter of AEG, Gid and Cassie drive to a mountain where Gid magnifies Cassie's natural star quality. We get a clue to the location of the mountain when the black car passes a sign pointing to "Toronto" and Gid says "we have to reach Canada and travel another hundred miles." Mont Tremblant is about 150 miles from the Vermont border so the distance isn't unreasonably far off. Does Vermont fit the book's geography? Kingsport is a stand-in for Marblehead in Lovecraft's universe, so the natural route to Mont Tremblant would be by way of I--89 through Vermont. This is not inconsistent with a road sign pointing to Toronto--along the way, you'll see at least one sign pointing to Toronto.
What cinches it for me is that Mont Tremblant is the home of the Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God, a religious order that split from the Catholic Church about 100 years ago. It's not much of a stretch to connect this symbolically to the magnification of Cassie's animal magnetism on the trembling mountain.
- Stephen Hoy
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