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#76 |
Snoozing in the sun
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I think there is a majesty to those words, which would be known to a Catholic, or of course to a non-Catholic like me who loves Elgar's Dream of Gerontius. Here's a recording of it being sung by Gerald Finley, for anyone who would like to listen to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAbOgpcSEYg So for me, it isn't overkill at all, because of that idea of setting the soul free. |
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#77 | |
cacoethes scribendi
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(My problem is not the use of DNA as the magic wand, it's that the nature of the magic wand seems to be in conflict with how the past is explored. It didn't worry me while reading, but it's apparent on review. Not a big deal, just one of those things.) As for the absolution bit, I didn't find it overkill either. Dick would have been feeling quite overwhelmed with all he had learned, and all he was seeing, so I think it may have seemed strange if he had not found some way to express those emotions. That he might recall some relevant lines of prayer learned as a child did not feel at all inappropriate to me. (Just a case of one person's "authorial overkill" being another's "nice touch". ![]() |
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#78 |
Snoozing in the sun
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It’s hard to think back to then. For the general community I think it would have been a term vaguely familiar, something to do with how our bodies are made, and that’s about it.
I expect that du Maurier tossed the term in because Magnus was a scientist, and it’s the sort of thing her audience would think a scientist might say, and which Dick would accept without questioning what it meant. It didn’t bother me when I was reading the book. |
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#79 |
o saeclum infacetum
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I like the "quantum!" analogy, which is think is exact.
I also think "tossed the term in" is right and reflects the times. But DNA as an explain-all is a head-scratcher for the modern reader. |
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#80 |
o saeclum infacetum
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One thing I meant to bring up and forgot until now: does anyone think that the shadowy figure reaching out a hand to Isolde in the snow wasn't Magnus? More importantly, was he there to lead Dick on or to prevent him from walking into the train?
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#81 | |
Snoozing in the sun
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Ah, that's an interesting thought. I certainly thought the shadowy figure was Magnus wanting to help Isolda and losing his life doing so. Somehow, Dick sensed the danger and did not move to help her. He reflected on this:
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And of course Dick needed to see this so that we, the readers, could also understand how the accident had happened. |
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#82 |
Snoozing in the sun
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Another thought that I have had: I liked the way in which du Maurier demonstrated the way in which the drug increased its grip on Dick. In Chapter 7 he started confusing the present and the past, thinking he needed to clean out bowls following the death of Sir Henry.
Then more dangerously he told Bill about seeing Otto Bodrugan being drowned. Again, at the inquest he referred to the snow in giving his evidence, and it was on the day of the inquest that his fingers were numb and he dropped first his razor and then his coffee cup. Most frighteningly, he returned to the past without taking another dose of the drug, and it was at the end of that episode that he physically attacked Vita, thinking she was Joanna. |
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#83 |
cacoethes scribendi
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Even before starting the next chapter and getting Dick's interpretation, I had assumed is was Magnus. I never had the impression Magnus was there for Dick, or even aware of Dick. My impression was that the figure was "shadowy" to Dick, and only visible to Dick, because of the overlap in times (the "real" past, Magnus's trip and then Dick's trip). It was an odd arrangement that I felt was there only to satisfy those readers that wanted explicit explanation for Magnus's fate. (This was my moment of seeing authorial overkill.
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#84 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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If the times are simultaneous as it seems they must be, wouldn't Magnus have been aware of Dick as a similar shadowy presence? It wouldn't have checked him? Well, we know it didn't. If Dick was there to facilitate Roger's redemption, then we have to assume that the ether called for Magnus in a two-step process, don't we. There was some quality in Dick lacking in Magnus; Magnus was the means, but Dick was the agent. |
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#85 |
o saeclum infacetum
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#86 |
Snoozing in the sun
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I agree gmw - I interpreted the shadowy figure to be Magnus before we had Dick’s thoughts. It was probably unnecessary to explain to the reader exactly why Magnus had been killed, but I put that down to the book’s being almost 50 years old, when things were explained more than they are now.
issybird, as for Dick being the agent for Roger’s release: I continue to put that down to Dick’s being a Catholic. Even if he had lapsed, he had been well trained by the Jesuits in his youth. |
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#87 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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I was about to toss out my notes when I saw a quote I hadn't cited and I can't resist quoting it now for its extremely obvious sexual imagery which implies that Vita has lost the sexual war for Dick:
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#88 |
Snoozing in the sun
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Oh dear: how very deflating of her!
The relationship with Magnus was obviously such a close one, even if not a sexual one, that it’s surprising that Vita had managed to marry Dick. She was a determined woman. |
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#89 | ||||
cacoethes scribendi
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I was just tidying up my Kobo annotations and found a few items to add to this thread. Things I highlighted as being of interest.
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Last edited by gmw; 11-03-2018 at 08:59 AM. Reason: typos |
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#90 | |
Professor of Law
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