From: "j e" <lo_phan17@hotmail.com>
Subject: (whorl) Keeping Up With the Neighbors
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 12:21:51 


I am unlurking because I must. I enjoyed The Book of the Protagonist so much 
I keep going back and rereading certain parts, especially the scenes with 
the Neighbours which are so fascinating. Talarican had some interesting 
thoughts:

>From: "Talarican" <exultnttalarican@mindspring.com>
>Subject: Keeping Up With the Neighbors
>Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 22:43:15 -0500

>
>Some thoughts on these Vanished People / Neighbors.
>
>First of all, they seem to be tall, eight-legged arthropods, i.e.
>spider-people. When the Neighbor "Horn" offered Horn his hand, it was hard
>and bristly, as one might expect an insect or spider's paw to be. The
>impression of the "dark cloak" could perhaps have been intended to suggest
>an abdomen? When Horn first saw one, from the pit, he did in fact believe 
>it
>could have been a huge spider.

I can see spiders also, although Horn never mentions a connection when 
speaking of the giant spiders on Green. (Don't have a copy for reference, 
but it's in Horn's second story to Inclito's family IGJ)
I don't know what to make of the fact that the Neighbour said his name was 
also Horn. The only (I think) other Neighbour name we read is Windcloud (pg 
231 RTTW), which I associate with Pas' image. Windcloud fits with the 
elemental nature of the Neighbours and Horn seems to serve them in that he's 
_real_ on Blue or Green.

Incidently, I've got to look into legends based of Tierra del Fuego, Horn 
calls the place where he first meets Neighbour Horn the _land of fires_ - my 
next post.


>
>They also remind me in some ways of the Shadow Children and Old Wise One of
>5HC: They are spectral, difficult to see and count, and seem to love
>philosophical speculation. Also, they used the term "starcrosser" at the 
>end
>of _Green's_, the first use of that term I've seen outside 5HC.

Horn, you'll remember wrote in "My Defense" (Exodus) that some thought his 
book should have been called _Starcrosser's Landfall_. It's interesting that 
a Neighbour would choose this word and not Lander, which Horn uses. (The two 
words may both be common in the way some Bluvians say Vanished People, while 
some say Neighbours). The _crosser_ in starcrosser may be an homage to 
Quadrifons I suppose. Even the Inhumi say Crossing when speaking of the 
jumping of planets at conjunction.

Now a small question. In LS, the span of Quetzal's time as _Prolocuter_ 
(note Jahlee's comment that inhumi catch their prey with their tongues as 
someone pointed out on this list)is something like 30 years. The first 
meeting of Vatican II was in 1962, thirty years before the publication of 
NStLS. There are clearly parallels with the Prolocutor and the Pope. 
Quetzal's prothonotary is named Bull, for one. One of the decisions made at 
Vatican II was to allow the Mass to be said in the common tongue (if you 
will). When exactly did Viron lose it's high speech? Did any of you read 
recently about the exhumation of Pope JohnXXIII recently? His face was said 
to be remarkably _composed_ for a man long dead. I could'nt help putting 
this together with Whorlly things.  (Is World the past tense of Whorl?)

Before I finish, one more thing,
Was Uncle Gene referring to this list when he wrote of Pig's name 
choice?(pg. 45 RttW).

I'll take the name Crateowl.



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