Ian’s Comments (group member since Nov 02, 2015)

Ian’s comments from the MZD's The Familiar group.

I'll need to go back and revisit recapping Anwar and Xanther's chapters when I re-read, probably in anticipation of TFv06 (whenever that may be), but for the most part, this section is a kind of Rashomon where each narrator is recounting the action of the previous Act II.

Also, please feel free to correct me on any mistakes I've made--I mix up the members of Luther's gang quite a lot while reading:

13 – Jingjing: Tian Li asks JJ to translate what she says—Tian Li makes clear that she knows Astair as “her mother” and notes that “she’s so lucky to have you.” Where Tian Li is kind and warm, JJ is rude and pushy. He demands to know where the cat is but then translates Tian Li’s remarks about how “she’s waited so long to meet the five of you.” JJ corrects to two after he says five, seemingly unaware of the whole family the way Tian Li is (she even knows their names). Anwar and Astair leave the room to make tea for Tian Li who needs to rest on the couch. JJ is tired too, and frustrated from the cab ride, which took a long time—he’s suspicious that Shnorhk took the longest route possible to squeeze them for a bigger fare. Tian Li gave Shnorhk and extra $20 to wait outside for 10 minutes while they went into the house. While taking stock of the comfort of the Ibrahims’ home (and notes the spiral staircase), Shasti comes downstairs and has to be ushered back out of the room to go to bed. While Astair and Anwar are out of the room, Xanther comes down, but JJ seems to be able to hear the cat coming before he even sees X coming. When she arrives with the cat on her shoulder, JJ is bewildered and upset—he says he had touched the cat, but definitely never held it, much less had it been on his shoulder. In what seems like impossibly quick moves, X is suddenly very close to both JJ and Tian Li, holding the cat out in her hand to give to Tian Li saying “he’s yours.” JJ sees X’s treatment of the animal as offensive somehow and winds up a punch, landing a blow on Xanther.

14 – Anwar:

15 – Shnorhk: Jingjing, turned out of the house by Tian Li after he punched Xanther and she used some kind of force/power to knock him back, walks up to Shnorhk’s cab. Shnorhk, while waiting for Tian Li and JJ, has taken the opportunity to relax. He takes stock of the neighborhood, noting all of the beautiful, well-kept houses on the street, with the Ibrahims’s house as an exception—describing it as very dark and dreary in contrast to what surrounds it. He also looks on his maneki neko, recalling that Tian Li asked him what its name was—confused why he would name the porcelain statue, he suddenly “knows” it’s name—though it’s not on the page, one might think the name he “finds” for it is that of his dead daughter, Arshlaous. When JJ comes up to the cab, Shnorhk is worried about where Tian Li is—he does not like JJ who he refers to as “Ferret Man,” but is fascinated by the old woman. JJ asks him to wait for another 10, which he’s reluctant but willing to do for Tian Li. He looks forward to meeting up with Mnatsagan and his friends later, though is enjoying the chance to rest while waiting for the Singaporean pair. The chapter ends with JJ telling Shnorhk that the people who live in the house are not friends, that Tian Li and he are just there to “get back my cat.”

16 – Xanther:

17 – Orbists: Cas arrives where she’s to meet Recluse. The Orb is programmed to detonate if she removes her hand from it, ensuring that if Recluse kills her, he will die too—or if anything else goes sour. Recluse lowers the lights and the number of laser sights pointed on them covers the area. Recluse then offers Cas a deal to end the war between them; compensation, (legal) immunity, etc. However, Cas realizes there must be something deeper if he’s coming to her for help. Recluse states that while the Orbists have been successful at reducing the VEM window, they’ve missed a significant thing: all of the clips are going black.

18 – Luther: Domingo, the purple-clad pimp, makes the slip when he leaves the club and loses Pina and Tweetie who are tailing him while Luther and Juarez are taking a cab to the stake-out. Finally, Luther receives a call from Domingo—he wants to meet up, so they plan a place of Luther’s choosing—an old sewing factory. They cuff Domingo’s hands to ensure their safety. It’s there where Domingo starts making an offer to Luther; quite the balloon parade and come deal Synsnap. Luther doesn’t seem interested, but Domingo lets the gang try some of the black balloon “pure Synsnap.” Seemingly, nothing happens to the crew, except Luther tastes something sweet after smoking it. Domingo then reveals that he’s known Luther’s been hunting him and that he was trying to figure out what Luther was after before agreeing to be “caught” or meet face-to-face. Luther demands to know who told him. After plying Domingo with cash and the promise of letting him out of his cuffs, he finally relents that it’s one of his whores, Cricket who heard it from a john. Cricket is a young girl covered in freckles and had been working for Domingo briefly before returning to Nacho, her first pimp, there’s also mention that she does poetry on her phone, seemingly to suggest she is one of the voices in the RawrGrrl entr’acts, Luther’s crew remembers her because she loved Hopi. Domingo either won’t reveal, or doesn’t know the name of the Cricket’s john. He then tries again to enlist Luther in changing to the Synsnap game instead of the balloon parade. Luther doesn’t buckle, but gives Domingo the keys to the cuffs. Juarez stabs Domingo in the neck, killing him.

Entre’act III: RawrGrrl: Someone is texting her sister to show up somewhere. Cricket is writing poetry about milfoil flowers.

Also, live streams from his Redwood tour have been posted here: https://www.youtube.com/user/mzdinfo/...

MZD to be Michael Silverblatt's guest again this week on KCRW's Bookworm: https://www.facebook.com/KCRWBookworm...

My Xanther chapter synopsis is incomplete and I don't trust my Isandorno recap to be completely accurate. I'll rely on kind friends in this group, or future re-reads of my own to comment and edit. But here's my 30,000 ft high view of Act II:

7 – Ozgur: Oz has just told Cletious the news about his coming move to the east coast with Elaine. What began as a relationship based on solving the murder of Cletious’s boy, Jasper, Oz now realizes Cletious is not just a case he’s working, but a good friend, too. When it’s time to go, Ozgur calls a cab to pick him up.

8 – Shnorhk: It’s getting to be the end of Shnorhk’s work day and he’s running one more ride to LAX then calling it quits. He thinks about the nature of beauty and remarks how the world stops for beauty, which leads to him thinking vaguely about a friend of his who seemingly hit (and killed) a woman crossing the street. Shnorhk then thinks about how he’s finally going to play music again for the first time since losing his daughter, Arshlous—it’s still unclear how long it’s been. As his thoughts return to what defines beauty, Jingjing tries to flag down Shnorhk’s cab to take him to the Ibrahims’ house. Thinking JJ is a crazed drug addict, Shnorhk keeps driving but stops when he sees a beautiful woman who is also aged, throwing his definitions of beauty into new dimensions. It’s Tian Li and she and JJ get in the car to go get the cat.

9 – Anwar: Astair and Xanther have returned home with the cat. Anwar and Astair get into a fight about the cat, whether it should have been brought home or put down when Anwar reveals the details of his earlier call with JJ. He says he gave the family’s address to JJ because he knew so much detail about the cat that it was clearly his. Astair is upset suggesting there is a statute of limitations on claiming your lost animal—it has been more than four months. Anwar relents that she’s correct, but tries to make up for it by saying he gave them the wrong address for a house down the street, though Astair asserts that that particular neighbor knows about the cat and will easily put two and two together for JJ.

Anwar then goes to tell Xanther about what’s happening—people are on the way. She’s saddened but seems to be aware that “they’re” coming (Anwar only knows about JJ, not Tian Li). The fact that the cat is nearly dead somehow helps allay her sadness about the cat’s previous owners coming to the house, in fact, seems to comfort her—more who loved the animal can come together to mourn its loss. Xanther then confides in Anwar that she has a deep urge to just pick up the cat and run, as if it could do something to help the poor animal survive. Anwar tells her this is a natural urge and when she asks him what he thinks Dov would have done, Anwar says, “Dov believed in fighting.” Xanther seems to understand and says “That’s the most painful part. Because, what’s left?”

10 – Xanther: Xanther is focused on the tight feeling of her braces and has an urge to rip them off. Anwar is sharing words with Xanther that his father shared with him, but she’s too distracted. When he notices, he asks what’s wrong and she claims she’s just hungry. Once he’s gone, Xanther seems to think food can’t satiate the hunger she’s feeling, only going into the forest can.

11 – Isandorno: Isandorno, on The Mayor’s orders, heads out to investigate what happened with the hunters and the four crates, and to ensure their tracks are covered to avoid outside scrutiny. The people there tell Isandorno that the bodies of the three men were burned and ashes scattered in a few different places. However, there’s a little girl who died and she was buried. At first it seems Isandorno will force the people there to dig up the body and burn it too, but after they unearth the child, he changes his mind. When leaving, Maria gives Isandorno a present: a cat bust. He says he cannot keep the totem.

12 – Astair: In a ploy to prevent JJ & Tian Li from finding the Ibrahims, Astair goes down the street to their neighbors whose address Anwar gave out. There, she’s treated to a gourmet dish by one of the men. Astair stalls telling them about the cat and runs down a list of all the wild things that have happened since the cat’s arrival, denying the significance of it to herself. Ultimately, she asks the men if they will lie to JJ (and Tian Li, though, Astair isn’t aware of her) about the mix up and not send them over to the right house. They grant Astair that favor. Feeling good, Astair leaves their house to see an Independence Taxi parked outside her house and two figures walking in the door. She runs to catch up and when she does, Tian Li opens the door—Astair is astonished by how beautiful Tian Li is, and how ancient-looking—and says something to Astair in Mandarin.

Entre’act II: Shades of blue and yellow as a star glimmers amidst a super nova

Rough synopses of the first act--I admit, some of the facts may not be 100% accurate, so please feel free to expand or correct as you see fit:

Astral Omega: Cold Boot – the D.A.R.K. has lost to the H.O.L.Y., and their Versal Apex Predator has been unleashed on the world, winnowing the multiverse down to one. The D.A.R.K. perform a “cold boot” to reset the system.

Invite Everyone – A party planner struggles with her invitation lists and the sequence of guests, worried that the only person (unnamed) she wants to come won’t.

Caged Hunt – The three hunters, piqued by the mysterious fourth crate, move in to examine. Suddenly, a figure described to sound a lot of like Xanther and Satya comes in and slaughters the three men, ripping the head off one.

Ratings: D) Demand R ) Roar E ) Entanglement A ) Animality M) Murder

Artifact: Proto-Klamath Inscribed Thunderegg

1 – Anwar: Anwar hangs up on Jingjing who is calling to claim the cat after seeing one of Xanther’s signs in LA. JJ keeps calling back until Anwar must entertain the call, asking JJ to provide specific details and descriptions of the cat to ascertain if he’s telling the truth. JJ describes the cat in great detail—the missing whiskers, the single eyebrow, the extra claws on right (6) and left (7) paws, and the number of teeth missing/extra on each side. He also mentions the cat has blue eyes. This slight inconsistency is enough for Anwar to hang onto to deny JJ’s claims (and save the cat for Xanther). JJ also warns that the cat is dangerous, not only to Xanther, but to the family too. Anwar steps away from the phone to ask Xanther to count the claws and teeth (not mentioning the phone call), when the family realizes that the cat has lost its incisors.

2 – Astair: At first questioning Anwar’s motives for asking Xanther to count the cat’s unique features (and wondering who was on the phone), upon discovering the missing teeth, Astair screams and they wrap up the little one up in Anwar’s cashmere sweater running out of the house to take the cat to the vet. Xanther phones the vet’s office while Astair drives, but Dr. Syd is out. Suddenly, the cat starts having seizures and expelling a clear liquid from every orifice. In a panic, Astair notices they’re just outside of “Catholic Pet Hospital.” They run in and see the vet (Dr. Alice Caldwell), who says the cat is “cycling” and will continue to do so until it dies. She then steps away and sends in an assistant—Dwight Plaguer, the boy who didn’t show up as a witness for Shnorhk’s court date in Vol. 1

3 – Xanther: It’s unclear at first why Dr. Caldwell sent Dwight, but quickly becomes clear that his title “resident expert” means he assess and performs euthanasia at the hospital as Dr. Caldwell is “sensitive,” in his words. Xanther focuses on the practiced way Dwight carries himself, especially his fake-seeming pained expression. After at first refusing to let him, Xanther shows the cat to Dwight who confirms that the cat is in death throes and there is no hope for its survival. He then puts the question to Xanther and Astair to euthanize the cat to end its current suffering. Astair is horrified and takes his tone as accusatory if they don’t euthanize, but Xanther is calmer and more mature, realizing they’re dealing with the choice of allowing the animal to suffer for their own attachment to it.

4 – Orbists: At the meeting place in NY, Cas, Bobby and the rest of the group await Recluse’s arrival for the planned face-to-face with Cas. While waiting, Cas notes the presence of families and innocent people who would be affected if she were to detonate Mefisto’s orb in her possession. She also reflects on the divergence that caused the rift between Recluse and the rest, who were once good friends and colleagues working on the orb technology. The group has snipers ready and waiting to protect Cas and Warlock seems assured that they’re safe (with the backing of their insane arsenal details in book 4). There are several “gambits” planned for different situations, prepped for whatever happens when Recluse shows (alone or with an army). Suddenly, Bobby approaches Cas and lets her know that there’s a change of plans and that she’ll be meeting Recluse somewhere else nearby at midnight, alone. Cas decides that none of Warlock’s plans matter, because she is going to detonate the orb, sacrificing herself to kill Recluse.

5 – Luther: Domingo still hasn’t shown up, and Luther is thinking about how strange it was to be so kind to his mother at the end of book four, telling her to pass the message to Domingo that he should leave the area and not come back. Teyo, through Nacho, offers a gift of a bunch of fancy dress shirts to Luther calling him off the hunt, acknowledging that tracking people isn’t in Luther’s forte. Luther takes the shirts but refuses to give up on the search for Domingo. The gang gets news of a house where he’s been hiding for weeks and goes there immediately, but it’s too late, only finding a little girl jumping off a bed onto her unconscious father. Then news comes that Domingo was just spotted entering a bar; Pina is already there to stake it out after Luther tells her not to enter and cause a scene (which would make it easier for Domingo to escape again). On the way there in Juarez’s car, the engine breaks down and Luther tells them to call a cab.

6 – Jingjing: After hanging up with Anwar, who relents that the cat is the very one JJ described on the phone and gives the Ibrahim’s address to him, JJ pulls a monster card. He is elated and calmed by having found the cat, so much so that he almost forgets that he’s lost. As he makes his way around the area, he finally identifies familiar landmarks (the ice cream stand), and spots Tian Li sleeping on a bench, snoring loudly with pomegranate ice cream on her face. JJ shows her the lost cat sign, to which she marvels at the lamination rather than the fact that it’s their cat. Then he shows her that he has the address written on his hand. Tian Li warns that “she’s at even greater peril” than when they were near her at LAX—would the cat have survived if they caught up with Xanther there?—and the two quickly realize they need to get a taxi ASAP.

Entre’act I: Yarrow flowers with Hebrew script page

For ease of digestion (and to avoid FB), I've transcribed (listed times are in those cities' respective time zones):

5 Nov @ 4PM: Pasadena, CA; Vroman's Bookstore
6 Nov @ 7PM: Denver, CO; Tattered Cloth Historic LoDo
7 Nov @ 6:30PM: Cleveland, OH; B Side Liquor Lounge
8 Nov @ 7PM: New York, NY; The Strand
10 Nov @ 7PM: Brookline, MA; Brookline Booksmith
11 Nov @ 6PM: Austin, TX; BookPeople
12 Nov @ 6:30PM: Athens, GA; Avid Bookshop
13 Nov @ 7PM: Tempe, AZ; Changing Hands Bookstore
14 Nov @ 7:30PM: Portland, OR; Powell's City of Books
16 Nov @ 7PM: Seattle, WA; University Book Store
2 Dec @ 8:30PM: Vienna, Austria; Literaturhaus Vienna

If you're wanting to dive further into these books, the publisher has provided a reading/discussion guide for each volume which is comprised of probing questions that help you dig deeper into the text. These guides are designed to be used after you have finished each volume of the novel because the questions do contain heavy spoilers--not just of plot, but of meaning, motif, etc. The questions do not only springboard deeper thought about what's going on in the novel and how it's working, they also broaden the context of the novel by providing a new set of secondary texts that can help inform new ways to think about The Familiar.

TFv01 reading guide
TFv02 reading guide
TFv03 reading guide
TFv04 reading guide
TFv05 reading guide

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 5 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 5 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 5 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 5 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 5 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 4 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 4 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 4 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 4 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 4 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 3 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

Post thoughts, discussions, tidbits in this thread or create a new topic under Vol. 3 here as you read along with the Facebook Reading Group.

More discussions can be found here, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheFa...

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