Week 1

[Charlene]

Week 1 discussion (up to about page 35)

[Charlene]

So far, I think following time will be the hardest part of this book. I believe, there has been a flashback and a flash forward. But hopefully pieces will fall into place better as I continue.

[Carol]

There's a wonderful passage on pages 7-8 of my copy in which Ecks visits an intriguing, yet empty reading room, along with the process for checking out books, and lists several of the options:

Lives of the Saints (I'm guessing; there are many books with this title)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
A Gardening Manual
Ramona
The Pyramids of Egypt
Adventures at Sea
The Betrothed
And
Hamlet

Why these books? What do you think Peri Rossi intended to communicate to the reader in her choice of these disparate volumes? What do they tell us about Ecks, this voyage, the book we are beginning to read?

[Carol]

The repetition of the phrase, "He had read of this journey" is mesmerizing.

[Carol]

Does anyone recognize the Julie Christie movie described in Ecks III?

[Charlene]

Carol wrote: "Dues anyone recognize the Jukie Christie movie described in Ecks III?"

I didn't recognize it. But I think I have only seen Julie Christie in "Don't Look Now" which was based off a Daphne du Maurier short story.

[Carol]

Charlene wrote: "Carol wrote: "Dues anyone recognize the Jukie Christie movie described in Ecks III?"

I didn't recognize it. But I think I have only seen Julie Christie in "Don't Look Now" which was based off a Da..."

Oh, Charlene, you have to see Dr. Zhivago, but I digress. I looked at that but thought it was later and didn't see the connection to a laboratory.

[Carol]

In The Journey, V, the author tells us that Ecks' journey has been nine years long, up to the point where Ecks arrives at the city of A. Then at the end of footnote 1 (page 32 in my copy), she connects Ecks' journey to another epic literary journey, Don Quixote's. The closing paragraph identifies a host of made-up town names : "Old York, Merlin, Stretch Jersey, Texaco, Ombu-Beach..." and more.

I thought the reference to Quixote was intriguing, so early in the book. How should we interpret that reference? Does it shape your expectations about what is to come, or did you take it at face value , e.g., all literary travelers walk in the footsteps of Quixote (and Ibn Battuta).

I don't know what to make of the cities. Why offer a laundry list and then make the listed cities a combination of the imaginary, and riffs on certain Western and South American cities? I expect that Peri Rossi's point has zoomed over my head, so am hoping other readers here can offer me a clue.

I love the footnotes, by the way.

[Ginny]

Carol wrote: "Does anyone recognize the Julie Christie movie described in Ecks III?"

"Demon Seed is a 1977 American science fiction–horror film starring Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerrit Graham, Berry Kroeger, Lisa Lu, and Larry J. Blake. The film was directed by Donald Cammell.[2] The film was based on the novel of the same name by Dean Koontz,[3] and concerns the imprisonment and forced impregnation of a woman by an artificially intelligent computer. Patricia Wilson, Felix Silla, Michael Dorn,[4][5] and Robert Vaughn[6] also are in Demon Seed." From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Seed

No, I didn't recognize it. But apparently it is a rape scene. And Ecks' involvement is definitely sexual. "He is torn between the secret evil joy that consumes him at the thought of what is soon to happen, and his opposing desire to protect the woman he loves."

[Ginny]

Carol wrote: "I love the footnotes, by the way. ..."

How are you reading them? At the end, or interspersed according to the numbers? It makes a very different chapter depending on the order.

[Ginny]

Carol wrote: "I don't know what to make of the cities. Why offer a laundry list and then make the listed cities a combination of the imaginary, and riffs on certain Western and South American cities? I expect that Peri Rossi's point has zoomed over my head, so am hoping other readers here can offer me a clue...."

I don't think this is a clue to the meaning, but I found it very funny. Satirizing the whole "foreigner" concept. We don't really have a chance to win the "'stateless citizen' certificate, inconvenient at borders, but very useful for writing poetry."

[Carol]

Ginny wrote: "Carol wrote: "Does anyone recognize the Julie Christie movie described in Ecks III?"

"Demon Seed is a 1977 American science fiction–horror film starring Julie Christie, Fritz Weaver, Gerrit Graham..."

Thanks, Ginny! It was such a creepy and extended reference.

[Carol]

Ginny wrote: "Carol wrote: "I love the footnotes, by the way. ..."

How are you reading them? At the end, or interspersed according to the numbers? It makes a very different chapter depending on the order."

I'm reading them at the end of each chapter, which is how they appear in my copy. They aren't treated as footnotes, in terms of a smaller font size at the bottom of a page, and I assumed that the publisher presented them as the author desired. It's a tad odd, I admit, and sometimes I go back to remind myself of the reference.

[Carol]

Ginny wrote: "Carol wrote: "I don't know what to make of the cities. Why offer a laundry list and then make the listed cities a combination of the imaginary, and riffs on certain Western and South American citie..."

I did love that line, as well.

[Ginny]

Over half way through the book, I finally looked up the Tapestry of Creation. Like many of the references in the book, it does exist.
"Art like this beckons man to live within its world, freed from the sins of the other one."
http://www.catedraldegirona.org/visit...

If you click on "symbolism" and scroll over the sections, it tells you what each part is and what is being referred to in the book.

[Carol]

Ginny wrote: "Over half way through the book, I finally looked up the Tapestry of Creation. Like many of the references in the book, it does exist.
"Art like this beckons man to live within its world, freed from..."

I'm around page 120. Thanks for sharing this. I hadn't googled it and felt like those sections were going over my head. Because they were.

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

Carol wrote: "The repetition of the phrase, "He had read of this journey" is mesmerizing."

I like this phrase so much. All book readers have definitely 'read of these journeys' and honestly, how many times does something happen in real life and we go 'oh this is like such-and-such a book and now I know what to do'?