Discussion - Week One - The Rifles - pg. 1 - 98

[Jim]

This discussion covers Page 1 – 98


Vollmann shows us the lay of the land…




To avoid spoilers, please limit comments to page 1 – 98.

[Zadignose]

My first impressions of the Rifle were rather mixed and uncertain, as I couldn't see where it was going. There's a good side, of course, to having no idea where to expect the novel will take you next, but since I approached the work with some skepticism, I felt a bit awash (later I came to really like it).

Captain Subzero, and Reepah, and their relationship, and their cultures in the present, all are rather pathetic. Sometimes morbidly so. Subzero is an especially pathetic guy in many ways, and its kind of bold to present him thus, as he's the character we're most certain to identify with the author.

It was an odd choice to make us feel an uncomfortable suspicion that Subzero is not just gathering info, but also setting out to seduce kids for sex with his treats and candy... and then rather disturbing when the strong hints come... nope, it's not me being cynical when I suspect him... it's the truth! But yet, he's an emotionally needy guy who goes nuts for Reepah and who needs Seth's validation too, though he doesn't always portray Seth as very admirable either.

Elements of conventional narrative start to break down and falter as we start to see the unconventional side of this narrative... as later explored in Vollmann's other novels, there is plenty of confusion of identity between characters, as Subzero is sometimes "you," and is also identified with a long-lost past. Narrative chronology becomes confused, and therefore either unreliable or else hinting at non-linear development, when we flash "forward" from Subzero's first learning the name of his fated love Reepah, to a time in the recent past when he (or you, or I, or John... since Subzero isn't named in this passage) was already in the midst of a pathetically confused and mostly hopeless affair with her.

[Jim]

Zadignose wrote: "My first impressions of the Rifle were rather mixed and uncertain, as I couldn't see where it was going. There's a good side, of course, to having no idea where to expect the novel will take you ne..."

I was gonna try not to mention the pedophile stuff, but again it comes up quite prominently. I keep thinking about how often the phrase "child molester" is used in Woody Allen's movies and the later public accusations of Dylan Farrow. A guilt thing for Woody, but with Vollmann, I can't help thinking his intention is to root around in the dark side of the human condition when he includes characters like this. I hope it's for his art and not something he's indulged in in real life.

[Zadignose]

He surely courts controversy and aims at the limits of the reader's willingness to empathize.

[Griffin]

The shifting between the third/second/first person seems to be a deliberate attempt to blur lines of certainty--that plus the addendum in the list of characters in the back (with Subzero defined solely as reincarnated John Franklin) overlaid onto the map of shared geographic space throughout time, we have a similar conception of history as in Vollmann's earlier novel You Bright And Risen Angels, in which Bug's younger days of tramping through (interestingly also) the Arctic (particularly Alaska) is put directly on top of his later career as a revolutionary seeking refuge in the same place from the forces of Electricity.

We have Vollmann here unveiling a historical culpability of exploration into indigenous cultures on the part of (chronologically) John Franklin and his dreams of glory, Subzero and his dreams of romance/sex, Vollmann and his dreams of connecting these two dreams, & We the readers with our dreams of somehow understanding this penchant for exploration while participating in the discourse of those who conquered the land we now read about. The land remains the "same" but our ideological/physical presence in relation to it has changed.

The above may be a bit of a yarn; so be it.

[Griffin]

And of course the concept of chronology/historicity is squashed from the outset with the monologue of Subzero seeking the source of an Arctic stream--we are stuck in the ice floe of cause & effect, streams come from the very ground upon which we stand.

[Zadignose]

Questions:

-Were you tempted to memorize the Inuktitut syllabary?
-Are you/Were you tempted to visit Resolute or some other part of the Northwest Passage region, maybe someday, given the chance?

Google Map Satellite Image

[Drew]

Subzero's search for the source of the stream started me out on this read with the same cold creepiness I got from the explorations of the house in "House of Leaves". That stayed with me as I wondered throughout the first hundred pages where this guy came from, what made him come here. The narrative wasn't too confusing but scattershot like the trajectory of shotgun pellets.

[Catherine]

Hello,

I just finished the first chunk, and thought I'd add my thoughts here even though it's a bit late.

First of all, I am reading a translation in French (I live in France currently and my library only had it in French...I’ve read books in French before, so I thought I would try it.) I thought it would be impossible to read this book in French, but it turns out that it’s not so bad.

I love the description of the wilderness and the people; I love the randomness of the story...the way the main characters saw the dead fox and the crow and were profoundly touched by it, because yes tragedies happen for no reason, and we can't do anything to change it, and even seeing a dead fox in the tundra can be a tragedy to a sensitive soul.

Subzero's interactions with the little girls are upsetting, though. An older man hanging out with little girls all the time? What? Also, why do the adults in town avoid him? His affair with Reepah is kind of sad...they keep pushing each other away and colliding back together. All because of this other woman, Jane, who is also the name of John Franklin's wife...it's getting confusing already.

Lastly, I can’t believe there are human settlements where there are also narwhals and polar bears. That is just crazy.

[Zadignose]

I felt similarly, but to discuss this question further, I may have to go into spoiler tags. Even though it's entirely relevant to the first sections of the book to ask and wonder about Jane, I think perspective from later sections can modify our outlook. If you want to avoid any such spoiler, let's just say that being disoriented and confused is entirely sensible.

Actually, I was going to put it in spoiler tags, but maybe I'll just carry out the remainder of this conversation in the Week 4 thread... See y'all there when you get there.

[Doubledf99.99]

Started on this book a few days ago, and so far it's pretty good. Like Vollmann's descriptions of the Arctic, from the wind, terrain and to the plants. I've read through the glossaries at the back of the book, and like how he included his packing list, with comments whats good or not.