Re: Comment Catcher: The First Sixty-Five Pages (Part 2)hudebnikMay 20 2015, 12:05:37 UTC
Thank you. I'd noticed many of those themes the first or second time I read the book, but (needless to say) hadn't worked them out in as much detail as you have.
There's a pertinent line from Riddley Walker: "You've got the foller-me."
That much I remembered on my own. Google-search leads to a fuller and even-more-pertinent quote:
He said, 'You aint no hevvy but youve got the follerme and I aint. You going to use it or not?' I said, 'Iwl have to think on it wont I.'
("The follerme" can refer to a quality of charisma, which you have because you were born/raised to it, or to a role, which you have because other people acknowledge it.)
And in Riddley Walker, too, the protagonist is trying to learn to be a leader while making his way through a terrifying, bewildering world. I guess the difference is that in Riddley Walker there's a mystery-to-be-solved acting as a unifying thread, while the rabbits are "just" trying to find a place to make a better life.
Re: Comment Catcher: The First Sixty-Five Pages (Part 2)nancylebovMay 20 2015, 12:23:14 UTC
This is excellent. I obviously need to reread Watership Down.
At least I picked up that the book is about politics-- the two bad warrens are about two failures of government. One is about excessive control/self and group determination by the leader, and the other is about two much passiveness.
There's a thing about rabbits having a nature-- one of the things I remember is one of the female rabbits getting out of the first bad warren saying how good it is to be able to dig.
If you want a book about more literal Kingship, I recommend The Goblin Emperor, though you may have read it already.
"As such groups are extensions of their Kings, and the individual and group are not distinct." Meaning a bit unclear. Either you want a comma after "such", or else the "and" is extraneous.
"wondering the woods in the night" Pretty sure you mean "wandering", though it's a beautiful phrase as is :-)
"hypervigilence" The google-hits-count method suggests that the correct spelling is "hypervigilance".
"Yes, alright, we'll rest here," My copy says "all right", but this may be just a US/UK thing?
"even knowing this consequences" consequence, singular?
Fantastic essay. Thank you so much for writing it.
It's one of my favorite books too - maybe my very favorite - but it's hard to discuss the first chunk without spoilers, because so much of it is foreshadowing, set-up, or only significant in retrospect. But it's a book that really rewards re-reading.
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on Cowslip's warren, if you ever write them up. It's such a haunting section.
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There's a pertinent line from Riddley Walker: "You've got the foller-me."
That much I remembered on my own. Google-search leads to a fuller and even-more-pertinent quote:
He said, 'You aint no hevvy but youve got the follerme and I aint. You going to use it or not?' I said, 'Iwl have to think on it wont I.'
("The follerme" can refer to a quality of charisma, which you have because you were born/raised to it, or to a role, which you have because other people acknowledge it.)
And in Riddley Walker, too, the protagonist is trying to learn to be a leader while making his way through a terrifying, bewildering world. I guess the difference is that in Riddley Walker there's a mystery-to-be-solved acting as a unifying thread, while the rabbits are "just" trying to find a place to make a better life.
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At least I picked up that the book is about politics-- the two bad warrens are about two failures of government. One is about excessive control/self and group determination by the leader, and the other is about two much passiveness.
There's a thing about rabbits having a nature-- one of the things I remember is one of the female rabbits getting out of the first bad warren saying how good it is to be able to dig.
If you want a book about more literal Kingship, I recommend The Goblin Emperor, though you may have read it already.
Essay about how hard it is to realize that you have one job.
Typo: Dandeline
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are?
"Wherever we setting down..."
settle
". In Watership Down,"
oddly extraneous period.
"of it's King"
No apostrophe.
"As such groups are extensions of their Kings, and the individual and group are not distinct."
Meaning a bit unclear. Either you want a comma after "such", or else the "and" is extraneous.
"wondering the woods in the night"
Pretty sure you mean "wandering", though it's a beautiful phrase as is :-)
"hypervigilence"
The google-hits-count method suggests that the correct spelling is "hypervigilance".
"Yes, alright, we'll rest here,"
My copy says "all right", but this may be just a US/UK thing?
"even knowing this consequences"
consequence, singular?
"sing-minded"
single-minded
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It's one of my favorite books too - maybe my very favorite - but it's hard to discuss the first chunk without spoilers, because so much of it is foreshadowing, set-up, or only significant in retrospect. But it's a book that really rewards re-reading.
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on Cowslip's warren, if you ever write them up. It's such a haunting section.
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I also want to find more books about active kingship, too. I'm thinking about this one....
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