More Banana-Orange
This idea of changes to the Ring sequel is making me really happy. I can bring back Eh Matsehar, one of my favorite characters from the first novel; and he and Nick can sit down and discuss Nick's behavior honestly. And Mats can be working on a new play, a hwarhath version of Twelfth Night, which would make a splendid hwarhath play, done in human masks, I think, and in human costumes. It would be a commentary of hwarhath and human sexuality.
A medieval trickster story might not have moral insight and moral growth, but Mats certainly understands about morality; and he could have the insight Nick may not have.
I think I can see how Mats would rewrite the play. A character -- maybe Sir Toby Belch -- moves to the front of the stage and takes off his human mask, saying "This is where the human play ends. But the ending is full of questions. Will Olivia discover that Sebastian is not identical with his sister and is not the person she loves? Will Viola discover that the Duke is in love with loving rather than any individual person, and that he can stop loving her as quickly as he stopped loving Olivia? Most of all, what happens to the loyal Antonio, who has put his life at risk for Sebastian? We need to repay loyalty and love properly. Viola and Sebastian should realize who really loves them. Antonio should end with Sebastian. Olivia should end with Viola. The sighing Duke should end alone -- temporarily, until he falls in love again. The selfish, judgmental and uncooperative Malvolio should end alone forever."
As the hwarhath actor says this, the actors rearrange themselves on the stage, taking off their human masks; and there we have our happy ending.
More work is needed, but I -- and Mats -- can do it.
A medieval trickster story might not have moral insight and moral growth, but Mats certainly understands about morality; and he could have the insight Nick may not have.
I think I can see how Mats would rewrite the play. A character -- maybe Sir Toby Belch -- moves to the front of the stage and takes off his human mask, saying "This is where the human play ends. But the ending is full of questions. Will Olivia discover that Sebastian is not identical with his sister and is not the person she loves? Will Viola discover that the Duke is in love with loving rather than any individual person, and that he can stop loving her as quickly as he stopped loving Olivia? Most of all, what happens to the loyal Antonio, who has put his life at risk for Sebastian? We need to repay loyalty and love properly. Viola and Sebastian should realize who really loves them. Antonio should end with Sebastian. Olivia should end with Viola. The sighing Duke should end alone -- temporarily, until he falls in love again. The selfish, judgmental and uncooperative Malvolio should end alone forever."
As the hwarhath actor says this, the actors rearrange themselves on the stage, taking off their human masks; and there we have our happy ending.
More work is needed, but I -- and Mats -- can do it.
posted by Eleanor at 9:35 AM
4 Comments:
Nice to see you again!
Happy New Year, though, as with your entry about the closed and closing department stores, it isn't going to be very happy for way too many people.
Here in NYC, we have turned into a tourist destination economy -- which we never were before. 52 million tourists came to NYC in 2012. This has been entirely aided and abetted by Mayor Mike.
One of the many bad things about a tourist economy is that it superficially conceals just how bad the 'real' economy is. Streets are always bustling with people who don't live here. Consumer provider brand names from all over the world pay the insane rents per square foot. And when the restaurant / whatever fails, the property's owner doesn't have to pay property taxes as long as the property stands empty. So there is all the incentive in the world to warehouse property rather than lower the rents and rates. And as well all the businesses then, including the restaurants and delis and even farmer's markets target the transient on vacation or subsidized business trip in their prices, pricing those of us who actually live here and supposedly work in these places right out of our turf.
And nobody cares for the block, the street, the neighborhood, the community. And this is a city that is or was jam-packed with communities.
Love, C.
I love Nicky and Mats so much.
Can't wait for this sequel!
the discussions about translation and which texts might be suitable and why are among my favorite parts of Ring of Swords. Happy to read there might be more in the sequel.
I have moved thrice, including from Michigan to California, bought and sold a house, weeded my book collection several times, and have kept Ring of Swords despite not having reread it when I first purchased it at Borders in Ann Arbor (alas!) almost 20 years ago.
I was tired of the drek I was finding on my Kindle and pulled Ring of Swords from the shelf. What a delight, especially to come back to a story that moved my much younger self 20 years ago. It was the feeling and the humor that struck me. A sense of being enclosed by something inescapable, both for the humans and the People, and of course for the women to find the way out. I guffawed at the thought of Military Intelligence trying to figure out what kind of gay porn to send to the Hwarhath. :-)
Hoping for a sequel, I turn to Google and eventually find a wealth of short stories published in various places. I'm wondering if a collection is planned, or if the planned sequel is still, well, planned.
I greatly admire the work, and am looking for the best way to access it. Hope I'm not being pushing or presumptuous!
Peace!
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