THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
09/27/13 -- Vol. 32, No. 13, Whole Number 1773
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
Not from Here (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in October (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
BARBARIAN DAYS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
NEPTUNE'S BROOD by Charles Stross (book review
by Joe Karpierz)
Science Fiction Timeline of Inventions (comment by Jim Susky)
Purses and Trash (letters of comment by Tim Bateman,
Keith F. Lynch, Philip Chee, ppint.at.play,
and David Harmon)
Beloit College Mindset List (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
This Week's Reading (A RUMPOLE CHRISTMAS, SIX MONTHS IN THE
SANDWICH ISLANDS, and SHERLOCK HOLMES WAS WRONG)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
October 3: THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Old Bridge Public Library,
6:30PM
October 10: ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS and ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel
Defoe, with the optional alternative FIRST ON MARS (a.k.a. NO
MAN FRIDAY) by Rex Gordon), Middletown Public Library, 5:30PM,
discussion after the film
October 24: THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT by Steven Pinker, Old Bridge
(NJ) Public Library, 7PM
November 7: Film (TBD), Old Bridge Public Library, 6:30PM
November 14: Film (TBD), Middletown Public Library, 5:30PM,
discussion after the film
November 21: DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip
K. Dick, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
December 19: THE MOON AND SIXPENCE by W. Somerset Maugham,
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
January 23, 2014: THE RAPTURE OF THE NERDS by Cory Doctorow and
Charles Stross, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
Speculative Fiction Lectures:
October 5: Nick Kaufman, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 12N
Northern New Jersey events are listed at:
http://www.sfsnnj.com/news.html
==================================================================
TOPIC: Not from Here (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
We saw a truck labeled for their company "US Foods". Who would
want to admit they made US Foods? We are the inventor of the
McDonalds Hamburger and soft ice cream. We gave the world the
deep-fried Mars bar and the Double Down chicken sandwich. The best
you can say about US Foods is that we did not invent and probably
don't even serve poutine. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in October (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
Once again we have an October on TCM and Turner Classic Movies has
lined up a passel of horror films. But this does not mean that
that there are a lot to make an engrossing recommendation article
about. Most will be familiar to anyone who is a real horror film
fan. If you haven't seen THE DEVIL RIDES OUT you probably can find
a lot of films you have not seen and by all means see them. But I
probably am not going to write about it this month, because most
fans will have seen it. I will not recommend any AIP or Hammer,
though there are some goodies. I am going to recommend some more
obscure films you might not know about. As usual, all times are
East Coast times.
Ya' say ya' like Film Noir? You like those bleak dark movies?
Well Turner Classic Movies have two of the darkest film Noir Films
I know of.
You don't know Film Noir until you have seen two bleak films that
are on TCM this month. Ordinarily I would have said that NIGHTMARE
ALLEY (1947) is a very dark film, but you have not seen a dark film
until you have seen THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943). However, first
comes NIGHTMARE ALLEY. This is a film slaps down all your
ambitions and then laughs in your face. What this film tells you
is that no matter how big a fish you are right now there is always
a bigger shark just waiting to take you down and swallow you. In a
carnival a precocious and charming roustabout knows he has the
talents to charm and win over other people. Tyrone Power plays the
charismatic Stanton Carlisle who can size up a situation in seconds
and can talk his way out of any tight spot. Stan knows just what
his opportunities are and whom he can cheat and leave smiling. He
has the fascination of a snake, but you cannot help but cheer for
him on his rise to greatness. But at the top there is always a
girl as friendly and inviting as a razorblade. This is one of the
great films noir. [Wednesday, October 16, 9:45 PM]
Then there is THE SEVENTH VICTIM. This is the film that
suggests...
Life is pain. Why don't you just kill yourself? Go ahead. Do it.
It's so easy. All your pain will be gone. You can be at rest at
last. Kill yourself. Go ahead. It will make everything so simple.
So peaceful. Just go ahead and do it. -- Hey, if you think that
NIGHTMARE ALLEY was grim you have to see THE SEVENTH VICTIM. This
is a Val-Lewton-produced romance and flirtation with death. It is
my personal favorite Val Lewton film and is as dark as any film
ever made. Kim Hunter (Zira of PLANET OF THE APES) is looking for
her successful sister who seems to have just vanished from the
Earth. It seems the sister had some powerful friends--friends who
happened to be devil worshipers. And they became displeased with
the sister. It will not be easy or pleasant finding her. The
final scene of the film is a shocker. [Friday, October 18, 11:15
PM]
KWAIDAN is sort of Japan's equivalent to DEAD OF NIGHT. It is four
tales of ghosts and spirits written by Lafcadio Hearn who collected
Japanese folk stories of the supernatural, stories of vengeful
spirits and suffering ghosts. The use of color is nothing short of
spectacular. Director Masaki Kobayashi was a brilliant stylist. In
"The Black Hair" a samurai leaves his wife to fight in a war. He
finds success and remarries, never thinking about the wife he left
at home. But the spirits can avenge such bad treatment. The Woman
of the Snow has a beautiful snow spirit who can be deadly. Hoichi
the Earless tries to charm spirits of the dead with songs and
accompany himself on the three-string biwa. But one cannot contact
spirits and return unchanged. A Cup of Tea suggests that spirits
can hide almost anywhere. If you are used to Bourne films this
film may seem a trifle slow-paced. Go with it. [Sunday, October
20, 2:00 AM]
Hey, if you have not seen OF MICE AND MEN (1939), it's time. First
you can see it for the Lon Chaney, Jr., performance that gave him a
career. I won't say he is my favorite Lennie. (That would
probably be my first, Nicol Williamson.) But OF MICE AND MEN is
one of the great short novels. It is a powerful story. And I
guess Chaney does a good job. [Wednesday, October 30, 8:00 PM]
My best film of the month would probably be OF MICE AND MEN.
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: A group of Texas filmmakers produced this faithful
adaptation of FRANKENSTEIN and a half-shoestring budget. Syd Lance
directs a script by writer/producer Judith B. Shields. The film
falls short of commercial standards, but is still an ambitious
effort with impressive results. It is a serious adaptation
intended neither to amuse nor really to scare but to tell the
classic story as faithfully as possible. Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4)
or 5/10
It is a huge challenge to make a feature-length film adaptation of
Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN that is faithful to the novel. The
plot of the novel is long and ponderous. One frequently hears that
it never has been done by any film, but in fact it has. The film
is VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN (but has been retitled TERROR OF
FRANKENSTEIN). That film is slow and ponderous, but it is very
much Mary Shelley's story. Now the new film FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER
is arguably the second most faithful adaptation of the novel. That
in itself would make the film remarkable. But what is as
remarkable is that the film was made with $6000 and a lot of
volunteer work. To attempt so difficult a goal with so little
funding is highly ambitious, particularly for filmmakers with
little experience.
To accommodate the low budget some Texan filmmakers shot the film
in fourteen areas in and around Houston and Galveston. That meant
moving the setting from Switzerland to what the alert eye will
catch as Texas. Arctic scenes are moved to warm waters. An
original score was written for the film. A prosthetic monster
makeup was designed but accidentally lost so a novel and original
approach was used to make the monster demonic. This Frankenstein
monster steams. But since the idea was to make a "steampunk"
version of FRANKENSTIEN, having the monster himself give off steam
seems oddly appropriate. Where here the energy comes from is left
to the imagination. This is also the first time in memory the
Frankenstein monster is bearded. On a $6000 budget they were not
paying the actor enough to get him to shave his beard off.
As this is a semi-amateur film several small problems are obvious.
There are times when the sound drops, sometimes mid-sentence.
There are times when the lips of the actors are not in sync with
the words on the soundtrack. Some of the dialog is awkward and not
what the character would say. The character William is killed but
the actor still moves. An effect for lightning is singularly
unconvincing and the monster's "steaming" is present in some scenes
and not others. When the monster is not steaming (and even when he
is) he does not appear monstrous. The script leaves some loose
ends including a subplot of a student jealous of Frankenstein.
How and even if this film is going to be made available to the
public remains to be seen. However, it should be of interest to
fans of the horror film and perhaps even those interested in
English literature. The filmmakers have attempted an adaptation of
FRANKENSTEIN accurate to the novel, a feat rarely ever attempted.
And it has worked as well as it has in spite of or because it was
made on a mouse of a budget. The result is only semi-successful,
but as good as the film is impressive. I rate FRANKENSTEIN'S
MONSTER a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale or 5/10.
For an example of the texture of the film see:
http://vimeo.com/68639724
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2952488/combined
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: BARBARIAN DAYS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: A fascinating look at a subculture that few knew existed,
the (fanatic) fandom of Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan
(called "the Cimmerian," "the Barbarian," and "the Destroyer.")
With their amazing enthusiasm they have gone way beyond just being
a club of fantasy fans. Director Damian Horan attends an annual
fan gathering in Cross Plains, Texas, there to explore and share
the world of Howard. Horan's camera captures four of the major
fans to capture their histories, their attitudes, and their
enthusiasm. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
To start with, you have to know who this fellow Robert E. Howard
was, (though if you don't know, you probably will not have a great
interest in the film BARBARIAN DAYS). Howard was a writer for pulp
magazines in the 1930s. He wrote fantastic stories with muscular
heroes who frequently decorate their lives with underdressed women
and who face witchcraft, black magic, and monsters of the
supernatural. He is a little less known for the Westerns and
boxing stories, but they too have their fans.
Howard created several continuing characters such as Red Sonya,
Bran Mak Morn, and Solomon Kane. But by far his best-known
character is the mighty Conan, now the subject of three movies,
several comic books, etc. Conan stories usually involve the hero
fighting giants and sorcerers over-equipped with deadly cutlery and
women under-equipped with clothing. In fact his stories are just
the sorts of thing to entice a fourteen-year-old boy to read. The
stories fit in a genre known as sword and sorcery, actually
invented by Howard but now a standard breed of fantasy. Many of
the great fantasy writers have written sword and sorcery, inspired
by Howard. Bluntly put, Howard was not a great writer, at least no
more than was Lewis Carroll or L. Frank Baum. But fans of Howard
want their stories with all the flaws. When the books were
republished in the 1960s another great fantasy author, L. Sprague
DeCamp, rewrote the stories in what he considered better form. To
the best of my knowledge Robert E. Howard fandom contains the only
mass of fantasy fans who detest DeCamp.
Howard lived and wrote in what was then a sleepy wisp of a town in
central Texas, Cross Plains. Though few in Cross Plains would say
they have a strong affection for Howard's brand of writing, Cross
Plains has adopted Howard, dead since 1936, as its most famous and
favorite son.
There are multiple organizations of people celebrating Howard's
writing, most notably the Robert E. Howard Foundation. And there
is Howard Days, an annual pilgrimage to Cross Plains to compare
notes, listen to presentations about Howard and his writing and to
celebrate the stories that came from Howard's typewriter. The
meetings, as shown in the film, are held in Butler Park next door
to the tiny Robert E. Howard house where Howard lived and wrote.
Ironically the park was built on the lot of the Butler house where
Howard's neighbor lived and complained about Howard's noisy
vocalizations of his stories as he wrote. Now there is a lot of
discussion about Howard's stories just where the Butler family was
bothered by them.
The Robert E. Howard Foundation publishes an APA--an amateur
magazine for which the price is invited contributions to the
magazine. Its name is RHUPA: The Robert E. Howard United Press
Association.
Director Damian Horan captures the festivities and focuses on four
fans at the top of the pile. One is Rusty Burke, sort of the elder
statesman of the Robert E. Howard Foundation. He is working on a
definitive biography of Howard. Will it eclipse the biography by
another attendee Mark Finn? Nobody knows for sure. We also meet
Finn. A third fan is Bill "Indy" Cavalier who wrangles together
RHUPA. And the fourth major fan is Chris Gruber whose area of
specialization is Howard's boxing stories. For him the attraction
of Conan is that the barbarian carves his own fate. He need not
make any effort to fit in. Conan just is what he is, and what he
is is the meanest, toughest dude around. That has to be the basis
of Conan's popularity. These people we meet are the biggest fans
and scholars of Robert E. Howard and his writing.
In the film THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD (a dramatization of a chapter in
Howard's life), his girlfriend, Novalyne Price, tries to convince
the young writer Howard that he should be doing realistic portraits
of the world he sees around him, not the fantasy stuff. That came
to mind as one Cross Plains attendee said that in school he refused
to read. He was just not interested in reading. The teacher
cajoled him into agree to read one book. She gave him a Conan
book. In ten pages he was hooked and had been a reader ever since.
Take that, Novalyne Price.
BARBARIAN DAYS is a roughly hewn film--Damian Horan's first
feature. But the subject sells itself. Whether you are a Howard
fan or not there is some fascination with the earnestness and
enthusiasm of these devotees and what they have turned their
reading preference into. It is something just short of a religion.
I rate BARBARIAN DAYS a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10. [You
can better appreciate the film if you first see THE WHOLE WIDE
WORLD and/or visit the Howard home in Cross Plains.]
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1795560/combined
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: NEPTUNE'S BROOD by Charles Stross (copyright 2013, Ace
Books, $25.95, 325pp, ISBN 978-0-425-25677-0) (book review by Joe
Karpierz)
Charles Stross is probably one of the most prolific SF writers of
our time. No, I understand that Seanan McGuire leaves him in the
dust, but nonetheless, Stross is turning out books at the rate of
one or two a year (and he used to write more than that), and I have
yet to find of book of his that I haven't liked.
The latest entry in the long list of fine Stross novels is
NEPTUNE'S BROOD, a novel that is set in the same universe as
SATURN'S CHILDREN. As you may remember from that novel, the human
race is extinct. Well, that's not quite true, because it keeps
coming back. In NEPTUNE'S BROOD, the human race is nearly extinct
*again* (the inside cover flap says "for the fourth time", but I
must have missed that somewhere along the line). And so, once
again, our protagonist is not human. Krina Alizond-114 (I think
that's actually shortened from a much longer name that appeared at
least once during the course of the novel) is descended from the
robots/androids that served humanity, one of which was the main
character in SATURN'S CHILDREN.
Krina is on a pilgrimage to the planet Shin-Tethys to find her
sister Ana. This is just no ordinary pilgrimage. You see, Krina
and Ana each possess one half of something called the Atlantis
Carnet. The Carnet is a "financial instrument" which contains
great value. To put it more plainly, when the two halves of the
Carnet are put together, an unimaginable amount of wealth is
unlocked. And wouldn't you know, folks are after both Krina and
Ana for that very reason.
Krina is on Taj Beacon, looking for a way to get to Shin-Tethys, so
she books passage aboard a religious ship of sorts, the crew of
which is on their own pilgrimage to spread the Fragile--those
humans who are still left alive and are following this particular
religious sect (it's all confusing after a while)--to various parts
of the galaxy to help preserve the human race. The fun begins
there, and of course doesn't stop when the ship is hijacked by a
pirate ship, the captain and crew of which take Krina on board.
Krina is interviewed by the captain, Rudi, who seems to know more
about Krina and Ana than he is letting on. He agrees to take her
to Shin-Tethys, for which in exchange Krina will introduce him to
Ana.
And then the real fun begins, as Krina is separated from the
pirates by the local constabulary and questioned, after which she
joins the police force in looking for her sister.
Is there enough going on for you? But wait, there's more. And I'm
not going to tell you what that "more" is, because it would give
too much of the rest of the book away.
Stross spends what I believe is a sufficient portion of the novel
describing Krina's family structure, how money actually works in
this galactic society (we have slow, medium, and fast money, for
example), how that money holds society together, and financial
scams--in particular, the "FTL scam", which would ruin all of
galactic society because it would change how the money system
works, and in particular the Atlantis Carnet scam. These are all
necessary to understand how the story is unwinding, and yet none of
it feels like the standard infodump we have seen in so many novels
in the past, and even still today. Stross weaves these
explanations into the novel at the precise moments they are needed,
so the reader doesn't feel like (s)he is getting useless
information. I personally found the whole financial system
ingenious, especially within the context of the story.
If you're one of the types of reader that feeds on character
development and identifying with characters, this is a mixed bag.
Stross gives us just enough background of Krina (and Ana) to make
us understand why they're doing what they're doing, but beyond
that, don't look for too much character driven stuff. This is a
book of ideas, ideas which drive the motivation of the characters,
ideas which drive the story. I think Stross does this very well,
and he certainly does it terrifically here.
NEPTUNE'S BROOD is one of the better books I've read in awhile--I
heartily recommend you go find a copy and read it. You don't need
to have read SATURN'S CHILDREN to read this one; I did find it odd
that the book is called NEPTUNE'S CHILDREN, in fact. Maybe I
missed something somewhere. Still, it's a terrific read. [-jak]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction Timeline of Inventions (comment by Jim
Susky)
Jim Susky writes:
I've attached an exhaustive overview of "ideas, technology, and
inventions" found in SF.
The list goes back to Kepler in 1634 and "ends" in 2012.
(I imagine it gets updated annually more-or-less.)
This site is the source for this bounty:
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/ctnlistpubdate.asp
Short description follows:
"Timeline of Science Fiction Ideas, Technology and Inventions
(sorted by Publication Date)"
Most of these items are linked to information about similar real-
life inventions and inventors; click on an invention to learn more
about it. [-js]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Purses and Trash (letters of comment by Tim Bateman, Keith
F. Lynch, Philip Chee, ppint.at.play, and David Harmon)
In response to the closing quote in the 09/06/13 issue of the MT
VOID, Tim Bateman writes:
I see the closing quote this time around is:
The worst thing that can happen to a man is
to lose his money, the next worst his health,
the next worst his reputation.
--Samuel Butler
Have you ever used Shakespeare's words in OTHELLO, 'Who steals my
purse steals trash,' etc.? [-tm]
Keith Lynch responds:
I have. And of course I agree with it. [-kfl]
To which Philip Chee aska:
You put trash in your wallet? [-pc]
Tim replies:
Fools those damned pickpockets every time! [-tb]
ppint.at.play also responds:
- frequently: shopping and atm receipts, plus odd bits & pieces of
paper upon which i've written information i want to transfer to
some more permanent place at home, or which may be of only
temporary importance, or even significance to me.
- don't you?
- but the shakespearean sense is revealed by the context: one's
purse is essentially replaceable, and of little value compared with
those things that are not; trust, friendship, honour, love,
reputation...
- love, a ppint. as's seen the value of coins drop from worth
keeping in one's purse to spend, to barely worth picking up and
saving... [-pap]
To which Keith Lynch says:
Exactly. [-kfl]
And David Harmon writes:
I do; it's a bad habit I should break. The cashier hands me my
change and the receipt together and I put them both in my wallet.
Before too long all the green has been replaced with white trash.
[-dh]
Keith Lynch answers:
Receipts aren't trash. They could save you from a wrongful
conviction for theft. And could also provide an alibi for a crime
that took place elsewhere at the time you got the receipt. I
always save my receipts for a year or for as long as I have what
they're the receipt for, whichever is longer. [-kfl]
[A long discussion of whether a receipt actually provides an alibi
for a specific person followed.]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Beloit College Mindset List (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
In response to Evelyn's comments on the Beloit College Mindset List
for the Class of 2017 in the 08/30/13 issue of the MT VOID, Jim
Susky writes:
The first of these--for the class of 2002--rang all kinds of bells
for me.
I quite agree that the (class of) 2017 list was not so striking. To
be quite honest--much of it was downright obscure (to me).
Among the multitude of possible reasons for this I'll offer these:
1) Most of the "good ones" were already used (though I didn't check
this).
2) The current writer (or committee) for this year was lazy,
indifferent, or just not that knowledgeable. On re-read this is a
rehash of your conjecture:
3) (my favorite) These days Mass Culture is not what it was pre-
internet, pre-cable television--it has become greatly diluted.
Exponential growth in culture choice has made the "commonalities"
much less common (because there are so many more of them)--thus
much less striking.
4) (more personal--less general) My own consumption of mass (and
"elite") culture remains largely unchanged. The rest of the world
is leaving me behind. Until a few years ago I resisted carrying a
cell phone, do not "text", and feel no compulsion to get a phone
"smarter" than I am. I consider twitter/tweeting/tweets to be a
travesty--a wretched dumbing-down of email. I have a Facebook page
but consider the usual mindless "liking" of platitudes to be the
twitter version of a proper comment (GoodReads--Facebook for
bookworms--is much preferable). Much of the time others spend
focused on smart phones is spent by me reading--but since I figured
out my DVR I do less of that. [-js, Class of 1982]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
I have never seen the "Rumpole" television series, and though I may
have read one or two of the stories, I am hardly familiar with
them. So when I saw A RUMPOLE CHRISTMAS by John Mortimer (ISBN
978-0-14-311791-9) on bag day at our local Friends of the Library
book sale, I threw it into the bag. (Well, actually I packed it
neatly in order to maximize the number of books I could fit into
the bag.) I don't know if Mortimer writes a Christmas story every
year; these span the period between 1997 and 2006. While they all
have a Christmas theme, they are not of the cloying "Christmas
spirit" sort (well, most of them aren't anyway), and there are
definitely characters not redeemed by the joy of the season. I
doubt I will seek out all the volumes of Rumpole, but they do have
a certain charm, and the "mysteries" are often non-standard sorts--
not just "who killed Lady Whatsis in the parlor?" or "Why is my
butler acting so strange?"
SIX MONTHS IN THE SANDWICH ISLANDS by Isabella L. Bird (ISBN 0-
8048-1112-1) describes the voyage that made Bird into the renowned
Victorian explorer she was. During her stay in the Sandwich
Islands (now called Hawaii), she "caught the travel bug" and
eventually became the first woman inducted into the Royal
Geographical Society. Her descriptions (at least for the Sandwich
Islands) run more to the geological and botanical than the
ethnographic, but that may be due to the low population density in
much of the islands, and the high proportion of Americans, English,
Chinese, and others.
SHERLOCK HOLMES WAS WRONG: REOPENING THE CASE OF THE HOUND OF THE
BASKERVILLES by Pierre Bayard (translated by Charlotte Mandell)
(ISBN 978-1-59691-605-0) seems to be a bit of a follow-up to
Bayard's WHO KILLED ROGER ACKROYD? Both are re-examinations of
classic mysteries, with Bayard eventually concluding that the
evidence as given in the novel leads to a very different conclusion
as to the perpetrator than the author gives as the solution.
Now clearly, there are some philosophical problems in this. After
all, in a real-world sense the background, characters, and plot of
each novel are the creation of the author, and it is meaningless to
claim that the author is wrong in his stated solution. On the
other hand, one might arguably claim that the conclusions drawn in
"The Final Problem" are in fact wrong--Sherlock Holmes was not in
fact dead. Bayard points out that in THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
the story is related by Watson (with input from Holmes), and that
they could be wrong in their conclusions, just as they have been
wrong other times. (I am not sure this argument transfers to THE
MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, because in that we have an actual
confession, though I suppose Bayard may argue that the person
confessing may in fact be shielding someone else or some such.)
Anyway, if you find this sort of analysis interesting, you will
want to give this a try. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
No one appreciates the very special genius
of your conversation as a dog does.
--Christopher Morley