Amazing indeed. I always felt when reading the novels that there was a mystery to unravel. You know it's there but you don't know what it is.

No doubt, as Jean-Daniel is doing, a scrupulous scan of every reference in the novels to anything obscure will unravel some of the threads.

But one would have to be as well read as Whittemore to get all the meanings contained therein.

Indeed, an annoted Whittemore would be excellent, but who would do it?

I have always intended to create a page detailing all the sources, but it seems a huge job and time consuming to boot.

If I make a start it will at least be a beginning, but time is the problem.

Anne

--Previous Message--
: This quartet is indeed like a tapestry: try to
: follow a thread, and you're soon lost in the
: weave.
: I'm doing research right now, about chapter
: 7 of Nile Shadows. I managed to locate the
: (Thomas) Mann quote (it's from "Joseph
: and his Brothers", vol. 1), to learn a
: bit more about the Athanasian Creed, and
: what do I find on page 121? A dreadful
: pun/reference to Herman Hesse.
: I hope I didn't miss more puns...
: JD
:
: --Previous Message--
: Should EW ever achieve the literary status
: he
: deserves, an annotated Jerusalem Quartet
: would be pretty amazing. Hmm.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Geez. A scholar could spend years unpacking
: the historical and literary nods in
: Whittemore's novels. EW's historical
: worldliness is incomparable, and his use of
: that knowledge in fiction dwarfs similar
: attempts by Pynchon and DeLillo. But they
: attain literary fame? Go figure.
:
:
: