Kevin's Watch

Part 1, " lest you prove unable to serve me" Chapter 1..Reunion

Like bumping into an old friend at a restaurant, I happily opened Fatal Revenant, witnessed a display of memories and accompanying subjectivity of them , then faced the author of today , extended my open mind, and with Reunion before me, asked , " How the Heck have You Been?"....He answered,, " In sunshine as vivid as revelation, Linden Avery knelt on the stone of a low-walled coign like a balcony high in the outward face of Revelstone's watchtower.".....I smiled. I immediately grasped that I seemed to be in a mental Emeril's restaurant and I needed to take it up a notch,,or two.

What a fantastic opening appetizer for a Reunion! " In sunshine as vivid as revelation, Linden Avery knelt on the stone of a low-walled coign like a balcony high in the outward face of Revelstone's watchtower." The lyrical alliteration flows from N's and Vs thru Ls to the long Os as a stream runs its course through and over smooth rocks. The Contrasts stick out in opposition with intended effect. The ethereal sunshine, intangible revelation, float infinite distances from the tactile stone and wall. Direction flows " in" and "outward" There is Place low and high. There is Time;the immediate now of revelation and the first of the authors classic old words, " coign". There is also a new,a somewhat subtle new, in this metaphor loaded opening line. There are reminders of the authors penchant for mystery, hidden in the line.

The word " coign" jumped to my sense as a red flag would. "Coign", a vantage point; to do with perspective. Interesting it is that the word traces back to first usage by Shakespeare, in Macbeth, uttered by Banquo as he gazes at Macbeth's castle and refers to it as a pleasant or nice enough place to stay.The naivete of Banquo's perspective is in high contrast to the reality of that castle , for those familiar with the Bard's play. " Coign" is a clue adding dimension to the mystery we are introduced to in Reunion. The " old" word is served in the connected metaphor that uses "revelation." Donaldson, old friend, you have only got better. Avery's vantage point, perspective, as well as perhaps the readers, as witnessed in display here, in KW, still has some naivete to deal with. How long was it before you were absolutely sure about the Covenant who arrives on horseback in Reunion? Easy enough for me to point out in retrospect but take heart. I laugh at myself as well, and anticipate to be laughing at myself a lot more before this dissection is over. Without naivete, how can there be revelation?

Okay, wrung the begeezers out of the old word " coign ", yet there is more to this opening line that i referred to as "new". Can you feel it? There is an awkwardness here, a positioning from which, a mental vertigo is experienced as if indeed, I am looking from a high balcony. Its established from the last time , the last of the last meeting with the author,in " Find Me " that, Linden and party ascend the steps inside the Keep, and take the rope bridge to the watchtower . They are in the watchtower. Then there is this simile, " like a balcony high in the outward face of Revelstone's watchtower." Uuum..at first read, I sensed an awkwardness there., a confusion on my part. What does he mean, " like"? They ARE in the watchtower!! Like and are. The metaphor and actual. Let me turn it around to make it easier. The actual and the metaphor. This opening line ..loaded with metaphor, marries the actual to the metaphor. They are one, or at least,as married as I am to my shadow on a sun shiney day. What a revelation!.. Okay, maybe I go too far into this dissection. I guess its all a matter of perspective... " Find Me" and "Reunion". The appetizer just hints at the deliciousness yet to be tasted.

This vertigo, brought by continuing further dimensioning of unknown and new shadowing, I start to become comfortable with." Implacable as the Masters, Stave.." wait a sec.. Stave WAS a Master..Again the actual same as the metaphor with a dash of shadow of Time. Liand's awe at the approaching tableau might as well be mine. The actual and the metaphor becomes un-separable. Place and Time fade in and out for Linden as she focuses solely on TC and Jeremiah on horseback. They arrive in high drama and the first we hear from the resurrected Covenant, his first words,," Hellfire Linden! Put that damn thing out!" So much for sunshine and surreal revelation. Again, in retrospect, the clue is obvious. The worst kind. Donaldson laughs and I laugh along. The inability of Stave to penetrate the resurrected Covenant and Jeremiah; another clue, in retrospect laid bare in front of us.As The author does with us as he does with Linden: All her memories push Linden into the glamor that the Insequent had warned her about. The next clue is dropped in harshness, " Don't Touch him! Don't touch either of us!"In panic he even casts a wall to stop her from embracing her son.

Amazing in their duplicity where the words assigned to TC. Now we can savour their nuance. Each one correct and actual in its setting, yet a hidden meaning of the malice involved, shadows every syllable. A favorite as spoke by the resurrected Covenant:" I know what to do. Thats why we're here. When we're done, your problems will be over"...Yeeeowww!.thats some good tabasco!.. The subjectivity of real and the mystery of what is True; their exploration begins here. Illusion and Truth begin their metaphoric divination in Reunion.

Up high, overlooking all, we start off exploring what makes up our humanity. Quickly to the earthly plane ,where how easily we, and Linden, accept excuses for denial of Love ,reads like a menu after a doctors visit loaded with warning. Our memories are so beguiling. There is always another hole in the belt. Yet Linden holds off, exhibits just enough reserve, caution, to suggest she has better control of her figure than we do of ours. Thank god words have weight, but no calories. Yet the chapter ends far from the high sunshine of surreal revelation but rather in the low gloom and darkness of the doubt of Linden questioning Tom's.."humanity"...Lots of Irony in that diet. Yet,they both taste so dang gone goooood! Kudos to the chef and a grand tip to the waiter for proving to serve us so well!!

While I haven't the time at the moment for any lengthy reply, I just want to say that your initial post here is excellent, lurch.

I will reread and reread again, and dive into this discussion as soon as I can. Well done on opening the dissection!

Damn good dissection, Lurch!

Like bumping into an old friend at a restaurant, I happily opened Fatal Revenant, witnessed a display of memories and accompanying subjectivity of them , then faced the author of today , extended my open mind, and with Reunion before me, asked , " How the Heck have You Been?"....He answered,, " In sunshine as vivid as revelation, Linden Avery knelt on the stone of a low-walled coign like a balcony high in the outward face of Revelstone's watchtower.".....I smiled. I immediately grasped that I seemed to be in a mental Emeril's restaurant and I needed to take it up a notch,,or two.

This opening paragraph brought a smile to my face - great start.

I'll post more comments soon - but FR dissection has begun!

Excellent intro, Lurch.

Now, I will have to go back and re-read the book. I had forgotten that dissection begins.

Yep, I need to go reread (or probably re-listen, thanks to Scott) too.

Great intro, Lurch. You bring a very different dimension -- deeper, more poetic or metaphysical -- than most of us...

caamora wrote:Excellent intro, Lurch.

Now, I will have to go back and re-read the book. I had forgotten that dissection begins.

Thank You Caamora. Your words mean very much more to me than perhaps a lot of the newer folks realize.

Relayer..the prose of Donaldson in TCofTC has always been transporting to me . The authors intent to get us to The Land has always been facilitated and thus successful by his use of prose.

So, if Iunderstand you correctly Lurch; you don't really like Donaldson's writting style?

J/K of course.
What a great opening dissection!!

Just as the chapter is a great opening chapter.
You've opened the door very wide for the ret of us to foollow.

Yep, we're right where we left off and SRD's combination of the actual and the metaphor make it so in a magical way. You seriously trip me out lurch, you have one of the most lyrical and deepest voice on the Watch. I love your analogies and quips like, "Yeeeowww!.thats some good tabasco!.." and "There is always another hole in the belt." You never left Emerils,,,fantastico! BAM!

Danlo...Your words are too kind..I'm not sure who speaks thru these finger tips as I type. I just kinda open my brain and follow a train of thought. I seem to only step in afterwards and clean it up.

Something that interests me, is this relationship between the author and the reader. Yes there is the entertainment, but with this introduction of this Illusion TC, there is a added dimension to the relationship fostered by the author. To say that he tricks us is perhaps a bit too sharp. After all, he does acknowledge us as participants in the story by doing so. Again, more than by invitation, closer to a strong arm, Donaldson kinda makes the reader a character in the story. The author knows the allure of his creation Thomas Covenant. We become the metaphor .

Its like, if you read a Reed Stephenson book,, you know its a mystery. If you read the Gap series, you know its a sci-fi book. Yet , I remember how it came to be ,, the first read of LFB, how I was engrossed immediately, how the author seemed to be exploring and thus exposing some deep inside of himself stuff. Now, with the unannounced, perhaps sneaky, intro of the false TC,,he seems to be turning the tables around a bit,,and making us have a look at ourselves.

Personal identity, the Truth of ones self, is at the core of the Surreal perspective. The author begins in earnest to involve us in that solving of mystery for Linden. So I begin to wonder. The section is titled, " lest you prove unable to serve me..."...uuummm..words spoken by Lord Foul. The question seems to arise, in all this metaphor,,who is Lord Foul? The Reader?,,the Author?

Wow, Lurch. The things I've missed! fabulous start for the analysis. I thought I was missing things merely because I didn't bother to open my dictionaries (they'll definitely be there for the 2nd read) but now I discover there's a whole bunch of hidden similes and metaphors. I wouldn't have noticed in a million years.

How many of you beside Lurch noticed them?

One thing to note about the word 'coign' is that it sounds like another word: coy. This could describe Linden's relationship with Covenant and Jeremiah very well. I don't think it's coincidental.

shadow...in a way, they are really not all that hidden.. Every mention of " like".." as" or" as in"..is an invite to the similes,,alludes, analogous that build the metaphor.

Interesting it is,, is how loaded the opening paragraphs are with the Like and As and then disappear into the certainty of Are and Is once the author has us under his aegis.

.. a really unique and incisive look at chapter 1 Lurch, I applaud thee, good reading !

lurch wrote:shadow...in a way, they are really not all that hidden.. Every mention of " like".." as" or" as in"..is an invite to the similes,,alludes, analogous that build the metaphor.

Interesting it is,, is how loaded the opening paragraphs are with the Like and As and then disappear into the certainty of Are and Is once the author has us under his aegis.

Well I can see them now once you pointed them out to me but before that I edited it out without even noticing that there was anything to notice there. What does the sentence the sentence 'All men are born equal' mean?

Is the second 'the sentence' intentional? Ordinarily no and so we think it's a typo if we notice it at all.

So this new literary vehicle is used only at the beginning?

So this new literary vehicle is used only at the beginning?[/quote]

Seems to me that ,,as we come under his guidance, his control..the likes and as's drop in frequency and are sensible ,,in that they are not awkward...BUT...awkward moments continue . I don't want to take anything away from future dissected chapters so..just keep in mind the idea that the actual and metaphor being " one",,now allows the author to state everything as,,Is and Are,,,with another depth to it that you may perceive or not...Look for the polar opposites, the diametrically opposed, the high contrasts,,The conflict between these opposites may bring rise to a perceived added meaning or dimension. I've already said too much,,
but a lot of it is in the words themselves...To know what a word's second or third or even fourth meaning is,,sometimes adds just enough for a whole new flavor...This may be Fantasy,,but it is Literature.

You may want to google Surrealism,,and read up on the first two pages of everything listed..then i can give you a link or two to some good stuff. Its my firm belief that Donaldson is pushing all the Surreal buttons in Last Chrons.

Sorry I am late to the party.

Thanks for the great opening dissection, Lurch. For a moment, you had me worried, as you spent a whole page on the first sentence alone. At that rate, I expected to be reading for a LONG time. But you reigned yourself in. Reigned like ruled.

I see the metaphors too. Sunshine and revelation. Looking outward from behind the wall. High above the plain.

This is Linden. And so we are drawn in. And, o, what revelations!

I could only wish that prose could transport me as far and as wide as it transports you. Like your cloud pictures, I think you see things that others shrug off as merely subconscious or only a rorschachian mirage.

Anyway ... Donaldson's similes blow me a way too. Although I don't see as many as you do. Consider:
- "holding her fire over her head like a beacon"
- "a wave of force like a wall halted her"

As you might say, these "likes" are practically "ises" and "ares". Very, very strong. Donaldson plays the reader with these. Once you assimilate his "like" into your mindset, he hits you with
- "She had to swallow grief like a mouthful of ashes"
- "Liand gave her a hug like a promise that she could rely on him"

And you read "like" but you think "is" and "are". And it blows you away.

Thanks, Lurch.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The title of the first part is interesting. "lest you prove unable to serve me".

If you remember, Lord Foul spoke those words to Linden when he helped her, and she didn't understand why he would.

What does that mean, here? Is Linden in some way being assisted by Lord Foul?

- - - - - - - - - -

This chapter, I think, can be summed up as "Linden gets back something broken". She is finally reunited with Covenant and Jeremiah, and it is a quintisential letdown. Because they've changed.

Covenant's first words to Linden are "Hellfire, Linden, put that damn thing out." Incredible. He swears at her. He commands her. He dismisses her power. He disrespects her Staff. He puts himself on top, belittles her position, her stature, her self. All in one sentence.

And his second words are "Don't touch him. Don't touch either of us." More commands. Severing connections. Denying love. Trashing hope. Snatching away what Linden wants, needs, strives for. All in one other sentence.

She needed the balm of touching Covenant; of hugging and hugging Jeremiah, running her fingers through his hair, stroking his cheeks—But she had been refused. Even the warm clean fire of the Staff of Law had been forbidden to her.

(Touch is the sensation most linked with emotion.)

Jeremiah's first response to his mother is to throw up a wall between them. The act is so rife with metaphor as to sicken one.

And Jeremiah's first words are "He's right." I'm with him. What he said. Us against you. All in one sentence.

Who can fail to comprehend the disaster that befalls Linden here in this chapter?

Even Jeremiah's awareness, his speech, is an attack on Linden. With her, he was crippled; without her, he is powerful. Everything she ever did for him raising him, healing him, is rendered meaningless. Ten years of effort are rendered a failure.

Of course, she struggles to be happy for Jeremiah, but she can't be, not with everything going so bad, not with everything coming back so broken.

In the instant that she recognized Thomas Covenant and Jeremiah, the meaning of her entire life changed. Everything that she had known and understood and assumed was altered, rendering empty or unnecessary or foolish her original flight from the Masters, her time among the Ramen, her participation in the horserite of the Ranyhyn. Even her precipitous venture into the Land's past in order to retrieve her Staff of Law no longer held any significance.

Even her actions in the Land until now have become needless, useless, meaningless.

- - - - - - - - - -

Fortunately, Linden's brain starts to kick in. She starts noticing things.

She realizes that the Demondim herded Covenant and Jeremiah into Revelstone. Which means that they wanted them here.

And Covenant looked younger.

Now she could see clearly the cut in Covenant's shirt where he had been stabbed, and the old scar on his forehead. Flames lit his eyes like threats; demands. His appearance was only slightly changed. After ten years and more than three millennia, the grey was gone from his hair: he looked younger despite his gauntness. And the marks of the wounds that he had received while Linden had known him were gone as well, burned away by his consummation in wild magic.

For some reason, Covenant looks like the Second Chronicles had never happened to him.

"Are you even real?" she wonders aloud.

And to herself, If Covenant could do all of this, why had he told her to find him?

Be cautious of love.

- - - - - - - - - -

There are so many things to discuss here for those who have finished the book! I guess I can spoiler them.

Spoiler

There are so many clues that Covenant and Jeremiah are not what the seem. Some I have mentioned above under 'suspicions'. But here's a glaring one. When Covenant says "You don't have the experience to understand it", now I can see that this is exactly what you-know-who said to Linden in the Runes Prologue. Then there is Jeremiah's nervous tic. As far as I am concerned, whenever someone in a book has a nervous tic, it invariably means that the character is repressing truth, or sometimes it even indicates that someone is trapped inside, unable to get out.

- - - - - - - - - -

Odds and ends:

Linden says to Stave, "Your senses are better than mine", and asks him what she sees in Covenant. Followed by "the vision of the Haruchai had always exceeded hers." I don't understand when the Haruchai's health-sense surpassed Linden's. In TWL, she saw the lessening of the Sunbane before the Haruchai did - her percipience then was the keener. Is this explained, or is this another subtle revision of Haruchai abilities between Chronicles?

wayfriend..yes yes yes....aren't his similes fascinating? There is real Art in them. They cross normal boundaries in their comparisons. They break the parameters of the expected. Vivid sunshine as revelation...Acute light,,something we can see or observe, sense..married to an totally unseeable internal yet experienced phenomena,,Same with Guilt and mouthful of ash,,internal feeling with a tangible yet spent gross out...On and on the author expands comparisons into the " surreal".. He pushes the reader into the stretched perceptions of the surreal nature. The surreal is...the observation of the polar opposites in interface and a rising to a higher " surreal" ,,extra real realization...This is Donaldson at play with his similes and metaphors..

Linden says to Stave, "Your senses are better than mine", and asks him what she sees in Covenant. Followed by "the vision of the Haruchai had always exceeded hers." I don't understand when the Haruchai's health-sense surpassed Linden's. In TWL, she saw the lessening of the Sunbane before the Haruchai did - her percipience then was the keener. Is this explained, or is this another subtle revision of Haruchai abilities between Chronicles?

I asked about this in the GI, here's the answer:

dlbpharmd

In 2nd Chronicles, Linden's health sense surpasses the Land sight of the Haruchai, but in ROTE (and again in the cruelly truncated preview chapter of FR) the opposite is true. Is there a reason for this difference?

The obstacles to health-sense have changed. The Sunbane *fed* on Haruchai to a significant extent: it was, in a manner of speaking, tuned to them. And Lord Foul actively sought to make Linden as vulnerable as possible. Kevin's Dirt is an entirely different form of hindrance: it obscures rather than corrupts Earthpower. Naturally Earthpowerful beings (the Haruchai, the Ranyhyn) "pierce the veil" more easily than ordinary humans can.

(04/18/2007)

Thanks, Don! The good news is that I'm not crazy. The bad news is I'm not tremendously happy with that answer... The Haruchai were immune to the Sunbane. The good news is that that was a good question!

Wait a minute... didn't we determine once a while back that the Haruchai had no health sense in the Second Chronicles?

wayfriend wrote:Thanks, Don! The good news is that I'm not crazy. The bad news is I'm not tremendously happy with that answer... The Haruchai were immune to the Sunbane. The good news is that that was a good question!

Wait a minute... didn't we determine once a while back that the Haruchai had no health sense in the Second Chronicles?

thats right. they failed to meet their deductible for the coverage period.

Oh crap! This has started. I need to get reading! Lurch, I can't wait to read your analysis. I will start reading FR immediately and respond as soon as possible.