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Definitely post something (Auschwitz and Hiroshima mostly). The Kid is real--a lot of C's gnostic inclinations are on display here, in a more explicit fashion than ever. The basic idea is, I think, that the human mind is just a fact among others and its vision of the world is just a Darwinian simulation for the purposes of survival and reproduction (a string in a maze) in a generally incomprehensible and inconceivable cosmos. There are quite a few references to Kant ("There are only two ways in which we can account for a necessary agreement of experience with the concepts of its objects: either experience makes these concepts possible or these concepts make experience possible."), and I wonder if C was even reading Donald Hoffman at some point. I think the references to Berkeley (the ne plus ultra Idealist) gesture in the same direction, although C is definitely not an Idealist and believes in an external reality--but one that we are finally aliens in, hence his secular gnosticism. All of which to say Alicia is a mutant and the Virgin Mary, can actually perceive paranormal entities, and her death on Christmas apparently represents a kind of failed Messianic birth/Second Coming. The Kid is her son from another universe, although I believe there's a cryptic passage in the Passenger that suggests she did give birth to a deformed child at some point (where the doctor says something about not being able to unsee what's been seen--another familiar McCarthy topos). He may also be a djinn (he's called that at one point), and I have some memory of the Judge explicitly identifying himself as a djinn in an earlier draft of Blood Meridian. I believe he may be a demonic spirit (references to brimstone) attempting to in some way make use of Alice's mathematical insights. I wondered if in some way the relationship between Bobby and Alice embodied the relationship between Physics and Pure Mathematics. Exhausted birds on the beach are also described as passengers at some point, which seemed crucial. They're climate refugees among other things. I think a significant influence on Alice's story is the true story of Grothendieck, who is also referenced a few times. There's a semi-fictional book called "When we Cease To Understand the World" which came out a few years ago; it's not great but it deals with many of the same themes. I have no idea what to make of the literal missing passenger. porfiria fucked around with this message at 09:03 on Aug 8, 2023 |
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Aug 8, 2023 09:00
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 17:12 |
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