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author handle his novel his own way, right or wrong.
[back]
91. The published version had Brother Paul hurting the men
somewhat which misses the point. The truly proficient martial artist
can subdue others efficiently without hurting them, and Brother Paul
is no hypocrite. Writer evidently didn't catch on that it is a
deliberately crude, TV-violence type scene that is nevertheless
concluded by pacifistic means. You don't see that as often. The point
made here is not the merit of gratuitous violence, but that of
competent pacifism. I was raised as a Quaker (The Religious Society
of Friends), and a guiding principle of Quakerism is to seek the
nonviolent solution. I did not join that faith, but I remain impressed
by its tenets, and they do guide my life in subtle ways. As an agnostic I
am not against religion, just apart from it.
[back]
92. Most of this paragraph was deleted by Blue. Any hint of
philosophy is anathema, it seems.
[back]
93. Writer changed this to a .25 automatic pistol with a magazine of
six cartridges. I don't remember why I set up the gun as I did, but I
normally draw from reality unless I have reason for fantasy. I believe
I had reference to a derringer of this description the kind of tiny gun
that can kill. People tend to assume that all handguns are standard;
they are not.
[back]
94. Writer deleted this prayer, apparently objecting to any religious
expression. I am, as I said, agnostic, professing no belief in any
religion or any supernatural phenomenon, but I respect those who do
believe. Brother Paul is a deeply religious man, and so I portray him
as he is. I do not feel it is the place of the writer to impose his private
religious, political or moral code on the reader; thus you would not
know from the text of the novel that I do not believe in God. I do feel it
is the place of the writer to characterize people realistically, and I did
my best with Brother Paul. This is the attitude Brother Paul has, and I
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daresay he's a better man than I am. He does pray openly when he
feels it is appropriate but only then. Nobody else had any business
castrating him like this, cutting off his prayer. It is a matter of artistic
integrity a concept evidently foreign to these revisionists.
[back]
95. Black can't handle this. "Beethoven's 9th on a piccolo! (where did
he get the piccolo?) No he's whistling, but it sounds like a piccolo
perfect pitch while he's stacking wood (150 pound logs?)" Here we
go again! Miss Black evidently was so eager to pan this scene that she
started her note before completely reading the passage, then had to
correct herself as she went along. I've commented before on her
evident motive: the sheer need to make her mark, regardless of the
good of the novel. Here her ignorance about country life betrays her
again. Brand is not at this point hoisting a 150-pound log, he's
stacking split wood. To trace the process of reduction, that I did not
feel was necessary in the novel (never underestimate the ignorance of
the copyed!): the 150-pound log was four feet long, a handy size for
hauling in from the forest. It was then sawed into three sixteen-inch-
long billets, each weighing about 50 pounds. These were split into
quarters, each quarter weighing about twelve and a half pounds. It is
these quarters Brand is stacking as he whistles. He's a powerful man;
he can pick up such a piece of wood with one hand without bursting
out in sweat or gasping from the strain. I do it all the time, preparing
wood for our stove, and I'm not as strong as Brand is. This whole
process, like so much of what I present in this novel, is taken directly
from my own experience. I know whereof I speak, here. Yes, the
whistling too: certainly it is possible to play the theme from
Beethoven's Ninth on a piccolo; I can do it on the recorder, which is a
flutelike instrument, or on the harmonica, or I can whistle it. I'm no
musician, so I don't do it well, but anyone would recognize it. Brand is
better at this than I am, so he does it well. You don't have to render
Beethoven with a full orchestra; it's excellent music however you do
it, and a haunting theme. I believe the song for the United Nations
uses that tune: "Walk beside me, O my brother,..." Not only is it
possible on such instruments, it's easy one of the readiest classical
themes to adapt. As Miss Black would have known, had she bothered
to try it herself. Meanwhile, Writer checked with his wife yes, his
note to that effect is right there on the manuscript! and she evidently
reassured him about this point, so he left this scene in. This whole
challenge was much ado about nothing. In fact, this whole blundering
editing job but I'm starting to froth at the mouth!
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