Monkey's Marginalia, No 14

1. I am pleased to point out that Terry Priest has updated his great resource on all things Traven with some of his notes on S. and a comparison of of the two reclusive authors, Straka and Traven.

2. Geekyzen pointed out to me in the comments of an earlier post that another blogger has mentioned Stephen King in relation to S.  I am feeling a bit sheepish as I forgot all about it until after I had written my post on King.

3. I have found marginalia notes to support the alternate ending found on the Jen Heyward's tumblr blog.

• Filomela gives a sealed envelope to Eric and Jen.  According to Arturo, Filomela was given the envelope by a Frenchman (Desjardins, probably) in the 1970s and although it was in her possession, she never opened it.  (marginalia, pp. 422 & 452)
• Eric's note in pencil noting the shifting point of view from S to Vevoda VI.  Jen adds a coment about the monkey's vantage point. (marginalia, p. 343)  
• Jen also notes that this version gives her nightmares: "All those women..." which is a reference to S finding the three women dead along with a baby in Vevoda's cellar.  (marginalia, p. 452)
• Jen notes that the naval mines are not included in ending of the print book, and Eric notes that Filomela probably didn't know that Straka was going to include them. (marginalia, p. 455) 

4.  More fun and games with anagrams. The printing on the back of the photo of the mysterious arch can anagram to a number of things. Oh, btw, the arch is a blind arch as its purpose is decorative and is not supporting anything.  The wording on the back of the photo reads:  This paper manufactured by Spectra Photo.

• pirate treasure map
• suspect s estate map phony bouchard paris fr
• the postcards are not ciphers
• arch coordinates are by a sea (remaining letters PRMUFUCTPHT) 

5. And there may be a possible transposition cipher in Chapter 5, Down, and Out.  I put both paragraphs on a grid and left off the last part of the second paragraph which allows both pieces of text to fit on a 18x18 square.  Instead of putting the paragraphs on top of each other, I turned them so they are facing each other; because when you hold hands, it's the palms of the hands that face each other and touch.   As the number of characters in both text strings are divisible (50 & 49 characters) and therefore can fit onto a grid, they are good candidates for some sort of transposition cipher. 

AUREETKTEUNIEINEDWTETAYSHGOHOTHSPDAEOEMTEWHCBLTWAP

BTENHODHMMOHKGOHIOTYTEITEUEYEHUIDIDFLISOVAKOEGMEA

(8/17/14, edited for grammar and tags added)

The Nazca King

I had left off with a teaser about how I thought Stephen King might be the Nazca king as mentioned in the previous Monkey's Marginalia.  I enjoy King's writing, but I've never really been a fan of horror, so I gleened what I could off of what I remembered and from the internet. If there are any King fans out there who can add to this list, I will be happy to include your contributions (and give you credit).

1. My mom pointed out that 19 is a very important number in King's Tower series.  Wikipedia says the the series was inspired by Browning's Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came; and the character Roland Deschain was inspired by the Clint Eastwood character, "the man with no name."  Even the Michael Whelan illustration for the Dark Tower bears a striking resemblance to Eastwood.   The primary antagonist of the series is the Crimson King, aka, Lord of Spiders.  His purpose is to tear down the foundations of the dark tower to destroy the existing worlds so he can rule the resulting chaos, not unlike Vevoda, who seeks to control the narrative so that he can rule the world by hiding his true intent. 

2.  King does use other authors for inspiration and real events for his stories.  Ray Bradbury, Robert Browning, Richard Matheson, Joseph Payne Brennan, and many others have inspired King.  It was an anthology of H.P. Lovecraft that inspired him to become a writer of horror fiction.

3.  According to the Eotvos Wheel website:

The Nineteenth Prince of Spiders (c. 400 A.D.), allegedly an important religious and political leader from the third phase of the Nazca civilization. (N. b.: The Nazca lived in what is present-day Peru and are known for their creation of mysterious geoglyphs that extend over long stretches of desert ground.) According to Straka, Prince of Spiders, a 1951 book by the American clairvoyant/amateur archaeologist/Straka enthusiast Sullivan Dunn, this Nazca prince was his society’s “keeper of narrative” and has continued to deliver stories, Muse-like, to writers throughout the world and throughout the ages. Dunn speculated that the prince’s transcendent powers may have stemmed from a connection to a wise and culturally-advanced race of extraterrestrials, though he noted, helpfully, that he had not yet unearthed conclusive proof of this. Dunn’s disciples, though much fewer in number today, are still extant (and vocal) in the world of amateur Straka sleuthing. 

King wrote the introduction for the 400th issue of Batman (DC Comics).  DC Comics was at one point known as Adventure Comics before the name evolved to what it is today.  We already know 19 is important to Stephen King, but as far as I can tell 51 might be a reference to his 51st book appearing in print, 11/22/63, which could also be another potential vintage for Vevoda's cellar.
The name Sullivan Dunn can be related to William Dunn, who purchased the film rights for Pet Semetary with King; and possibly to William Sullivan who appears in three short stories of King's, or Timothy Robert Sullivan, author, (from Bangor, Maine) who has appeared as Oberon in Ill Met by Moonlight, and adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. (Just a reminder that Ill Met by Moonlight is one of the reference ads used as inspiration in the McKay's review.)

4.  The Shining.  King hated Kubrick's adaptation of novel, even though it is considered by many to be a masterpiece.  Perhaps just as interesting is Kubrick's own copy of The Shining, which he used for reference when making the film.

Look familiar? (image from openculture.org)

5.  The monster in It takes the form of a spider. Stephen King's father was born in Peru, Indiana and the Nazca lived in what is now the country of Peru.  This involves world play, but King was the surname of Stephen King's father, so in essence, King is a king (from is his surname) and a prince (as he is the son of a "king").  

(8/17/14 edits for grammar and tags added)

Another package recieved from our fine feathered friends...

Since June 6 is the anniversary of Straka's death, it seemed fitting to release another version of Chapter 10 from Ship of Theseus at midnight, Havanna, Cuba time.  Hope you all enjoy these alternate versions as much as I have.