dreaming

[Paul DiFilippo]

I have to weigh in against the interpretation "GR is all Pirate's
dream."  Although the mythic resonances of a demiurge fantasizing
such an elaborate shadwoplay are rich, they are just not as
satisfying as the "reality" of seeing events and people in GR
as "actually existing" on whatever level we traditionally assign
to fictional characters as premodern (?) as Huck Finn and Sherlock
Holmes.  In the Science Fiction field, the revelation that 
some fiction has all been a dream is viewed as a nasty "reader
cheater."  An old joke has it that the printer accidentally
omitted the final line form Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS (and
all for the better):  "Frodo awoke and it had all been a dream."

--
Paul Di Filippo/2 Poplar St./Providence, RI 02906/401-751-0139
"Real eyes realize real lies."