Chap 17, "the eponymous organ...", read past Spoiler

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Eric Alan Weinstein wrote:











You enter the Museum of the Severed
> ear. "You pays your money and you takes your pick".
> 

beautiful stuff there about the ear, eric. i can only add that as i've
continued to think about this masterfull seen, it's become for me a sort
of microcosm for the madness of science/society/knowledge/spirituality
motif in the novel. mason's entry into the museum is a wonderful riff on
the descent of the hero into the underworld epic trope. mason's
reactions to the whole scene as it begins to unfold itself to him are
key in developing his character, among other contributions to the
breadth of the novel. he enters an underground chamber of madness on
hands and knees, nearly in a claustophobic panic. he reluctantly (?)
bears witness to the whole side-show (under-show?) production, and as he
does, he becomes an exhibit for the reader--the lure, perhaps the
slippery slope, of madness and the irreal. he notices the taut attention
of the ear, and in a few blinks he's actually speaking into it. i
imagine him crouched so low to the dirt-packed floor as to have to turn
his head. and then the memory loss thing and the suggestion that he'd
been split in twain, one part remaining in the museum, the other heading
back to the line. and to top it all off, dixon, ever the foil, tugging
at his leg about hearing his "prayer" in the wind. sheesh! how can i go
to work when someone out there is writing like this?
ray