Fatherland / Maps / Against The Day

[Great Quail]

Guy writes,
 
> I'm coming to the end of Against The Day now (I missed my New Year
> deadline for those that remember)

I have also decided to pick up the book again. I was 400 pages into it when
it first came out, then things in my life went a bit topsy-turvy, and I set
it down, where for two years it's been watching me like some weird
rectangular clam of gray & white reproachfulness.

But right before Christmas, I went out and bought me the newfangled
paperback edition -- much more friendly in the subway -- and started from
Page 1. I forgot how much I loved the book...

> Plus, can you imagine how many maps Against The Day would need?! And if
> maps, why not a glossary? Or a bibliography? A-and picture inserts of
> various period-and-therefore-no-longer-obtainable items?

I dream of a "Diamond Age" style hyperbook....or a role-playing game set in
the Colombian exposition!

> On a semi-serious note, I have been thinking about making maps for some
> of the sections of Against The Day, charting the travels of the
> characters on certain pages... There's enough moving around in the book
> to justify it. Anyone else thought about this? Or know of someone who's
> already done it?

One thing that I am doing -- and this hearkens to my aforementioned
role-playing jones -- I've been making rectangular index cards of all the
main characters. In the upper left corner of each, I paste a 2 x 2" picture
of the character; generally an internet print-out of an actor I've assigned
the role. Then I fill in salient details on the card as I read...

> Some of the four-dimensional stuff might be a bit tricky...

Nah! Just extend the z axis into w-space, following the equation w=e^z, and
be sure to mind your quaternions....

--Quail

+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
The Devo Manifesto
1. Be Like Your Ancestors Or Be Different, It Doesn't Matter.
2. Lay A Million Eggs Or Give Birth To One, So Shall Your Species Survive.
3. Wear Gaudy Colors Or Avoid Display, It's All The Same.
4. The Fittest Shall Survive Yet The Unfit Shall Live.