STetc ch 35 the song?

[Michael Bailey]

Robin Landseadel wrote

________________________________

Ties in with all the characters in Shadow Ticket who cannot go home again and sometimes,
even worse, "home" doesn't exist anymore. Once Hicks was informed that April Randazzo was
about to be married to vicious Outfit hotshot Don Peppino Infernacci the jig was up, so to speak,
though it appears that Hicks isn't so quick on the draw—it takes something like eleven months
for the lunk to get the message.




That's a fair assessment, in a way - the longing and sadness are genuine

-- but did I get that right about the double dotted beat?



As always, looking for the brighter side of life, I want, however, also to point out

a) the operetta it's from is a comedy, and from the summary in Wikipedia, it looks like they do get back to Split
- not that it's unknown - or even unusual - for a song or poem to become meaningful in a completely different way from its context
- I looked up that Auden poem from 4 Weddings & a Funeral, " and in original context it's totally satirizing overblown institutionalized funereal grief for a politician
- even though it's drawn sobs from Bast knows how many people, myself included

- but still...maybe the ST takeaway needn't be 100% mandatory gloom


b) Hicks has a panoply of possible loves, and although that April "the cruelest month" Randazzo's a crackerjack dance partner & heartthrob, I fantasize him with Daphne -- I do, I really do, they'd be great together! She keeps hinting at it too. Talk about imperceptive lunks!

It seems like he's more into Terike, but hmmm at the end of the book remember how he's plunging into something like love but she's already beginning to have her doubts? I wouldn't rule out him rebounding if & when Terike opts out (Ace, remember, isn't completely out of the picture, is he?) - and seeking out Daphne's penumbra upon a hypothetical return to these American shores would give Hicks a viable niche, obvious to all & sundried tomatoes that he poses no threat to anybody else's nups...

But I also think there's a future for Oedipa & Genghis Cohen in CoL49 ... so... (to revive a Dave Monroe (requiescat in pace) locution)


Sequels to all these with such romantic possibilities - if he doesn't want to write them, maybe license a TRP universe like Asimov et al did...yeah, probably not (-; but ¿quién sabe?

Oh, and hey - shout out to Joseph, nice catch on the Skeet Wheeler Zoyd's father probability!