Castle Dreams - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора John DeChancie (ч. notes)

Примечания

1

Castle Kidnapped

2

Castle for Rent and Castle War!

3

Faster than light.

4

See Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne.

5

The precession of the equinoxes is the earlier occurrence of the equinoxes in each successive sidereal year because of a slow retrograde motion of the equinoctial points along the ecliptic, caused by the wobble inherent in the Earth’s rotation, much like that of a spinning top.

6

From a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.

7

The extreme tip of Latin America is an endlessly fascinating area of the world

8

Despite all his references to exotic locales, the author has never been outside the continental United States (except for Canada, which counts as a foreign country, but not by much; unless you’re talking about Quebec, which is a foreign country).

9

Cawdor is the name of the castle in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Castles seem to be one of the author’s abiding crotchets. (Satellite photos have shown that there are no castles in Tierra del Fuego).

10

The author has never been in a mine, either, but read several books about mining. There is not far from his residence an abandoned coal mine, which belches smoke and flame occasionally. This might also be a classical reference.

11

No, he’s never been to Khartoum, either. In fact, he mostly sits home and reads a lot. Last year, in researching a novel, he read six books on the subject of golf. Imagine that.

12

1. There is no such thing as a “nuclear pulse reactor.” The author just made that up.

13

2. Say, this is nice. I mean, talking like this. You strike me as very intelligent, warm, and sensitive; fun to be with.

14

3. Would you like to get together for lunch someday?

15

I hope you don’t think me forward. We’re getting along so swimmingly. Do you read much? I do. What kind of music do you like? I go for a little classic rock, some contemporary, a little jazz, and Baroque.… Oops, sorry, have to go back to work. Talk to you later.

16

The author would have quoted some lyrics, but obtaining the proper rights and permissions is a costly and vexing process.

17

Cf. “Rhadamanthus,” above. Note the return to mythology here. This mixing of ancient and modern allusions is very clever.

18

As you can see, the Greek mythology theme has been dispensed with in favor of more cryptic allusions. What he’s getting at here is anybody’s guess.

19

Again with the Greek stuff, this time by way of Joyce, which makes the allusion not only charming but adds layers of meaning as well.

20

Very clever notion. This novel is rife with clever notions. At times it borders on being too clever by half. But at least it is not a dull book. There is quite a good deal of dull stuff being published these days in the fantasy genre. Droves of dragons, Celtic swordswomen, elves, magic blades, and the rest, all with titles like Sword-wanker. Witchflinger, Dragonsdong. Dragonwhacker, Spellmacher, and worse. Honestly, it’s enough to make you puke into your flagon of mead.

21

A Latin phrase for a farmer who raises pigs and overfeeds them.

22

The author has obviously skimmed a few books on nautical lore and just as obviously does not know what any of these terms mean.

23

From a poem by Geraldo Rivera. The quotation preceding is from a poem by Burt Reynolds.

24

Yet another snippet of verse by a TV personality, this one from Oprah Winfrey.

25

Your guess is as good as mine.

26

This is a self-referential textual allusion, a device much favored by “postmodernist” writers. This is by far the cleverest touch in the book; but it is by no means original.

27

If Ed McMahon has written any poetry, it is to date unpublished, although rumors abound that there exists a holograph manuscript of something called The “Heerrrrre’s Johnny!” Cantos. By the way, this is the last footnote. I’d like to extend a thank-you to the footnote staff for a job well done. Nice work, people.

28

Sorry, one more thing. The publisher has requested clarification of this in-joke. The comment about the block of worthless Lucite is a clear dig at the annual Nebula Awards, given by the SFWA (the Science Fiction Writers of America) for the best published science fiction of the year. The artifact itself is a transparent rectangular block in which has been suspended traces of an unspecified glittery material in a vague pinwheel configuration, thus suggesting the astronomical. That the author has never won a Nebula should not be taken as an indication that this sardonic aside results from any bitterness on his part; nor should it be taken as a comment on the frauds and scribblers who have inexplicably captured this award in years past.

29

Of course the second Mahler symphony bears the traditional subtitle “Music for Dead People.” Sorry. This will be the last footnote. Promise.

30

Tierra del Fuego is not a nation. It is a group of islands owned partly by Argentina and Chile. The struggle for Tierra del Fuegan independence, however, goes on.