tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504598332261057441.post5141773455816100243..comments2024-03-21T19:03:19.133-04:00Comments on Where there had been darkness...: Roger Zelazny Book Review: Passion PlayJugularjoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03768939120752611597noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6504598332261057441.post-31732797390071590122011-06-03T06:57:44.050-04:002011-06-03T06:57:44.050-04:00I went back and read this story again after postin...I went back and read this story again after posting this and I think Zelazny did something particularly clever. As the notes to the the COLLECTED STORIES point out, Von Tripps died at the Grand Prix at Monza, and not at Le Mans, and they point out that myths often drift away from the events they depict as they are told and retold. However, there is brief line in the story:<br /><br />"We scream about the turn, in this great Italian classic of two centuries ago. We run them all here, at the place, regardless of where they were held originally."<br /><br />And to me, that suggests that Zelazny suspected that his recollection of Le Mans may not have been correct, and he was hedging his bets a little. That's another reason why I like the story. It depicts these machines, reenacting an event that they don't properly remember, and which may come to resemble the initial event not at all. And as is so often with his work, I find the ambiguity appealing. Were the machines wrong about the details, or do they simply perform all of these rituals at Le Mans? I think it works either way.Jugularjoshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03768939120752611597noreply@blogger.com