I'm not a saint, I'm not a soldier

[sovay]

I was woken this morning by the tearing air of a fighter jet going over the neighborhood. spatch later said it must have been a flyover for the Red Sox, but I was half-asleep out of nightmares and afraid it was going to bomb someone.

I woke up properly to discover that Gene Wolfe was dead and Notre-Dame de Paris is on fire.

Isn't it enough just to pay taxes?

Comments

[pameladean]

Oh no, no, not Gene Wolfe. He used to come to Fourth Street, but he would never accept an invitation to be the guest of honor. He just wanted to be a member and have lots of conversations. I am horrifically shy and tend to skitter away from possible encounters with idols, but he was so kind and ordinary and funny, even I talked to him. We once commiserated on both having gotten blistering reviews from the same extremely hard-to-please reviewer. I still marvel at that. If the English language could mourn, it would be doing it right now.

I didn't expect to wake up so much poorer, and I'm sure you didn't either. I'd say the fighter jet was seeing him off, but I don't think it would be a fighter jet that would do that.

P.

[sovay]

I am horrifically shy and tend to skitter away from possible encounters with idols, but he was so kind and ordinary and funny, even I talked to him. We once commiserated on both having gotten blistering reviews from the same extremely hard-to-please reviewer. I still marvel at that.

It's wonderful. Thank you for telling me. I met him at Readercon, but never had that kind of conversation.

I'd say the fighter jet was seeing him off, but I don't think it would be a fighter jet that would do that.

I thought at once of a swan, but now I'm not sure that would be right. One of the blue birds off a Minoan fresco, maybe.

[pameladean]

It's wonderful. Thank you for telling me. I met him at Readercon, but never had that kind of conversation.

You are so welcome. Sharing memories is a comfort. I don't think I would have had that conversation at Readercon either. Fourth Street, for both good and ill, was and is so very small that it's easier to work up to these things.

I thought at once of a swan, but now I'm not sure that would be right. One of the blue birds off a Minoan fresco, maybe.

Oh yes, that would be lovely and apt.

P.

[asakiyume]

Oh wow, what dreadful news. Gene Wolfe wasn't someone whom I had familiarity with, but I know he's beloved of many of my friends.

Notre Dame, though, I've been to, and it makes me heartsick to see the photo ....

[sovay]

Gene Wolfe wasn't someone whom I had familiarity with, but I know he's beloved of many of my friends.

He was not one of my formative writers like Lee or Le Guin or Ellison, but he was important to me. I read his Book of the New Sun my sophomore year at Brandeis, I think, because I strongly associate it with second-year Greek and having surprisingly little difficulty with the archaic far-future vocabulary. I read the sequel series The Book of the Long Sun accidentally out of order and always meant to write about the effect it had on my character reactions. Some of his fiction didn't work for me at all; some I thought was wonderful. No one else wrote like him and I will miss that.

Notre Dame, though, I've been to, and it makes me heartsick to see the photo ....

It's awful. I know cathedrals can be rebuilt from burnt shells because it was done after World War II, but they shouldn't have to be. I've been inside this one. The spire fell. It feels like the heart of a country burning.

[asakiyume]

I went up to tell the healing angel after I read your post, because we went there together. She found a NYT story, and one French person said something similar--that it felt like France had been beheaded.

[sovay]

She found a NYT story, and one French person said something similar--that it felt like France had been beheaded.

I keep saying that important people dying is like landscape falling away. This is is the landscape. Like the National Museum of Brazil. The destruction of Palmyra by ISIL. It's not all right.

[asakiyume]

I think I'll just sit a while and grieve ;_;

[sovay]

I think I'll just sit a while and grieve

*hugs*

[cmcmck]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47941794

Just heartbreaking :o(

[sovay]

Just heartbreaking

It is.

[cyphomandra]

Oh no. I’d heard about Notre Dame - currently watching coverage on BBC news - but not Gene Wolfe. He was a fantastic writer, and, when I did a kaffeklatch with him at Worldcon, a lovely genuine man.

[sovay]

I’d heard about Notre Dame - currently watching coverage on BBC news -

I haven't been able to watch any of the videos. The photographs of the spire collapse were bad enough for me.

but not Gene Wolfe. He was a fantastic writer, and, when I did a kaffeklatch with him at Worldcon, a lovely genuine man.

It just doesn't feel like a good time to lose anyone who is any good.

[choco_frosh]

I woke up properly to discover that Gene Wolfe was dead and Notre-Dame de Paris is on fire.

Fucking fuck.
_______________

Isn't it enough for everything to be METAPHORICALLY on fire?

[sovay]

Isn't it enough for everything to be METAPHORICALLY on fire?

I really don't appreciate the escalation.

[a_reasonable_man]

I saw some video of the fire, including the collapse of the spire. I'm very glad we were able to take Lily to Notre Dame last fall. We visited twice in two days and climbed the bell tower. Much of what we saw is now gone.

And David Brion Davis has died. He was among the most important historians of slavery and antislavery. He had a truly global mind.

[sovay]

I'm very glad we were able to take Lily to Notre Dame last fall. We visited twice in two days and climbed the bell tower. Much of what we saw is now gone.

I was there twenty years ago. (Strictly speaking, eight days from now I will have been.) I still remember it. I'm glad Lily was there. It shouldn't have been so close to the wire!

And David Brion Davis has died. He was among the most important historians of slavery and antislavery. He had a truly global mind.

I am sorry for his loss. I recognized his name, but I didn't realize just how many of his ideas had become default ways of thinking about America.

[pameladean]

Of course I didn't mean to neglect Notre Dame, it's two such shocking things to wake up to. I was there many years ago as a college student, very sleep-deprived (night train and ferry from Dover; there was no Chunnel then and we were very queasy as well) and unable to retrieve my new French separately from my old Spanish, so that if I tried to address anybody it came out in a mishmash. Fortunately I was with my boyfriend, who was also from the U.S. But he'd been studying in Italy for months and kept emitting Italian instead of such French as he had. At least we could quietly address one another about what we were looking at. It was a very dark gray day, which made the stained glass look unnatural but amazing.

Anyway, the kaleidoscopic sense of layering and density that we had was not just from our circumstances. I always thought that I would go back.

P.

[sovay]

But he'd been studying in Italy for months and kept emitting Italian instead of such French as he had.

The first time I was in Italy, my brain kept trying to respond to Italian in Latin. I think by the last night I was finally having conversations with people in their actual language rather than half its ancestor.

Of course I didn't mean to neglect Notre Dame, it's two such shocking things to wake up to.

I didn't think you thought it was unimportant. *hugs*

Anyway, the kaleidoscopic sense of layering and density that we had was not just from our circumstances. I always thought that I would go back.

There was so much time in it. I was only there once myself. And same.

[pameladean]

The first time I was in Italy, my brain kept trying to respond to Italian in Latin. I think by the last night I was finally having conversations with people in their actual language rather than half its ancestor.

That's just what happened to my boyfriend when he was first studying there. It took him some weeks to get Italian to emerge when he wanted it, and then of course it was happy to appear when he wanted French.

I didn't think you thought it was unimportant. *hugs* *hugsback* I didn't think you did but felt an explicit acknowledgement was only right.

There was so much time in it. I was only there once myself. And same.

That's just how it was, yes, full of so much time. I guess one might still go back, but it would be less back than one had thought.

P.

[wpadmirer]

It's a sad day.

[sovay]

It's a sad day.

I know we lose people every day, even if I don't like it—yesterday it was Bibi Andersson, who I didn't even have a chance to write about. But we don't every day lose buildings at the cores of nations. We shouldn't. And the people are not negligible, even if they are more common.

[wpadmirer]

True. I've been to Notre Dame, and have a photo of me standing next to a gargoyle imitating it. Pat and I were there many years ago, and it's one of my favorite moments from our travels. I cannot imagine Paris without it.

[swan_tower]

The destruction of Notre Dame, while bad, turns out to be not nearly as devastating as I'd feared. They'd already removed a lot of stuff (like the spire statues) for the renovations, and were very prompt and organized about evacuating other movable elements. The towers were saved. And this photo of the interior shows that the nave is largely intact: there's water on the floor, but only one diamond-shaped section of vaulting appears to have collapsed, so much of the interior is in pretty decent shape. So it's still tragic and the repairs will take years to finish, but compared to what it could have been . . . this is almost a relief.

[sovay]

The towers were saved. And this photo of the interior shows that the nave is largely intact: there's water on the floor, but only one diamond-shaped section of vaulting appears to have collapsed, so much of the interior is in pretty decent shape.

That is very good to hear, and a very striking photograph, and I still want to donate money to its restoration (also it kicked off a thing in my head which I am writing, but it's not very French, and that's not the cathedral's responsibility). Thank you for telling me.

[swan_tower]

I've been contemplating ways to raise money for restoration, too. I mean, I imagine the French government will open its wallet to repair a national icon -- but as a friend of mine said, it would still be a good communal feeling to contribute.

[kenjari]

Also, the organ survived! The smaller choir organ got thoroughly doused in water, but the great organ escaped largely unscathed!

[sovay]

The smaller choir organ got thoroughly doused in water, but the great organ escaped largely unscathed!

Nice!

(For whatever reason, that makes me happy.)

[thawrecka]

What a thing to wake up to! I turn on the morning news as soon as I get up, and all the channels showed the Notre Dame burning. It was hard not to let myself tear up on the way to work.

[sovay]

I turn on the morning news as soon as I get up, and all the channels showed the Notre Dame burning. It was hard not to let myself tear up on the way to work.

I understand that!

[kenjari]

I am going to hold tightly onto hope that Notre Dame can be largely saved and restored, as it looks like the structure was not entirely destroyed. It was a weird but useful day to be able to read French fairly fluently, as the reporting from Le Parisien was well ahead of any English-language news. I was reading FB friends lamenting what looked like a total loss, and then seeing reports in Le Parisien that the towers had been saved.

[sovay]

I am going to hold tightly onto hope that Notre Dame can be largely saved and restored, as it looks like the structure was not entirely destroyed.

I have just heard that! I am very glad of it.

It was a weird but useful day to be able to read French fairly fluently, as the reporting from Le Parisien was well ahead of any English-language news. I was reading FB friends lamenting what looked like a total loss, and then seeing reports in Le Parisien that the towers had been saved.

I can see that being weird. I repeat my gratitude that the French-language sources were right. I just ducked off social media for a chunk of the afternoon.

[nineweaving]

Gene Wolfe? Oh no! After one glance at that picture of Notre Dame afire--like a knife to the heart-- I switched off my devices, and crawled under the bed.

Stones aren't people, I know that: but Notre Dame was the transcendent work of thousands of artists, who put their lives, hopes, hearts, and bodies into it. They made of it a soul-in-stone.

And Wolfe was a lovely man, and a very great writer.

Nine

[sovay]

Stones aren't people, I know that: but Notre Dame was the transcendent work of thousands of artists, who put their lives, hopes, hearts, and bodies into it. They made of it a soul-in-stone.

I am taking comfort that not all the stones have been lost and not all of the memory of how they went together and that means not all of the memories of the people over the centuries, or all of the people tonight who sang for it and fought the fire. It's still not good that any of it burned; is burning. I said somewhere upthread, it just doesn't feel like a good time for loss.

*hugs*