tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post1084031293029771679..comments2024-03-28T10:31:55.774-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: Memorial: Howard Tokley and Hugh Wheeler--A World War Two Hero and His Fan Letters to "Jonathan Stagge" The Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-21437947157155834612020-06-16T11:54:03.651-07:002020-06-16T11:54:03.651-07:00Rickie and Hugh wintered in Mexico for several mon...Rickie and Hugh wintered in Mexico for several months in 1946-47, giving them the material for the Mexican books. Always thought it was interesting that Under the Volcano came out at that time too. I think the later Patrick Quentin books are well plotted. They are sparer than the first three, but clever too and more emotionally involving.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-681907478704877952020-06-14T11:59:29.010-07:002020-06-14T11:59:29.010-07:00I liked the book more on reading it again (for the...I liked the book more on reading it again (for the third time): the opening line is superb, the portrayal of Jake brilliant, the plot neater and more satisfying than I remembered it, and though the story rambles around a little [like the other Mexican-set books: Run to Death & The Follower] it all makes sense. But Martin & Marietta have a kind of symbolic, otherworldly strangeness about them - they never quite seem to be made of flesh and blood, but perhaps that's the point. Christopher Greaveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07920334128279638785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-8117829633998843442020-06-13T21:58:47.295-07:002020-06-13T21:58:47.295-07:00Great points. I definitely see Rickie identifying...Great points. I definitely see Rickie identifying with Peter, whom he created as a character. The San Francisco portion of Puzzle for Puppets also would have drawn on his own recollection of San Francisco in 1944, including, no doubt, the famous bathhouse bit.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-4089697666910887502020-06-13T14:52:21.909-07:002020-06-13T14:52:21.909-07:00In the emotional tangle, Hugh would correspond to ...In the emotional tangle, Hugh would correspond to Iris, but I also see aspects of Hugh in the portrayal of boyish, British Martin Haven, "Young, golden and sublimely sure of getting what he wanted" (which above all is to be a writer), contrasted with the war-worn, older, Peter who at least in this respect would be Rickie. It would be interesting to speculate just how the writing cooperation worked in practice on this one ...Tore J Narvestadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12997315076896134911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-38325700464417690322020-06-13T11:47:08.500-07:002020-06-13T11:47:08.500-07:00!!!!!!Christopher Greaveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07920334128279638785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-62340459008572830752020-06-11T12:03:35.362-07:002020-06-11T12:03:35.362-07:00Oh, yes, that's a pivotal book for them, very ...Oh, yes, that's a pivotal book for them, very reflective of what's going on in their own lives. You might say Hugh was Iris. ;)The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-50018135623753806382020-06-11T12:01:38.284-07:002020-06-11T12:01:38.284-07:00Yes, I agree with that, Rickie himself mentioned t...Yes, I agree with that, Rickie himself mentioned the Stagges as drawing more on medical detail. Hugh later handed off Stagge and QP to Rickie, saying all he wanted to keep going was Patrick Quentin. I think Rickie hoped to publish another Stagge in his own (the famous Oh! To Die in England) but it never came to fruition. I assume the later QP's were Rickie's though. The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-2190229643466699872020-06-11T11:57:44.579-07:002020-06-11T11:57:44.579-07:00That's an intriguing comparison!That's an intriguing comparison!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-61286689617143756612020-06-05T11:44:41.750-07:002020-06-05T11:44:41.750-07:00On a related subject, I've just been rereading...On a related subject, I've just been rereading 'Puzzle for Pilgrims', the strangest and most intense of the mature Webb/Wheeler books. I was wondering if you will have much to say about this one?Christopher Greaveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07920334128279638785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-8982565088178077852020-05-29T00:33:53.131-07:002020-05-29T00:33:53.131-07:00Portions of the overly intimate letter you quote s...Portions of the overly intimate letter you quote smack of loneliness. Reminded me of the kind of thing that teenage Robert Barlow wrote in his letters to H. P. Lovecraft.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-85009438736865117982020-05-27T11:49:37.916-07:002020-05-27T11:49:37.916-07:00Will be very interested to see the book(s)! Hugh d...Will be very interested to see the book(s)! Hugh did, indeed, seem to lead a charmed life.<br />Although we by now have come to regard Patrick Quentin as the main and most successful of the pseudonyms, I am struck by how relatively few Patrick Quentin books there were in the main phase of the Wheeler-Webb cooperation (and how many Jonathan Stagges!). I am speculating here, and it could be that your research has showed something different, but could it be that plotting the Stagges came easier to Rickie Webb with his pharmaceutical background?<br />It seems to be only when Webb went off to New Guinea that Patrick Quentin started taking over (as it would, of course, do more and more in the years that followed).Tore J Narvestadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12997315076896134911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-82471221198585293832020-05-25T05:47:34.479-07:002020-05-25T05:47:34.479-07:00Luckily I'm still alive, Curt, thanks. And I h...Luckily I'm still alive, Curt, thanks. And I hope to stay like this at least until I read your new book. Thanks for sharing with us the fruit of your research.Mauro Boncompagnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03969421615204482138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-28315085407522462572020-05-24T18:57:56.549-07:002020-05-24T18:57:56.549-07:00By the way, good to hear from you again, Mauro. H...By the way, good to hear from you again, Mauro. Hope all is well!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-31660269756126578412020-05-24T18:57:22.194-07:002020-05-24T18:57:22.194-07:00Yes, I'm planning a piece on all the short sto...Yes, I'm planning a piece on all the short stories. There will be two more volumes after the next one, collecting, in all three volumes, sixteen works of short fiction and five essays. The bio is past 50,000 words now; my aim is 80-100,000. This will be a shorter books than Masters of the Humdrum Mystery, which by my recollection was about 150,000 words. Thanks for your interest, Christophe, it's always good to hear from you.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-73707390294018920912020-05-24T18:35:05.282-07:002020-05-24T18:35:05.282-07:00Great to hear not only that the book project is pr...Great to hear not only that the book project is proceeding nicely, and but also that a new volume of short stories is in the works. Christophehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978885973806549838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-37734433943828688102020-05-24T14:03:35.752-07:002020-05-24T14:03:35.752-07:00Oh, yes, this is something of an excerpt. I was ab...Oh, yes, this is something of an excerpt. I was able to go into some more detail with additional pics here. I have finished the lives and expect to finish the critical study of the writing this summer. Also, another volume of their short stories is on track for the winter of 2020-21.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-55068793408177990272020-05-24T14:01:34.553-07:002020-05-24T14:01:34.553-07:00Yes, I think there definitely are lines between wh...Yes, I think there definitely are lines between which to read!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-39810909933794585292020-05-24T12:32:40.594-07:002020-05-24T12:32:40.594-07:00Another very nice piece. Is the book project still...Another very nice piece. Is the book project still on track?Christophehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978885973806549838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-14484715001035008562020-05-24T08:14:17.886-07:002020-05-24T08:14:17.886-07:00Fascinating article, Curt (as usual, I should say)...Fascinating article, Curt (as usual, I should say), maybe with a moral inside if one looks carefully...Mauro Boncompagnihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03969421615204482138noreply@blogger.com