Sinister: "Piazza" literary references

gassan at xxx.edu gassan at xxx.edu
Mon Oct 20 14:57:46 BST 2003


Quoting The Hodottir <hodottir at hotmail.com>:
> Last time I tried to post this, I also added a bit about 'Piazza, New York 
> Catcher' possibly containing references to John Fowles' 'The Collector' (I 
> will be your Ferdinand and you may wayward girl etc), but I'm not quite as 
> sure about that as before.  Anyone have any better ideas?



Hi -

I think you're right about this. Take a look at, for example, 
http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_fowles_collector.html: "The title 
character is Frederick, a butterfly collector (who prefers to be called 
Ferdinand), who decides to "collect" the long-admired-from-a-distance object of 
his fantasy, an art student named Miranda.
    Frederick keeps Miranda prisoner in a room in his secluded basement. All he 
wants is for Miranda to love him and, other than keeping her prisoner, he 
treats her like a queen, fulfilling her every need or want. This is where The 
Collector succeeds best, in making Frederick not a monster, but a pitiful, 
lonely man in need of love and willing to give Miranda everything except her 
freedom."

So when you see Stuart's lyrics for "Piazza," "How many nights of talking in 
hotel rooms..." you can see a parallel, the singer asking for his own captive. 
I think it's a parallel that holds up pretty well.

By the way, I'm crap at finding these references; I'm suitably impressed that 
Ms. Hodottir did. (However, in looking at the last line, I can tell you 
that "Lewis and the litany of grace" is yet another! Christian reference, this 
to C.S. Lewis' book _Mere Christianity_, which is perhaps the best of his 
inspirational literature; as for myself, though, I'm a godless humanist who 
doesn't believe a word of it.)

cheers,

Richard.



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