All the damn spoilers you want Diary discussion

Why was that whole scene in the mausoleum necessary in the first place? At this point in the story, it was already an established fact that there had been two other female artist's in the island's past. Between having been told about them often and seeing the various messages scrawled by them, I never got the impression that Misty did not believe they existed. So it was not like she needed to be convinced that they were real.

I never thought about Misty not making it out of there until I read this thread. It would make sense if that's why Tabbi lead her in there - but then there is that ridiculous letter at the end. No way that Tabbi would send that letter, she made it clear whose side she was on.

Also:
What was with the footprints "too far apart..." or however that was phrased? I am drawing a complete blank here.

I think the "footsteps too far apart" was a refrence to the statue, that Misty thinks she sees get up and walk around when Grace drugged her, but maybe not.

The mausoleum makes a nice setting for the revelation that Tabbi set the place on fire. It allows for a touch of the macabre, presenting the two rotting skeletons, while emphasising the ruthlessness/cold-heartedness (not exactly the right words but anyway) of the islanders that did not even give the bodies of the women who saved the island a proper burial. More importantly, it creates a lovely atmosphere of menace, making one think for a while that Tabbi is going to lock her mother there and leave her to starve. The subsequent letter provides a twist.

The footsteps have me confused. I would go with Adversary's theory that they were made by Grace and Tabbi hiding and watching Misty, but it is stated clearly that they were too far apart to be that. So that leaves us the possibility that the statue did come to life, or that Misty was still under the effect of the sandwich and hallucinated the holes in the ground as well.

Would you believe I never even thought that the two dead women were laid to rest there and then was all there was too it? I suppose I thought it would have to be something much more ominous since the cave had been off-limits before, and it was the end of the book, and there were two skeletons, etc. Oh well.

As for the footprints, the only thing I also had been able to think of was Grace and Tabbi. Misty possibly thinks there should be one set of footprints from the statue, but doesn't realize the two of them were creeping around. However, and I may be remembering wrong, didn't that part also say something about how big the holes were?

"For the record, walking out of the meadow, there were two deep holes next to the path. The holes were a couple of feet apart, too big to be footprints, too far apart to be a person. A trail of holes went back into the forest, too big, too far apart to be anybody walking" (p.112, emphasis mine)

If they are too far apart to be one person walking, then they couldn't be two, since one would expect more prints, dense in a given area. Unless Grace and Tabbi stood apart from each other, shuffling their feet making big holes, and then hopped two feet away to create more... Unlikely. The book deals with the supernatural anyway; perhaps the restless spirit(s) of the 2 women that did not have a proper burial caused a high magic/weirdness concentration in the area, making the statue come to life... *wink*

I only wish Chuck would have included what the painting actually turned out to be. Kind of like, in Lullaby, I always thought it would have been cool to read the whole song. Thanks for all the help in understanding the Stendhal Syndrome thing... I really understand the book much better now. As for my opinion on the book- Great!!
-Anesthetized

Their is that curiosity, but think it would actually detract from the book, as it would give away the unknown. If you knew the words to the Culling Song, do you think it would be as entertaining? If you knew it didn't really work, would you have that spark of doubt that makes you think it could be possible?

hermese, you have a point about the culling song, I agree there, but I still wonder what the painting was. A tree? A hand? At least what made it so mezmerizing? What so shocking about it?
-Anesthetized

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by lupus [/i]
[B]"For the record, walking out of the meadow, there were two deep holes next to the path. The holes were a couple of feet apart, too big to be footprints, too far apart to be a person. A trail of holes went back into the forest, too big, too far apart to be anybody walking" (p.112, emphasis mine)[/B][/QUOTE]
it never says 'footprints', it says holes. perhaps.... um... i don't know, but it never said they were footprints, unless it said it elsewhere in the surrounding pages.

I confess I don't know what you mean by this. But the holes in the above description, or rather according to the above description, could be footprints except for their size and the distance between them. Which would still make them eligible for being the footprints of a 7 feet tall bronze statue that somehow came to life.

ya, i dunno, but it would still do the same thing with the painting if Palahniuk said what it was too. Although I guess it wouldn't be too bad, because whatever it was no one would have the skill, time, money, or dedication to paint it.

The islanders were in love with the island, true, but it was not the love that made people unable to leave the burning hotel. If it was only that, the tourists from the mainland would not have been affected. It was Misty's art that had them all paralysed with Stendhal Syndrome.

what are those damn holes!? did anybody figure this out?
that's what i would've asked Chuck, if i got see him at a reading, if he ever came to Colorado.

YA COLORADO!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool:

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by izen [/i]
[B]what are those damn holes!? did anybody figure this out?
that's what i would've asked Chuck, if i got see him at a reading, if he ever came to Colorado. [/B][/QUOTE]

I'm going to assume that no one would be dumb enough even to visit this section if they hadn't read Diary, let alone click on this topic.

The holes are from the "statue" walking (ie big and heavy, leaves holes). Of course we know that they were really done by Misty's Stepfather. I guess, either he made them to freak Misty out, or in dressing up like a statue he increased his weight to a level that meant that they just happened.

Wait... do you mean her father-in-law? Harrow?
And are you trying to say he dressed up like a statue of Apollo? I can't see why -or how: Misty was not under the influence of the drug when she saw the statue close up, and it is a bit difficult to dress up as a 7 foot bronze giant if you're going to be closely scrutinised (she actually touches the statue).
The alternative of Harrow (or any other of the islanders) making the holes without masquerading as the statue, although possible, leaves the question of motive: how did they know that she would hallucinate the statue coming to life to add this little touch?
I'm still perplexed by the damn holes.

apparently you are, as there is absolutely no reason why you could think they were made by Misty's stepfather. Where did you come up with that? Try reading it again. I mean talk about random... :confused:

*that was intended for Texta, not lupus*

I don't have Diary with me, but if you read the bit where she meets Harrow near the end, it mentions the statue in terms to suggest that they were strongly connected.

I don't recall it being seven feet, I think you've probably never seen people dressed up as statues before (people do this busking, the good ones are pretty good. The trick is to wear shoes that are too big, that way you can wiggle your toes to keep your circulation going while appearing to remain still). Of course, it's also possible that Harrow dressed up as the statue and hid and only came out after she'd eaten the food.

Ok, Texta, read this and tell me that Harrow is a master of disguise:
"The standing man is dark bronze, streaked with lichen and tarnish, a naked man with his feet bolted to a pedestal buried in the bushes behind the trail. his eyes have recessed irises and pupils, Roman irises, cast into them." (102)
There is certainly a real statue -it is mentioned again in the end where Misty and Tabbi walk to the mausoleum: "Misty and Tabitha, they walk past [b]the bronze statue of Apollo[/b]. Past the meadow" (p.238)
That leaves the possibility you mentioned that Harrow dressed up as the statue and came out after she had eaten the spiked sandwiches. This is supported nowhere in the text. You say they are strongly connected in the end, but the only mention of statues when Harrow appears is in these paragraphs: "[Harrow] is standing in the doorway, holding Tabbi's hand. Your daughter's hand.
Just for the record, it seems like a lifetime ago that Tabbi left her. Run out of her grip to grab the cold hand of a man Misty thought was a killer. The statue in the woods. The old cemetery on Waytansea point."(p.221)
"the cold hand of a man she thought was a killer" does not refer to Harrow here. Remember that when Misty first saw the statue she thought it was an attacker and tried to save her daughter, but Tabbi run towards it. We have already established that this happened with the real statue. Misty is just making the connection in her head that this is the second time her daughter abandons her and runs to a killer -the first one mistakenly perceived as such (the statue), the second one a murderer indeed (Harrow).

good textual references lupus. Also, if it had been Harrow dressed up as a statue, why would they have bothered to lace the food? There obviously was somethng in the food, because she gets extremely sick and has other hallucinations along with the statue.

I think it's somewhat ambiguous as to the extent of the relationship. Remember that Diary is written as her opinion, so if she thought it was made of Bronze that's what she would write.

You know I could well be wrong. However I'd be interested to hear what your explanation for the holes is.

I'm inclined to think Harrow (or someone else) dressed up while she was drugged (and walking on stilts) created the holes to freak her out a bit more. We know she was on drugs, but we don't know if they made her hullucinate. Maybe she just thought they did.

but i remember that the holes were described as being the size of graves or something like that (sorry, i dont have the book). So how could it be stilts or anything that he was wearing? The only logical thing I oculd think that the holes were would be where tree stumps had been pulled out, or something liek that. It just doesnt make sense that Harrow or anyone else would bother with going to all that trouble when they could just give her hallucinogens.

This book is only about Chucks writers block and he should've let this book stay blocked, and stop reading Jung.