I love castles so I read through this book in one sitting…I couldn’t put it down. The novel really speaks to the seeming “level of necessity” that technology has come to own in our lives. Danny is the perfect example as he feels the cellphone, satellite dish and internet are extentions of his hand. He finds himself incomplete as a person unless he is connected to someone else in the world at all times. Danny finds his own characteristics the same as that of technological pieces: “But right now, Danny’s radar was down, he was out of range, or maybe he just needed to be reset and programmed in this new place, like his satellite dish” (24). Actually, it seems that just the ability to be connected is what Danny finds comfort in .
There were many instances in this book where I thought the whole thing was some weird dream, or hallucination like Danny in the keep with the the baronness, falling out of the keep trying to listen in on Ann and Mick’s affair, seeing the twins splashing in the pool and sitting down in the village believing that Howard controlled the town as it was part of the castle. I’m not sure if Danny and the baronness slept together. The hints in the morning afterward…Danny naked in bed, the other side of the bed with a body’s imprint still visible, and the wine that clouded his vision after the kiss all seem to signify that sex took place but I don’t feel we can go off of assumptions. I also find it hard to believe that when the entire crew was stuck in the tunnels of the keep, Danny and Mick were able to find a way out when in 900 years, no one was ever able to get out of the tunnels. Furthermore, the village scene made me very nervous. The worm that was causing Danny paranoia was invading me too, and I was wary of what was going on. I didn’t trust the villagers because Howard seemed just creepy and powerful enough with his number twos and his money. I couldn’t rule it out. I also believe that with no connection to the outside world, Danny became increasingly more suspicious of everyone and I did as well on his behalf. Even when he spoke with Martha, Danny would not believe that it wasn’t someone in the castle pretending to be her. Without connection, Danny couldn’t trust.
One major point I did agree with was Howard’s philosophy for the castle. Howard saw that with all the interconnectedness in the world today, people were becoming shadows of humans with no light of imagination. He lectured Danny: “People are bored! They’re dead! Go to a shopping mall and check out faces. We’ve lost the ability to make things up” (48). That is a true statement insofar as the majority of people would prefer to talk on the phone or email and creative minds are being squashed behind the glare of computer screens. Egan is making the point that we are giving these creative outlets away too easily to a select few and keeping no imagination for ourselves. With that, there is a loss of humanity.
I have a major problem with Danny’s death scene. I cannot figure out who killed him. The narrator changes immediately to “I” and I don’t know who that “I” is. Was Ray there? (That is what Scott and I proposed) It wasn’t Mick, because of the narrator change. Are Ann and Holly the same person?? I’m beginning to think Holly was there: “I’m so relieved to know it’s safe, it’s all safe, the whole story and me in the story, that teacher who left her husband, that pretty princess- she’s buried down there like treasure” (226). I just can’t be definite about who killed Danny.
Can’t wait for discussion!!
February 3, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Jules – I’m with you on being confused about the ending. I think Mick and Ray are the same person, at least I’m pretty sure that’s the conclusion I’ve drawn based on Holly’s section at the end. However, I’m confused about the baroness and Howie. Was Howie Davis? And what the hell happened to the baroness and Ann? I loved the book, couldn’t put it down and read it on the plane down to S.C all at once…but the ending pissed me off because it left me with more questions than answers! I guess we’ll all just have to wait until class and see what endings we can come up with on our own!
February 4, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Like some of the connections you and I talked about could the characters be connected in much the same way technology connects Danny? Lindsey had an interesting idea in her blog: Is Ray Mick? I feel like the worlds are meant to overlap somehow adding to the dream feeling we specified.
February 5, 2008 at 2:01 am
Hi Julie,
I like how Egan wrote a book in which readers question who is telling the story and what exactly is going on. It puts the idea of storytelling itself at the forefront–Ray’s story, Holly’s story, Egan’s story.
Anyway, I’m still not entirely convinced that Ray is an “actual person” in the story, who wrote about other “actual people.” But, then again, I’m more clear on what is going on when I believe that Ray is Mick and Ray went to jail for murdering Danny, and then wrote a book about it, etc., etc. Like Scott said, there is a dream-like quality to The Keep that leaves room for lots of interpretation.