I prefer a ‘parallel universe’ analogy – two different people leading the ‘same’ lives!

Or perhaps we’re reaching the same places via completely different routes: like that classic cartoon where a man in ragged clothes has crawled on his hands and knees for miles across a desert, and then crests a sand dune to discover the bleached skeleton of some poor wretch clad in similar rags and scraps who’d been coming in the opposite direction – his tracks in the sand stretching to the far horizon.

Yes, pretty bleak, I know – but even that’s better than being Scott discovering the Norwegian flag at the South Pole.

I didn’t check your blog for Lessons of War, although I did think, briefly, that I ought to. This is moving beyond the realm of coincidence; I feel like I’m walking across fresh snow, all proud of myself and excited by the scenery, only to be confronted whenever I pause by someone yelling into a megaphone, You’re walking in MY footsteps!

marta: I, too, thought of holding my stories — at least the current one — up to be measured against those 8 little bullet points. I fear the worst, though, so I’m procrastinating until I get to “The End.” Why put a pillow over its face until it gets to draw at least one breath? :)

Squirrel: I’m always curious to learn what others make of the (absence of?) connections among the bits and pieces of these Friday posts. Talk about trance state — that’s pretty much how these develop.

Kate: Rules about writing, even by writing superstars who (presumably) know what they’re talking about, can validate or mock our writing efforts irrespective of the writing’s true worth. I hope you haven’t taped these up in too prominent a spot!

I need to see if I’ve followed those rules…

I love Lessons of War (and yes, I have posted all three parts on my blog – did you check? – but without such elaborate commentary and background detail as the remarkable Sole Arabian Tree). Naming of Parts is the most famous of the three pieces, but the other two are also well worth a look – especially the closing lines of Judging Distances.

Marina Warner on Sanskrit aesthetics is marvellous too; I may have to bring this to The Artist’s attention.