8.7 KiB
Unsong Chapter 48: Bring Me My Chariot Of Fire
-
Author: u/Fredlage *
-
URL: http://unsongbook.com/chapter-48-bring-me-my-chariot-of-fire/
-
Score: 54
-
Created: 2016-11-27T21:43:26
Post:
Comments:
u/SpeakKindly [+22] (5 hours later)
They drove the comet to the priest, but the priest would come up dry. And on that day, the righteous grown children would perish.
Is this prophecy just the lyrics of American Pie?
u/PeridexisErrant [+14] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (5 hours later)
Yep. The reason that this is not a coincidence is left as an exercise for the reader.
u/Blackdutchie [+3] (9 hours later)
But that would require effort! Isn't there some sort of starter pack to understanding this story somewhere?
u/ZeroNihilist [+4] (16 hours later)
See INTERLUDE מ: MISS AMERICAN PIE for details.
Main point seems to be the chorus:
So bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n' Rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I dieFrom the interlude:
Chevy = tribe
levee = Levi (the priesthood)
good ole boys = the Cometspawn?
whiskey = uisce beatha = water of lifeJohn says "They drove the comet to the priest, but the priest would come up dry.", which isn't quite Aaron's interpretation. I don't think Chevrolet made a Comet, but Mercury (apparently owned by Ford?) did.
There probably is a justification that Aaron would be able to decipher to fit it to the Comet King thing, but he preferred the Jesus interpretation (which is sort of half-right, if the Comet King is another saviour figure). I, for one, don't really know how to justify it.
u/Aegeus [+2] (2 days later)
The words for "tribe", "scepter", and "comet" all sound very similar in Hebrew, so "Chevy" can be used as a stand-in for any of those.
u/NotACauldronAgent [+9] Probably (2 hours later)
So, new justifications time!
This justification for who goes to heaven is better but still weak. If a problem is too hard, look for a new solution! Space Elevators! (Watch out for calling it Babel-related, though) Teleportation! Mass spaceship industry! Ask Sohu for something! Put name-factories more everywhere, and hope for the Space-warping, Mass-Enhancing, or Fabricating Names!
I'm sceptical that the capitalist approach could, in the short run at least, match nationalising everything.
-/-
Speaking of which, has anyone tried the Kola gambit yet?
u/ulyssessword [+14] (5 hours later)
Teleportation
So, you're saying that they should just put a heptagram of Beanie Babies next to a crack in the sky?
u/NotACauldronAgent [+2] Probably (13 hours later)
Given the prior steps, probably, it will save the most souls, faster than rockets at least
u/DCarrier [+4] (4 hours later)
The point isn't to get as many people as they can to heaven on rockets. It's to send rich people to heaven on rockets to incentivize people to become rich, which would make those other solutions more likely.
u/NotACauldronAgent [+9] Probably (4 hours later)
Wealth has little benefit over nationalization in the short term, as saving souls (including your own) is a pretty strong motivator. Wealth creates no new resources, and no person, no matter how wealthy, could build kaabalistic name factories, spaceships, space elevators, or any other megastructure as well as the full US economy could, given sufficient focus, which Gadriel could apply.
u/DCarrier [+10] (4 hours later)
I doubt saving others' souls would be much stronger a motivator than saving lives. We don't see people lining up to donate to buy bednets. Saving your own soul is a strong motivator, which is why Celestial Virgin offers to take people to haven. The full US economy would be much weaker if it were communist. I doubt even Gadriel could manage it, but if she can, that's up to her.
u/NotACauldronAgent [+4] Probably (13 hours later)
Companies are inefficient, spending money on boards of directors instead of construction steel. Gadriels's US Nationalised government could in the short term work more efficiently, with more productivity focused toward construction. She is also inspiring, and pulled of the creation of the Untied States, so this may be possible.
u/LeifCarrotson [+3] (19 hours later)
Governments are inefficient, spending money on campaigning and making sure the construction steel comes from the steel foundries of their constituents. They don't care whether or not the steel actually gets delivered, if that's in the next election cycle.
u/alexanderwales [+6] Time flies like an arrow (20 hours later)
That depends on what kind of government you have. One which isn't beholden to its constituents would presumably not have those burdens (though it might have other ones). I mean, we're talking about a world where at least part of America is ruled by a king, right?
u/monkyyy0 [+1] (a day later)
Doesn't that end poorly? And that king is literally super human.
u/NotACauldronAgent [+4] Probably (20 hours later)
However, this is Gadriel's Untied States, who isn't elected, but rather a puppeteer. She is also supported by royal colorado, which cares about elections not at all.
u/UltraRedSpectrum [+9] (16 hours later)
Since Captain Nemo has been speculated in-story to possibly be the Comet King, the Unspoken Plan Guarantee now indicates that Captain Nemo is the only person who can't be the Comet King.
So what about Malia Ngo - could she be the Comet King? Strange magical powers, insists she's one of the good guys, etc etc. Maybe the Other King cursed the Comet King to seem evil, and that's why Ana got a sense of wrongness around her?
u/Frommerman [+4] (20 hours later)
That is some serious wild mass guessing.
Which means it must necessarily be true.
u/alexanderwales [+3] Time flies like an arrow (20 hours later)
But that leaves the question of who Nemo actually is, doesn't it?
u/UltraRedSpectrum [+13] (21 hours later)
You mean the man with a mysterious past whose name means "nobody," who dedicated himself to the ultimate affront to God - chasing down Metatron in the Messiah's boat so a bunch of rich so-and-sos can pester him? Surely the great rabbi Elisha ben Abuya would never do such a thing; it must be some other one.
u/ThatDarnSJDoubleW [+3] (22 hours later)
Metatron in human form? The boat that's supposed to find Metatron would then have already found him.
u/Arancaytar [+7] (4 hours later)
Note that John Ellis's surname is derived from Elijah (via Elias). Hence the chapter title.
u/fubo [+9] (4 hours later)
And like Elijah, he ascends physically to heaven.
u/Sailor_Vulcan [+1] Champion of Justice and Reason (7 hours later)
But God hates Elijah!
u/callmebrotherg [+2] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae (7 hours later)
What?
u/Sailor_Vulcan [+2] Champion of Justice and Reason (14 hours later)
Oh wait I'm confusing him with Rabbi Elisha. Never mind.
u/monkyyy0 [+2] (44 minutes later)
Is that the 3rd time that poem has been read?
u/ZeroNihilist [+5] (16 hours later)
Based on this google search, it's occurred in the page for seven chapters. Some of those instances are in comments or just random uses of the word "oracular".
Chapter 2 has the full poem.
Cantors and Singers has the standard excerpt.
Chapter 21 has very similar text to Cantors and Singers.
Ditto War and Peace.
And now this chapter, so 5 times total.
It's definitely a leitmotif at this point.
u/ratanon [+1] Holy, holy is the lord of /etc/hosts (22 hours later)
u/tokol [+1] The Greater Good (21 hours later)
I have bad news for your about mortal institutions, dear.
your -> you