Discontinuity = clue? [GS sample ch spoilers]

[raljamcar]

i dont see your point, he could have moved back or something

[Serack]

Could it maybe have something to do with how harry was "supposed to" die in Dead Beat, until Gard/Marcone saved him from Corpsetaker?

Ok, I read that, sat up straight, and said Holy $***

However, that happened in Chapter 18 of DB while Harry saw that Mort had already shaved his head bald in Chapter 10.  Still, this is possible.

I take it to mean that as a Spirit Harry is seeing things as he knows them, instead of how they are. In other words his vision is tainted by his own thoughts and ideas. So he sees Mort as natural Mort. I would not be surprised if he saw Murphy as a flaming angel should he come across her.

That's also a great interpretation.  Now I've gota go reread Chapter 4 to see if there are any other things that might be clues to this interpretation.

Wow great thoughts on this stuff guys.

[Lothy]

Ok, I read that, sat up straight, and said Holy $***

However, that happened in Chapter 18 of DB while Harry saw that Mort had already shaved his head bald in Chapter 10.  Still, this is possible.

That's also a great interpretation.  Now I've gota go reread Chapter 4 to see if there are any other things that might be clues to this interpretation.

Wow great thoughts on this stuff guys.

If you find any more clues be sure to post, I am so hungry for Dresden and my time machine to propel me 3 weeks into the future is an utter failure.

[sociotard]

I think it may have something to do with the ghost he made in Grave Peril.  He can remember some things from after, like his death, but his ghost is still the one from GP.  He has its memories.

[OlosBC]

However, that happened in Chapter 18 of DB while Harry saw that Mort had already shaved his head bald in Chapter 10.  Still, this is possible.

Yea, the whole chapter with Mort just seems off to me.  In the first three chapters of the story, you get kinda the weird vibe just because harry is now a ghost, but you're really only interacting with new characters(Carmichael is an old character, but we haven't seen him since book 2, and he was never really that major, AND is now a ghost, so you're expecting some different reactions).  Mort though has been seen in 3? of the books now (Grave Peril, Death Masks, and Dead Beat I believe).  In GP, he acted like he does in GS-ch4.  In Death Masks, doesn't Mort arrange the meeting, on the Fowler show? He acts weird, but not unusually so.  In Dead Beat, again he acts reluctant, but agrees to help out, and in the end Harry defeats the Necromancers.  Wouldn't that earn him some points with Mort, as harry in effect helped out the spirits he is so fond of by removing the guys who would exploit them, and saving Chicago?  But then, Harry dies and he goes to visit Mort, and Mort again acts like Harry is absolutely nothing but trouble.  It seems off to me.

I'm really looking forward to this book and seeing how it all plays out.  My only worry is that I might not have enough time to finish Dance with Dragons before GS comes out, in which case I'll have to pick Dance up again afterwards.  And I also have to finish the last Black Company novel in this re-read before THAT one comes out.  July is gonna be a busy month.


Oh, and I didn't see it till writing this post, but does anyone else think its funny/awesome that Mort only shows up in books that have a reference to death in the title, and that he shows up in all of those?

[laura118b]

My first thought isn't much fun. but it is to the point.  I just thought that Mort moved the business out of his house and into it's own location.  It makes sense, that way it explains the two houses and why it's the old one again, and if Mort was going to get more involved again he needed a stronger threshold for his home.  Move the work out and it should go back to normal after a while I would think.

It just seems the most logical what with Harry saying working out of, not moved into a duplex.

[sociotard]

Ah, here we go, Chapter 36 of Grave Peril is where Harry makes a ghost

"Technically," my ghost said. "Harry actually died for a minute. Don't you remember how ghosts are made? Normally, there wouldn't be enough latent energy to create an impression like me, but with him being a wizard - a real wizard, not a petty fake like you - and with the border to the Nevernever in such a state of flux, it was pretty much inevitable."

[Serack]

My first thought isn't much fun. but it is to the point.  I just thought that Mort moved the business out of his house and into it's own location.  It makes sense, that way it explains the two houses and why it's the old one again, and if Mort was going to get more involved again he needed a stronger threshold for his home.  Move the work out and it should go back to normal after a while I would think.

It just seems the most logical what with Harry saying working out of, not moved into a duplex.

His home was in half thd duplex.  Harry even woke him up at 3 in the morning there.

Quoting the whole DB passage:

 I got into the SUV and headed out to speak to the only person in Chicago who knew as much aboutmagic and death as I did.
  Mortimer Lindquist had done pretty well for himself over the past couple of years, and he'd moved out of the little California-import stucco ranch house he'd been in the last time I'd gone to visit him.  Now he was working out of a converted duplex in Bucktown.  Mort leased both halves of the duplex, and ran his business on one side, with his home on the other.  There were no cars in the business driveway, though he mostly operated at night.  He must have already wrapped up for the evening.  He had abandoned the faux-Gothic decor that had previously graced his place of business, which was a hopeful sign.  I needed the help of someone with real skill, not a charlatan with a batch of gimmicks.  

...

  [After knocking on the "residential" enterance] "It's three o'clock in the morning," Mort complained.  "What the hell do you="  He saw my face and his eyes widened in panic.  He hurried to shut the door.

There's more that's pertinant to the discussion, but I'm not sure how much is acceptable to quote.

[laura118b]

Huh, well that's what I get for not being able to look it up, I lent out the earlier books to hook friends on the crack get friends interested in Harry.

[Bones]

Far-fetched, but DB is the book where Lash was creating elaborate constructs that Harry fully believed.  Although, why she would want to create an illusion concerning where Morty lived/worked is beyond me, but still,  there's a lot of disinformation Harry's getting through Lash for a good chunk of DB. 

[Serack]

I take it to mean that as a Spirit Harry is seeing things as he knows them, instead of how they are. In other words his vision is tainted by his own thoughts and ideas. So he sees Mort as natural Mort. I would not be surprised if he saw Murphy as a flaming angel should he come across her.

If you find any more clues be sure to post, I am so hungry for Dresden and my time machine to propel me 3 weeks into the future is an utter failure.

Ok here goes...  I am thinking "aloud" I don't know if I have goten anywhere with these thoughts, but I'm going to share them as they develop.

Your comment got me wondering if there are any clues showing how what Harry is seeing isn't how things are actually happening, and I figured I would focus on what Sir Stu is doing.

And the thing is, during the whole time Harry is talking to Mort, here are the mentionings of Stu:  (First Mort addresses Stu without turning to him, but cuts himself off and the convo between Harry and Mort begins)

We entered a kitchen, where I found Sir Stuart already present, his arms folded, leaning back against a wall with a quiet smile as he watched. Mort went to a large cookie jar, opened it, and took out a single Oreo before replacing the lid.
...
“Dammit, Morty,” I snarled, and braced myself for the plunge through his door after him.
“Dresden, st—!” Sir Stuart said.
Too late. I slammed my nose and face into the door and fell backward onto my ass like a perfect idiot. My face began to throb immediately, swelling with pain that felt precisely normal, identical to that of any dummy who walked into a solid oak door.
“—op,” Sir Stuart finished. He sighed, and offered me a hand up.

Then Stu says this:

"You’ll have to forgive him, Dresden. He can be very slow to understand things at times.”
“I don’t have time to wait for him to catch on,” I said. “I need his help.”
Sir Stuart grinned some more. “You aren’t going to get it by standing there repeating yourself like a broken record. Repeating yourself like a broken record. Repeating yourself like a broken—”

Which got me thinking, If what is actually transpiring around Harry in the real world is different from what Harry is percieving, lets cut out Harry's observations of the RL, and just focus on what Harry is saying.  (I'm doing this part as I paste it in here)

“Hiya, Morty,” I said.
...
“I need to talk to—”
...
“Morty, come on, it’s never been like that,” I said. “I’ve come to ask your help a couple of times because you’re a capable professional and—”
...
“Morty, please.”
...
“It’s not like I’ve got a lot of choice in the matter, man. It’s you or no one. Please. Just hear me out.”
...
“Dammit, Morty,” I snarled, and braced myself for the plunge through his door after him.
“Dresden, st—!” Sir Stuart said.

That didn't get me as far as I had hoped...

So, the thing that seems the most out of place is the deliberate stopping to get a single oreo cookie.  If it's true that what is actually happening on the real plane is not like what Harry thinks he is experiencing, either that is nothing like what had happened, or it's the only thing that actually happened the way Harry percieved it...

It still doesn't explain why Harry went to the California-import rather than the Duplex, and it doesn't explain why Harry forgot that he saw Mort with a shaved head back in DB

[doink67]

It still doesn't explain why Harry went to the California-import rather than the Duplex, and it doesn't explain why Harry forgot that he saw Mort with a shaved head back in DB

Mab was messing with his brain again
I'd say that dying tends to make you forget things like that, but this is The Dresden Files, and nothing happens without a reason.
But this is shaping up to be good.

[Joefoe]

maybe in deadbeat he saw a glimpse of the future?

[itari]

He was short, twenty or thirty
pounds overweight

and

I mean, he wasn’t going to be modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch or anything, but he’d definitely dropped from self-destructively obese down to merely stout.

20-30 pounds overweight is not self-destructively obese in my book, even if he's short (a little bit below 5'6" - that would be 166-167 cm).

Let's do the math 'cause I'm a nerd.

The normal/overweight threshold (according to body mass index wikipedia page) is around 70 kg/155 lb for someone who's Morty's height. If we assume that he's 30 lb overweight (83 kg/185 lb), he's still in the "overweight" range, and not "obese".

[Dina]

I have nothing to add to this thread, but it is so extremely interesting than I needed to post something as a thread.