Hi! In "Palimpsest" you introduced Rachel, a character whom I'd like to use. But I'd like to get a better understanding of her first before I make more mistakes than I already have. I don't know if you saw my comments about her. I'm going to reformulate those comments as questions:
- Is "Wacjowski" a typo for "Wachowski"? I checked this huge database of Polish surnames which has no entry for "Wacjowski."
(I was wrong about "cj" being "unusual" in Polish: it is common, but it seems to be mostly in loanwords where it may correspond to English "ti" or "ci": "akcja" = "action", "specjalist" = "specialist" (but "policjant" is "policeman"!). I wouldn't expect "cj" to be in a native Polish surname.)
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How old is Rachel? She's said to be eighty-six, and if YAWYW takes place now, she would have been born around 1935-36. Given that Nobody14 established that one of the soccer players was eight, "she [Rachel] hadn't been that age since Ike was President" would mean Rachel was eight when Ike was president, but she would have been eight when FDR was president. Is the narrator reflecting her POV, and is she just getting her presidents mixed up? Otherwise I'd either assume she's really seventy-six (which would make her about eight when Ike was in office) or that "Ike" should be "FDR."
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"Of course, she'd only been a freshman for a day. Before that, she had been a sophomore, and the day before, a Junior. Unlike some, her changes had been minor, as she'd gone up or down one year...but not anymore."
confuses me because it seems she's just been going down in age (never up) prior to becoming a grandmother:
- before Tuesday: junior
- Tuesday: sophomore
- Wednesday: freshman
- Thursday: grandmother
Is the above correct? Should I just ignore "up" in "up or down one year"?
I feel awkward because I just made some big mistakes on this site. But I don't want to make any more, especially not with a character you created. I'd appreciate your help. Thanks!
