I'm wondering about Dirk Burnaby ... I've never heard of this guy. He was a daredevil - a tightrope walker who performed over the falls.

I notice there is a skydiving centre at the falls - it is called Skydive Burnaby ...

http://www.skydiveburnaby.com/learn-to- ... skydiving/

I'm wondering if that was named for Burnaby.

The Hill family is also famous - for going over the falls in a barrel - I don't know if any of them did the tightrope.

Chapter 5 on more or less places the activity on the American side. I see now, it had to be the US side where he jumped in.

I cannot find anything specific on 'The Rainbow Grand'. I suppose this fictional hotel was supposed to be The Grand Hotel - probably on the 'Rainbow Room'.

It's funny how Dirk brought wildflowers when he visited Oriah to announce his love for her.

I remember taking wildflowers to my mother once - when I was an adult. Not as a child's offering. I was walking toward her nursing home when I saw the wildflowers in the scrub by the sidewalk on Gerrard Street and picked some.

She thought it was silly.

I wonder what people have against wildflowers - guess that's what they think of as weeds.

In my opinion, weeds are plants growing where you don't want them growing.

WildCityWoman wrote:I'm wondering if the book will include anything about that old skiff that's out there on the rocks. It's been there forever.

Wasn't that shone in the Marilyn Monaroe movie?

Wow, 10 pages in, and the husband has gone over the edge! Can't wait to find out why!

Wow, 10 pages in, and the husband has gone over the edge! Can't wait to find out why!

I shouldn't have read this. I'll stay off here until I receive my copy of the book in the mail. Maybe next weekl.

Wild City Woman: Thanks for the great Niagara Falls pics. What I always find most awesome about the falls is standing above the river (on the Canadian side) and looking down into the moving water just before it goes over the falls. The sheer power of the water, its blueness and unstoppable movement is inspiring and scary at the same time. It seems to be magnetic, pulling you toward it ....

One odd thing about Niagara Falls as a town is that the Canadian side is more heavily commercialized than the American side, although a lot of the money might be American. And strange how kitchy, tacky, even gaudy attractions and merchandise do so well there. I wonder if the falls put people in a strange mind set and it just all fits together somehow ...

giselle wrote:Wild City Woman: Thanks for the great Niagara Falls pics. What I always find most awesome about the falls is standing above the river (on the Canadian side) and looking down into the moving water just before it goes over the falls. The sheer power of the water, its blueness and unstoppable movement is inspiring and scary at the same time. It seems to be magnetic, pulling you toward it ....

One odd thing about Niagara Falls as a town is that the Canadian side is more heavily commercialized than the American side, although a lot of the money might be American. And strange how kitchy, tacky, even gaudy attractions and merchandise do so well there. I wonder if the falls put people in a strange mind set and it just all fits together somehow ...

Giselle,
You have described the feeling very well. It does have a "pulling" affect. That is what Oates is referring to in the novel. Some people can keep themselves from becoming a part of the water and some can't. I'm going to keep that in mind as I'm getting to know the characters and see how it affects each of them. I hope you'll share your thoughts on this as we continue.

I look forward to reading Oates ... Amazon says my book is on the way but I expect it will be a week yet. I suspect the 'pulling effect' of the river above the falls comes from an optical illusion that the entire horizon is moving. As you stand and look out over the water at a low angle, the water is so wide and moving inexorably, as if the horizon itself is moving. We automatically use the horizon as a way to establish where we are, so this apparent 'moving horizon' makes you want to move with it, which of course means that you feel drawn into the river and over the falls. Anyway, that's my theory, I'll be interested to read Oates take on it.

realiz wrote:

Wow, 10 pages in, and the husband has gone over the edge! Can't wait to find out why!

I shouldn't have read this. I'll stay off here until I receive my copy of the book in the mail. Maybe next weekl.

I wonder if it would be possible to establish a timeline for when things can be discussed so that we don't give away plot elements?

For example, say for the first month of August, only Niagra Falls or the author and her other works can be discussed.

September 1-10, the first sixty pages, but nothing beyond that
September 11-20, the next sixty pages, etc.

That way, we can feel free to discuss the book as we go through it, but there are no dead give aways that ruin the book's plot elements before peoples' orders have even arrived.

Just a suggestion....

Dan