When I set about to write Agnosis, I’d just finished reading a book called The Rule of Four, a murder mystery/thriller set on the campus of Princeton University. To be honest, I liked the idea of paying homage to one’s alma mater in fictional form, especially (and only, really) when it’s well done. When I say well done, what I mean is that the location is integral to the story rather than appearing completely arbitrary. When it isn’t well done, it comes across as the sweaty ramblings of a Creative Writing undergrad with more passion than life experience. Hopefully, I’ve avoided that.
Of course, I didn’t swipe the whole campus as my model for Michael Raville’s memory palace, just the Indiana Memorial Union. (The Union’s official website is here. It has lots of pimping for their convention, meeting and hotel space, as you’d expect. Personally, I prefer the bloomingpedia entry, but that’s just me.)
You’ve got to understand here: the IMU is an absolutely massive building. It’s said to be the largest student union in the world (whatever the fuck that means). I just know it’s huge and gorgeous and almost always chock full o’ students in various stages of studying/cramming/sleeping. I have plenty of my own memories of hanging out in the South Lounge — where, perhaps not oddly, the encounter with Michael Raville takes place — to escape the ice, snow and cold of Indiana winters. Though my memories of that time are growing hazy, I was fortunate enough (um, by virtue of the fact that my office is just a few hundred yards from the Union) to be able to refresh my acquaintance at will while I was writing the chapters in question.
And yes, that was me wandering around the halls of the Union taking notes, scribbling descriptions and inventing snatches of dialogue as I wandered around. That was also me sitting in the chairs Dorian and Amara occupied in front of the fireplace while I got the cinematics right…or in some cases, taken liberties with the physical space to fit my cinematic vision. (What?! You’ve taken liberties?! Psst. You know they filmed most of The X-Files in and around Vancouver, right? — Ed.)
I tried to find some images of the South Lounge, but no joy. It really is a wonderfully cozy place to sleep on a cold day.
The image above is specifically to show you the portico where Dorian and Amara enter the building. For reasons that have forever escaped me, this is one of my favorite entry points to the IMU. Not far out of the frame to the right is the back edge of the School of Journalism’s Ernie Pyle Hall…one of the many buildings on campus that I’ve never actually set foot in.
D.
Update: I actually found a couple of photos of the South Lounge. Here’s one facing the fireplace, and one of the wall of windows (to the right of the fireplace from this perspective). That album has a bunch of great photos of the Union and other parts of campus. I’d point out more, but I assume you can figure out how to use Flickr.
Filed under: Writing
