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Um, this might be way to obvious, and then again I may just be off my rocker at the moment, but why not write the author and ask what he meant?
Rev. Alimae
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a "lid" can be a hat or cap, and "pop" can mean an elderly man While this is correct, there is no widespread cultural idea or even myth of a man, elderly or not, having particular attachment to his hat. Individuals, yes; society-wide, no. So I don't think this explanation fits, here.
explain why he would make a place he didn't like "a temporary spiritual home" At first reading, I assumed (nope, still haven't learned!) that the last sentence in the quote was referring back to his initial impression of the place. Upon reading the quote I put in blue, I am now wondering whether ALL of my first impression was wrong...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I found a Michael Moorcock message board, and I've posted the question there.
Here's hoping for an answer!
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Pooh-Bah
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Well, now there is a debate on the Moorcock message board. The first suggestion was that I'd discovered a typo, and the phrase was taken from a German expression akin to "every pot has its lid", but we've now confirmed that the phrase as I recounted it appears in various publications of the short story, so it's looking more and more like it wasn't a typo, after all. Instead, the Moorcock board is now wondering if the phrase is a bit of rhyming slang of lid = kid, with pop (not rhyming, of course) = father. My own musing wondered whether there was a drug use reference, given the prevalence of "pop" and "lid" in illicit drug culture.
I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that MM himself will answer.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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From the author his own self:
OK -- pop to his lid. It's sort of made-up slang -- popper and lid -- drug terms. It's not a mistake.
Now just how cool is that to get the answer from the author? The internet is a wonderous thing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sparteye, *very cool that you got the answer from the horse's mouth. But now that I know what each word means, I still don't get the meaning of the sentence. Not the what's-lost-to-whom (or vice-versa) bit previously discussed; rather, both the syntax and the sense of the analogy. 
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enthusiast
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May I "Hypop-ethize" that: The Popper is a mechanism used to remove the Lid, thus revealing the desired contents of the container. The original phrase, "...appeal as any pop to his lid" would then indicate that this [hallway] was a suitable means to the desired effect; that is, a refuge. If I am way off-base, tell me. (But be polite  )
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
May I "Hypop-ethize" that:
The Popper is a mechanism used to remove the Lid, thus revealing the desired contents of the container.
The original phrase, "...appeal as any pop to his lid" would then indicate that this [hallway] was a suitable means to the desired effect; that is, a refuge.
If I am way off-base, tell me. (But be polite )
[polite]Well, it's your word against the author-his-own-sef's [/polite]
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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The way I originally read the passage (but wasn't sure I was understanding properly, but now know I was) was:
the ambiance of the hotel was such that it infused the narrator with a mystical, intoxicated attraction to it, in the same way a drug addict is lost to the seduction of his chosen intoxicant.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yes! I get it now, Sparteye. I was interpreting "popper" to mean the drug itself (there is such, used on dance floors and elsewhere which propriety forbids me to mention), and not the user. Whew... thanks for the brain exercise. 
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