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This make a lot of sense to me, as does the rest of your excellent post. It's further confirmed by the very last action in the book, when the officer finds a spool of tape he'd ove…
23 Jul 1998, 12:33
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mantis, I was away for a few days, or I would have responded to your post earlier. I have a few minor cavils, which I'll discuss elsewhere, but I found it admirably clear and enli…
19 Jul 1998, 16:35
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What I meant to ask was not "Why don't the Hierogrammates distributes White Fountains to everybody who need one?" but "Having decided to give Urth a White Fountain, why don't they …
19 Jul 1998, 12:15
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But when the assassin is reanimated, Severian has no idea that Valeria is Autarch or has remarried; he doesn't even know if she's still alive. Or is the idea that Severian's uncon…
11 Jul 1998, 11:04
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After my most recent reading of _Urth_, I realized that I didn't know the answers to some fundamental questions: Why is it necessary for anybody to "bring the White Fountain" to Ur…
07 Jul 1998, 20:43
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But then where did the constellation's name come from? On p. 230 (Ace edition) V.R.T. says he now thinks nobody may be reading his prison writings after all. It's only after thi…
23 Jun 1998, 15:40
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It certainly sounds like a quote, but I can't identify it. As for what it means, in a general sense the interrogator is clearly implying that "Marsch's" academic credentials are f…
23 Jun 1998, 15:34
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Brilliant! (And though it's not relevant to your broader point, the pattern continues in _Urth_; Severian is the New Sun too. And there's a pattern to the first parts of the titl…
23 Jun 1998, 11:11
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And this occurs in a work of fiction by V.R.T.; we don't know if it reflects something he saw or thought he saw, is derived from Annese lore, or is his own extrapolation from Veil'…
16 Jun 1998, 12:01
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So your argument is that the characters who are portrayed on the surface as paunchy men/women in business suits disguised as the Queen, Hook, and Wolf are really the Queen, Hook an…
16 Jun 1998, 10:17
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"Captain Hook" tells Michael he will be suffocated with the bonbons, but Michael has no trouble swallowing the bonbon, and the "Wicked Queen's" final remark shows that that's what'…
15 Jun 1998, 15:05
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No, saying that the process would be complete within fifty generations seems to me most easily explained by Lamarckism. I don't believe that natural selection alone would operate …
15 Jun 1998, 12:12
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I had assumed it's a typo, as it doesn't seem to make any sense as written. But I'm not 100% sure. In addition to the joke at the end, the way the bowling ball's denial is descri…
31 May 1998, 15:53
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I wasn't worried about being misquoted. What did concern me slightly was the possibility that my conclusions might be given without the reasoning behind them, making them appear…
23 May 1998, 16:39
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I think it could be. According to Krug's _The Shaping of the American High School, 1880-1920_, extracurricular activities of the type the narrator describes were found in that per…
13 May 1998, 11:08
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This might be true for another author, but not for Wolfe. I think my theory is at least as strongly implied by the text as is Weer's ghostly state in _Peace_, which we know Wolfe …
11 May 1998, 13:02
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Which? The "dazzlingly beautiful ones"? That's certainly what one interpretation of Suzanne's daughter's appearance, but see below. I hate to pour cold water on your theories, e…
08 May 1998, 16:03
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I don't know. The idea just came to me when I reread the sidhe story a couple of days ago, and it's been quite a while since I last reread the whole book, so I just threw it out a…
19 Apr 1998, 15:58
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I have to admit, I hadn't realized there are so many, but it does seem to me you've overstated a bit: Should having died and been resurrected be considered in the same category as…
24 Oct 1997, 14:45
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kmaroney at crossover.com (Kevin J. Maroney) writes: I accept this; but I think it would be a Good Thing if somebody (not me; I don't know the book well enough) were to spell out the…
16 Nov 1996, 18:51
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SPOILERS straight at email.unc.edu (Michael Straight) writes: That's my interpretation too. While we're on the subject, I have to admit that certain aspects of the ending, and of t…
14 Sep 1996, 01:54
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SPOILERS Maybe there's a subtlety I'm missing (it's been a long time since I've read it) but my guess would be that the "sign" is just the literal sign saying FREE LIVE FREE refer…
13 Sep 1996, 01:42
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