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On p. 16 (Harper & Row), Weer refers to "the bland chance of the scientists (whose blind, piping ape-god, idiot-god, we have met before; we know you, troubler of Babylon)". Mantis…
08 Nov 2000, 10:41
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Many thanks for posting this, Robert. It's a bit difficult to reconcile what Wolfe says here with his statements re the house in the Jordan interview that I cited earlier. The be…
06 Nov 2000, 11:44
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I came across a story by Swedenborg--apparently an excerpt from one of his mysical-theological books--in an anthology. It's only a page long, but the parallels with PEACE are star…
05 Nov 2000, 12:52
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Thanks. I actually got the part four-detective story connection first, and that encouraged me to go after the others. Well, I was seeing the bookshop as just an allusion, not evi…
01 Nov 2000, 21:29
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I don't know if this observation has been made before, but each of PEACE's five parts is "in the mode," so to speak, of a different genre. (I'm referring to the predominant action…
31 Oct 2000, 11:29
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Dan's theory that "Dr. Van Ness, not at all a creation of W's memory/imagination, is a psychopomp, guiding Weer in some way to (if not through) the memories he must deal with" is a…
29 Oct 2000, 21:28
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I keep meaning to post my reactions to the Doctors-as-guides theory, but never getting around to it. Maybe tomorrow. (But as long as I'm on the subject, why did Wolfe put in the …
28 Oct 2000, 00:53
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I think we'd need at least one more splice, maybe two. On the page after Weer is underweight, we have this dialogue: "There's not a man in my plant I'd talk to the way you tal…
27 Oct 2000, 14:04
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Indeed, there is weirdness going on around Miss Birkhead. On the second page of part five (236 in the Harper 1975 edition) she is in the office (so she makes two appearances, not …
26 Oct 2000, 17:42
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Stimulated by the mantis-inspired discussion of PEACE, I just finished rereading it again, taking notes this time. What a great book. I can't believe it's so unknown out of sf ci…
25 Oct 2000, 23:38
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Once again, a fascinating post. Too much to digest at once, but a few quick questions and comments: Silently? I don't see where in the story the marid makes this condition. But…
23 Oct 2000, 22:38
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"when" is correct, according to the 1975 first edition. Is it omitted from your edition? To me, "that paragon of paladins" sounds sarcastic; even in a fairy tale, I can't see som…
23 Oct 2000, 11:02
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In a way, though, Peacock's and Macafee's courtships are inversions of the fairy tale. Peacock discovers rare, hidden things but (presumably unlike the prince of gnomes) keeps the…
22 Oct 2000, 12:29
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In a thought-provoking post on PEACE (I'll have to reread the book now; PEACE is one of my favorite books, and I want to take part in this That had been my impression on reading t…
20 Oct 2000, 11:05
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And the link you provide cites "There Will Come Soft Rains." I actually hadn't been thinking of that one; just the idea of a boy meeting a whole bunch of fictional or legendary Ch…
20 Sep 2000, 15:33
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I'm not comforted, since he's already been molested (Charlie tells him "'We'll take off our clothes and have some fun, Chris. _Then_ we'll go to bed.'" (195, emphasis mine)) and t…
20 Sep 2000, 15:25
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I finally got around to reading STRANGE TRAVELLERS, though I'd read a number of the stories in it before. On a first reading, I'd say the major one I'd missed is "And When They Ap…
20 Sep 2000, 11:50
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Wolfe explicitly mentions Baum in his introduction; he says: "You will find much here that recalls Oz; you will also find the eeriness that L. Frank Baum set out to banish from his…
07 Sep 2000, 13:48
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I was the one who suggested Cruithne as relevant to the Blue/Green question. (A couple of clarifications: it's not Earth's moon but Earth that Cruithne is a companion of; and it's…
06 Sep 2000, 11:40
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That's my impression too. According to IGJ, the extreme poverty Horn and Nettle underwent during their first years on Blue was caused partly by Nettle's being pregnant with Sinew …
02 Sep 2000, 15:46
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An anthology recently appeared edited by Martin H. Greenberg entitled "My Favorite Fantasy Story" (published by Daw) in which a selection of prominent fantasy authors were each ask…
29 Aug 2000, 11:27
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And if humans offered themselves knowing that it would result in the inhumi losing their intelligence, they would not be acting in the spirit of not harming others, so the inhumi w…
28 Aug 2000, 14:47
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Okay, here's my scheme (it would take up nearly as much space to ask whether I should post it): My reasoning is mostly pretty self-evident, but if anyone has any questions, I'll a…
12 Aug 2000, 12:17
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It's not explicitly stated that Silk committed suicide (or even that it is Silk and Hyacinth), but to me, the combination of Silk's bleeding, the fact that Hyacinth is in her coffi…
10 Aug 2000, 18:06
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Perhaps, but I don't recall anywhere else where Horn indicates a belief in the Outsider's multiple nature. And even if he did, the unexplained shift from singular to plural in the…
10 Aug 2000, 17:56
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I think I'm the one who started the "physical description" bit, and since the passage you quote is the one I was thinking of, I was evidently wrong. What happened, I think, was th…
09 Aug 2000, 23:29
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I was reviewing the altar scene, and I just noticed the following sentence, where Horn is narrating the manifestation of the Outsider: "I knew that he was there, that if I turned, …
09 Aug 2000, 23:17
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I don't think that this is the secret, for a couple of reasons. Fr one thing, it doesn't fit several of the things we know about the secret: it doesn't explain why the inhumi drin…
09 Aug 2000, 23:11
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Not to me. What the Neighbor says is "'I can send your spirit into someone else, into someone whose own spirit is dying....Then there will be one whole man there, instead of two d…
09 Aug 2000, 22:55
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But, as I've said before, the problem isn't just that he denies being Silk. It's that he never mentions being in Silk's body, and does things which suggest that he doesn't know wh…
07 Aug 2000, 19:17
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stilskin at sff.net wrote: [This originally appeared on the whorl list, but I'm replying here because my reply deals solely with non-Whorl novels] It's striking that the three novels…
04 Aug 2000, 09:19
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The Golden Rule includes it, true, but is more stringent. Not wishing your neighbor dead is sort of the minimal program to the Golden Rule's maximal program. (Although if unconsc…
02 Aug 2000, 23:44
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The actual passage is: "You sell your own kind to us for weapons and treasure," she told him [Hide] almost apologetically, "and your cruelty and the more numerous you are, t…
02 Aug 2000, 22:56
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I had earlier posted a list of the clues regarding the inhumi's secret I had found in IGJ. I just came across one I'd overlooked. I also came up with a fairly wild speculation as…
02 Aug 2000, 22:43
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I can't find the spot now, but iirc somewhere in IGJ Horn says "Silk is now an aspect of Pas," or words to that effect. He doesn't say it as a conjecture, but as something definit…
02 Aug 2000, 11:26
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I found the passage. It's actually Fava and not Jahlee, and her exact reply is "'I've wondered about that. It must have been marvelous. Miraculous...For them [the inhumi], I mea…
02 Aug 2000, 11:01
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I've been including the spoiler space because everybody else has and nobody's objected till now, but I'm dubious of its utility. It's useless for those who get the digest, unless …
26 Jul 2000, 08:40
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I think you're thinking of this dialogue from the last chapter, where just after Jahlee has argued that she is human inside: "What about the inhumi who destroyed the vanished …
25 Jul 2000, 09:59
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I don't think Alex's theory is the secret either, although it may be true. I don't see why the inhumi would see Alex's theory as more of a weapon against themselves than the fact …
25 Jul 2000, 09:38
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That last possibility hadn't occurred to me, but it's an intriguing one, and seems quite possible in view of Horn's special relationship with inhumi. (He also has a special relati…
24 Jul 2000, 20:54
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Do they have mirrors on Blue? I don't remember, but the level of technology is low enough that it's possible that they don't. But if they do, it reinforces my point. If Horn wer…
23 Jul 2000, 23:19
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But, IIRC, at the start of OBW Horn is looking for Silk by circulating Silk's physical description. Even if Horn believed that Silk's spirit had somehow been transferred to anothe…
23 Jul 2000, 14:55
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Of course, we don't (I didn't, anyway) feel any sense of urgency to find out about the war, since it comes out of left field in the story as a whole, and since Horn has very little…
23 Jul 2000, 10:29
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Christopher Culver wrote [spoilers omitted]: Any ideas why "Blanko" and "Duko" are spelled with a k, while the other Italianate names are spelled in the conventional Italian manne…
22 Jul 2000, 09:55
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Perhaps I should say that while I put a spoiler warning on my post to be on the safe side, and while you shouldn't read it if you want to come to IGJ absolutely fresh, I didn't dis…
19 Jul 2000, 20:53
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I read it and posted a brief message in April of this year or thereabouts. The only thing I have to add to what you say is that it's based on a specific Lafferty story, "You Can't…
17 Jul 2000, 20:47
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So far, aside from the few people with advance copies, nobody but me has mentioned reading IGJ, or even seeing it. I checked out a B&N "superstore" yesterday, and they didn't have…
16 Jul 2000, 16:11
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These are just a few scattered impressions gleaned from a quick first reading. Although you don't want to read this message if you want to come to IGJ absolutely fresh, I've tried…
15 Jul 2000, 11:17
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I got my copy at Midtown Comics (40th St. just west of 7th Ave, Manhattan). I'm up to page 104 and so far it's thoroughly absorbing; I doubt I'll be able to go to bed until I've f…
14 Jul 2000, 22:33
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If you're asking about the punctuation of Smoky's legal name, he does put a period after the S. Truman's name, on the other hand, appears as "Harry Truman," no S at all ("A Suit o…
27 Jun 2000, 23:13
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