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Well, for what it's worth, Dan'l and James seem to me to have pretty unusual reactions to LB. My experience with the novel is that when I introduce it to someone, they either say:…
29 Jul 2003, 04:19
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If I recall, Vidal's "Visit to a Small Planet" isn't quite the play that's in the story. I think "Mary Rose" on the other hand, doesn't seem changed. Can anyone confirm my memory…
11 Apr 2003, 06:30
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True, but from his fiction it seems unlikely that Wolfe has the same relationship to the Catholic Church that most people have to their employers. Wolfe clearly does think about D…
21 Jan 2003, 00:31
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It's "You Can't Go Back" in _Iron Tears_. One of Lafferty's better stories, which is saying a lot. While the intention was, I'm sure, all to the good, I think "Junie Moon"'s main…
17 Jun 2002, 16:09
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Allow me to weigh in on the "likes SS" side, but with the caveat that while my visceral reaction is favorable, and many passages I love deeply, most of the criticisms people have a…
29 May 2002, 17:11
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Another random minor 5HC tidbit: The man in black who arrests V.R.T. being from (at least for the moment) The Department of Public Works, Subdepartment of Sewers and Drains could …
18 Apr 2002, 05:22
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So to what extent are the Proust and Coleridge "encapsulations" in the 5HC novella _essential_ to the theme, and to what extent does Wolfe do this kind of thing just because he can…
17 Apr 2002, 20:40
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mantis said: Agreed. Three cheers (or little creepy stars) for Borski. Going back to alga's comment on the cruelty of 5HC, I think part of what amazes me about the book is that …
17 Apr 2002, 18:26
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Adam nicely summed up what was right and wrong with AI and said: This is one point I have to disagree with; it doesn't make complete sense, but the Flesh Fairs seem much more pla…
27 Aug 2001, 12:43
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I'm just quoting this, but the whole detective discussion is interesting. I agree that Wolfe's "baptized" detective fiction derives from Chesterton (_Nightside_ being practically …
22 Aug 2001, 13:13
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Hmmm.. Wolfe's taste in Nero Wolfe sounds a lot like mine. I don't think I've read BEFORE MIDNIGHT or TOO MANY WOMEN, though. I started a writeup on Wolfe & genre mystery (comme…
15 Aug 2001, 19:22
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Dan'l said: I fail to see why they are silly; considering them to be science-fiction rather than fantasy strikes me as odd, but that's another story. The examples I came up with …
02 Aug 2001, 13:55
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Well, I haven't yet read TGC, but this is pretty common in alternate history fantasy. Canonical examples of worlds that would _really_ involve a lot less common names and history …
01 Aug 2001, 20:30
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mantis said: Hmmm... You might want to give it another try--it's been five years now, but I recall my interest rising considerably at some point after the fire. _Titus Groan_ ha…
28 Jun 2001, 13:08
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Patrick O'Leary said: Who, I wonder, is Syd Barrett here?…
22 Jun 2001, 13:16
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I don't know if this is the same one, but one of the "Necronomicons" was partly the product of occasional list contributor Dave Langford. Perhaps he knows more about the spurious h…
15 Jun 2001, 16:33
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I assume that's just Wolfe's way of saying "he's a in a very weird cognate of our reality."…
07 May 2001, 12:37
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Are there more than a handful of Wolfe stories this short* that _aren't_ weird little throwaways? I didn't find this one particularly obnoxious, other than that ultra-irritating "…
04 May 2001, 11:27
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Not that this isn't purely a tangent, but actually in Luke 1 the angel announces things to come to Mary before she is pregnant, and Mary says "May it be to me as you have said." S…
18 Apr 2001, 13:56
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Well, I haven't got much to say on this other than to direct your attention to: http://world.std.com/~pduggan/wolfeint.html I'll add that I agree with Wolfe about THE DISPOSSESSE…
10 Apr 2001, 01:44
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A quick google for "ignoramus and agnostic" confirms that George is almost certainly right.…
15 Mar 2001, 12:59
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Several points here. It's not really my theory that Neighbor is their language. I am unconvinced that the "how to communicate with..." is about teaching a language at all. I'm t…
13 Mar 2001, 14:28
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Robert said: OK, you (sort of) have us here. Kevin & I were thinking of Piaton's head being the graft-on, but of course it's the other way around (otherwise Typhon doesn't get a …
13 Mar 2001, 03:05
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<snipping Robert's Pas-as-neighbor arguments> Fine and well, but you still haven't dealt with the fact that when Severian meets Typhon in SWORD, Typhon doesn't remotely resemble a…
12 Mar 2001, 14:20
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Well, it leaves a lot to be desired as an explanation (since Hoof's section is so different) but even though these kids haven't had a strong literary education, Hoof and Hide were …
07 Mar 2001, 21:11
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<defense of the 3rd person sections of RttW snipped> Very nice, mantis. Ok, I'll bite. It's been a while since I read ENGINE SUMMER, but I'm about to reread it again. Which s…
01 Mar 2001, 22:44
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Blattid said: I'd say Wolfe was pretty instrumental in my conversion (raised Southern Baptist) as well. Wolfe introduced me to Chesterton, and then I began to say "you know, thes…
27 Feb 2001, 15:10
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Sounds good. I don't see really where quaternity comes in here, though unless we're, as I don't think Robert is. taking Wolfe to be writing hard-nosed allegory. Robert's notion i…
27 Feb 2001, 00:23
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Blattid spoke: Ah, I was replying to the "explicitly Catholic" part, which wasn't true when I joined the list, but is now. Of the "off the list" Wolfe fans I know, three are Cath…
26 Feb 2001, 17:33
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Blattid: I am, and as a fairly recent convert should probably be expected to be obnoxious about it or something... Although, unless I missed something (which seems fairly certain…
26 Feb 2001, 15:02
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Nutria said: in response to vizchaza: I agree, but not completely. Severian contains multitudes, but I at least don't think that we can say "Severian is Thecla" in quite the sam…
22 Feb 2001, 17:59
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The proposition: Typhon is originally from Blue/Green (is a Neighbor, I suppose). Pros: (1) Gives a reason for his sending the Whorl to Blue/Green. (2) Explains Mother/Scylla re…
19 Feb 2001, 12:47
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I don't think SS is fantasy. Or at least, I suspect it's not meant to be read that way. The reason it is problematic is that the narrator makes use of abilities that are as stran…
19 Feb 2001, 01:57
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Nutria said: I agree with you that Oreb all along has strong aspects as a Holy Spirit figure. Given this, what do you think the significance of Oreb's possession by Scylla is? T…
18 Feb 2001, 14:27
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<snipped> Nice post, mantis. Note that there is also Nutria's reading: Horn isn't delusional, but his family & Remora (our editors) are. I find the most convincing reading to be…
17 Feb 2001, 21:17
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Well one thing that is important to keep in mind is that the events up to the transfer from Green at Horn's death are actions carried out by _Horn_, recollected by Silk/Horn. Silk…
14 Feb 2001, 13:27
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Adam wrote: (much snipped) Which is what I sort of believe. I'm also beginning to wonder if Silk (and the inhumi) thinking the secret is so important is a self-delusion and atte…
13 Feb 2001, 16:26
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Clearly I need to reread it all again. Whether "it all" means back to SHADOW or starting at OBW, I'm not sure yet. I reread Long Sun this summer, so its fairly fresh, but it will…
08 Feb 2001, 18:41
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I think the very first thing I should do is eat crow (or, perhaps night chough) for having pooh-poohed the whole Scylla is in Oreb thing.…
05 Feb 2001, 13:11
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Rostrum said: Even limiting things to OBW and IGJ, I disagree. To name an instance that comes to mind immediately, without moving to the bookshelf, what about the last few lines …
31 Jan 2001, 14:52
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Wombat said: Yes. I didn't like Clute's review of OBW, but this is a fine review (although it might say too much to someone who hasn't finished RttW), with some nice insights. I…
31 Jan 2001, 00:44
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Adam, re: the end-of-the-world hypothesis: I don't know that I originated it, but: (from Aug. 25, 1998) Adam also wrote, about THE ARABIAN NIGHTMARE: Because although the book …
08 Dec 2000, 19:33
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Dan'l/Blattid wrote (among other things): Good point. Still, it's not something he does very often. Certainly Wolfe's works on the whole do not tend to attack the underlying rea…
08 Dec 2000, 15:55
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Hmmm... This seems to bring us back to the whole question of how to know postmodernism (and without the aid of a SF oracle like Damon Knight's finger). Barth I will agree is post…
08 Dec 2000, 13:22
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Rostrum: I will hold comment until you are done with IGJ, to avoid prejudicing your reading. But I must say: I think it's slightly better, which is saying a lot.…
21 Nov 2000, 15:04
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Nutria said: I think Wolfe is fairly straightforward in that interview, but I also don't recall a lot of the kinds of questions he tends to be devious about ("who killed who?," "w…
06 Nov 2000, 18:55
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The other difficulty with using Wolfe's interviews is that, while they are useful in a general way, Wolfe is, I think, intentionally gnomic and tricky. Recall the answers to the q…
06 Nov 2000, 13:06
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These two quotes strengthen Dan'l's hypothesis about the Doctors being guides in the afterlife as well. A pile of lives in the waiting room, indeed. Hmmm... Which brings in a po…
27 Oct 2000, 14:28
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mantis' latest insight snipped. This fits in nicely with the possible setting of Den's narration in the far future. Not only can the figure listening to Hannah's story be the rea…
26 Oct 2000, 00:34
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Wonderful continuing PEACE discussion, everybody. Some points of my own, taking off from Dan'l: Hmmm... The desk is also, in my reading, the center of Weer's afterlife. The ele…
25 Oct 2000, 20:42
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