Posted from 8 addresses as Alice Turner, Alice K. Turner, akt, aturner3
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Thinking about "In the Penal Colony" sent me back to my old Modern Library "Selected Stories" yesterday, a fine project for a rainy Sunday, and now I'm thinking that "The Great Wal…
27 Apr 1998, 09:47
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I'm thinking that A SHORT HISTORY OF BYZANTIUM might be too difficult a read, and I propose to substitute EVERYDAY LIFE IN BYZANTIUM (meanwhile those of you with a few minutes on y…
27 Apr 1998, 09:16
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Oh I know! John Julius Norwich"s A SHORT HISTORY OF BYZANTIUM. This is a one-volume condensation of a three-volume popular history Norwich wrote in the 80s. I read the first of the…
26 Apr 1998, 09:49
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For the second week, I nominate Kafka's "In the Penal Colony." With all the emphasis on Borges, I think Kafka has been somewhat overlooked as an influence on Wolfe. In my opinion, …
26 Apr 1998, 09:38
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Oh nuts, I wasn't going to to post to the latest questions till I got in gear, but you've all started without me, so I'll have to jump in. In the first week of mantis's course, stu…
23 Apr 1998, 19:18
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If I recall correctly, No, that is Phaethon (umlaut over the e). His name means "shining" (Graves), and his father is Helios (the sun) rather than Apollo (brightness of day). Phae…
11 Apr 1998, 00:58
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Yes, "dux" means "leader" in Latin, and is still used for "head boy" in Scottish schools (OED). I think she may be an unhumu ;-). It really is the same name, which indicates to m…
29 Mar 1998, 14:31
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Damien, No, no, no, no!!! It is not too late. What a marvelous new idea! Please, for the heathens among us, review the 14 stations of the cross. -alga-…
26 Mar 1998, 20:04
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Dan, I lived in Bangkok for a time, and saw Buddhist monks in their saffron yellow robes daily. In daily life, at least among English-speakers (and TBOTNS is written in English),…
25 Mar 1998, 19:46
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Quotes from C. Culver and Tony Ellis I've just reread Concilliator, chapters XIII-XVII (, the notules, the anteroom, the escape and Jonas's disappearence into the mirrors. And I t…
24 Mar 1998, 08:51
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For what it's worth, I have never thought that Fortunate Cloud and Quasar were the same ship. But I have never thought it surprising that Jonas and Hethor know each other. Ships do…
21 Mar 1998, 18:23
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I know I'm disappointed about Disclave, but Terry Bisson reminded me that WorldCon (Labor Day weekend) is also in Baltimore this year, and suggested that Wolfe might show for that …
19 Mar 1998, 17:45
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Attention! Disclave has been canceled; apparently the hotel threw the convention out. I had made reservations and will cancel, as should anyone else who has done so. MA-D, Terry B.…
19 Mar 1998, 12:32
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Thanks, John Bishop, for that useful and interesting URL. Now I have a question (mantis, please don't have a cow: I know you've already addressed this, but I wasn't paying enough a…
17 Mar 1998, 14:27
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mantis, Well, GDItH, I own that book, that edition, and I feel absolutely cheated that it's under "B!" Jeez, is there no justice? But seriously, this is a clue that it is a false…
15 Mar 1998, 19:25
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As a p.s. to this (though I reserve my right to not necessarily agree with it), "Hethor" is an extremely puzzling name. Nearly all the NS names can be traced (mantis can quickly te…
14 Mar 1998, 11:28
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Peter, Don't forget the rose imagery. Yeats is chock-full of it, Wolfe only somewhat less so. -alga-…
12 Mar 1998, 06:28
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No, wait...Nutria has an *essay* out there too. Not the interview (though that's important too) but an actual scholarly-type analytic essay. So you do need to do a search in additi…
11 Mar 1998, 16:43
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Wooo, sorry, Paul. I, too, am an impure thinker. But thanks for the URL. -alga-…
11 Mar 1998, 16:38
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Christopher, The best advice I can give you re your Porchnus review falls in three: First, are you sure you shouldn't be writing about the Long Sun series, which is richer religio…
09 Mar 1998, 19:09
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Ranjit, Your gloss on k.d. is priceless---maybe *that* should be the subject of our mysterious panel at Disclave...which, btw, John Clute might possibly join. Speaking of which, …
06 Mar 1998, 09:46
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Dan, Since you're open to resonance, remember that "Tracking Song" has a distinct North American flavor, and that a very important figure in Western NA myth is Great Raven (or sim…
05 Mar 1998, 07:29
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That's interesting. Does it mention LeGuin's "Nine Lives?" A very different take. -alga-…
04 Mar 1998, 19:11
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Viz, Yes. I have some pull with them, as does mantis, and we'd both love to yank it for you. Still, though you've got a wonderful premise, let's argue out the underground sequence…
02 Mar 1998, 21:20
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On second thought, viz, you have to deal with all that "True Man" stuff in the underground kingdom. Hard to fit that in with your theory. What do you think? -alga-…
01 Mar 1998, 21:19
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I was a major participant in that discussion---I got quite obsessed with it for a while. And I'm quite taken aback by this new thought---and quite taken with it too. This is one of…
01 Mar 1998, 20:03
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Derek, I took, and take, this as metaphoric. CRC, Most interesting question! Never occurred to me! Either of the above would be, IMO, Wolfe's answer, should you ask him. Unlik…
05 Feb 1998, 20:45
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Disclave is a "bookish" convention in Washington D.C. May1-3. Gene Wolfe is going to be Guest of Honor. I have been asked if I want to participate on a panel (this suggested to the…
05 Feb 1998, 11:48
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Disclave is a "bookish" convention in Washington D.C. May1-3. Gene Wolfe is Guest of Honor. I have been asked if I want to participate on a panel (this was suggested by the other G…
03 Feb 1998, 23:27
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Oh, in case some of you do want to slog through the Persian creation myth, I should add that Nod=Gayomard, Jahi=Jeh, M&M=Mashya and Mashyane. Not that I think you're dim in any way…
02 Feb 1998, 07:49
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Some coincidental thoughts from all the ideas turning up: I dug around to find the original Zoroastrian creation myth (here it is, in more detail than some of you may care for: htt…
02 Feb 1998, 07:43
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I think Nutria's analysis of the Play (which I'm not quoting, because it's fairly long) is excellent, but suffers from too strict adherence to the Bible. Using the Zoroastrian/Pers…
31 Jan 1998, 13:05
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Wow, we're back in fettle! No, rana, you're right on the mark. teliss, I love your locution, but Ultan's mythic Alexandrian Library is hardly Thecla's "local library!" Patrick O…
30 Jan 1998, 19:51
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Ooops, I misread that question...of course, it's the brown book that I meant, which is not what you meant. Apologies. Got no answer for the real question. -alga-…
28 Jan 1998, 22:22
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Christopher, There is no reason to think that it is not a printed book, one of a print run, very likely with a buckram cover (I speculate on the brown cover to make the point that…
28 Jan 1998, 22:19
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Xury, Apart from larger questions of free will v. predestination----the undines survived the New Sun splendidly, and are seen cavorting in the flood waves. Practically the last ac…
27 Jan 1998, 09:27
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-----Original Message----- From: urth-errors at lists.best.com <urth-errors at lists.best.com> To: urth at lists.best.com <urth at lists.best.com> Date: Sunday, January 25, 1998 6:02 PM Subjec…
25 Jan 1998, 19:49
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I put forth a theory a while back that mantis at least pretended to give credence to---that the Cumaean might be an inhumu! -alga-…
15 Jan 1998, 11:27
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Agree with mantis down the line (except for having Cath off in time corridors, which seems far-fetched--more likely author understandably didn't want to have hero's Mom around and …
09 Jan 1998, 20:04
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Christopher: Severian's father is Ouen, the waiter at the Inn of the Lost Loves. See p 305-306 Citadel (hardcover). -alga-…
03 Jan 1998, 10:56
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You wouldn't find it in the dictionary. At one time in my life, however, I was quite interested in Restoration plays, French farce, comic opera etc. There is always a maid in these…
03 Dec 1997, 12:25
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Thank you, mantis, for that play breakdown. I've printed it out to stick in my book. For what it's worth, Meschiane=moon, Jahi=Venus seems right to me. Also, I think the Countess C…
02 Dec 1997, 08:23
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This was a private message to mantis, but he's away for the holiday, and I thought it might be of some possible interest to one or two of you so I'm posting--just skip if not your …
29 Nov 1997, 13:35
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I'm not sure why the Statue kisses Jahi's foot, but I can make a sort of poetic guess--that a certain obeisance to the demonic is necessary to technology. Also, help, please. On p…
23 Nov 1997, 13:49
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Here’s my take on Dr. Talos’s play: I think it clearly parallels the only other pageant in the series, that in Urth (V), where the aquastors gather before Tzadkiel (who represents…
23 Nov 1997, 13:35
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Tony, They are the Persian (Zoroastrian) Adam and Eve, under various spellings, i.e. Mashya and Mashyaga. The figure Talos conflates with Nod the Nephilim (Baldanders) is Gayomart…
20 Nov 1997, 12:23
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mantis, Nutria, That was brilliant work on Firefly---and to tie it to that puzzling wand. Wow! I think I'll go lie down too. I feel totally outclassed. -alga-…
05 Nov 1997, 18:25
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Publisher's Weekly has named Patrick O'Leary's The Gift one of the best books of '97, calling it "an unusually adept enchantment that takes classic fantasy elements---sorcery, a de…
03 Nov 1997, 13:11
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Tony, It's related, but a noun. It means mountebank or quack (cked OED) Me too. Which is why when I read Paul Park's -Celestis- it seemed to me to be written almost as an homage …
01 Nov 1997, 14:17
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I have an extra 1st ed hardcover of Nightside in fine shape. But the only book I think I want is Storeys from the Old Hotel. Anybody? -alga-…
29 Oct 1997, 21:09
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