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The description of the sacrificial rite is very remniscent of what is known of the rites of sacrifice in the temple at Jerusalem, including the business about splashing the blood …
23 Oct 2002, 19:22
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And hartshorn responded: I see your point, and even agree with it -- there is a certain feel to the Whorldly pantheon that does remind one of (especially) the Greek gods; and na…
23 Oct 2002, 16:00
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Yes ... his preaching to animals (and birds in particular) should make that clear. He's also part Father Brown, I think. ...yes, particularly given the other observations in your…
23 Oct 2002, 15:38
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Welcome, Daniel Goss. You wrote (among other interesting things): Oh, I don't know ... you've got some good points here. (You quoted Roy): Bounce that against the idea that "de…
09 Oct 2002, 15:46
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Roy C. comments: I can only observe that this is a very Judeo-Christian-centric view of the problem. Believe me, the same ethical questions are asked in the Far East.…
07 Oct 2002, 18:28
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Actually, you really don't, but if you really want to, ... h'mmm. Check out the mythology section of a good children's library, there are always good books of Gods And Heroes there…
07 Oct 2002, 15:54
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Thank you ... In this context it might be worth considering the attitudes of that other great Catholic fantastist, J.R.R. Tolkien, on the subject; in THE SILMARILLION, ... oh, d…
07 Oct 2002, 15:53
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Off topic, but not totally; it goes to the purgatorial interpretation of PEACE... Nor do I want for a moment to get into any such theological conflict. And I certainly don't want…
07 Oct 2002, 15:43
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Roy C. wrote ... The usual method is called "repentance." Has nothing to do with the case -- the whole point (well, _a_ major point) of Christianity in general, and Catholicism i…
04 Oct 2002, 20:40
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Things are arriving at my machine in weird, random order. As do I, regarding incest. And so what? Consider Oedipus. Incest appears to be so vile that even unknown, it pollutes th…
17 Sep 2002, 21:07
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While acknowledging Nutria's correction to "Christian moral exemplar," I wish to observe that it wasn't really necessary. Wolfe does not, in my opinion, involve any protagonist i…
13 Sep 2002, 16:02
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H'mmm. An interesting, if questionable ... what would it be? Pneumatological? ... point of view ... where "questionable" is not intended as a pejorative term, since an SF writer …
09 Sep 2002, 20:20
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Hartshorn wrote ... ...okay, I'm blanking. The only robots I remember from Smith are the Manshonyaggers, which I somehow can't really think of as "moral." What am I forgetting ..…
09 Sep 2002, 16:58
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Not if you reverse the polarity on the neutrino flow. Yours for better technobabble,…
09 Sep 2002, 16:00
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Okay, then, we're agreed on this pernt: in the Lupiiverse of discourse, chems experience emotions reasonably comparable to those experienced by humans. Now, assuming (and I thin…
06 Sep 2002, 22:12
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Roy, on chem "glands": Because the designers' goals are not what you assume they are -- they are attempting to build "chemical persons," the term actually used in the text which …
05 Sep 2002, 17:59
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According to http://web2.iadfw.net/tharvia/charts/worldcons.gif, there have been two Worldcons held in Atlanta. One of them was in 1986 and so fits pretty well with what you've des…
03 Sep 2002, 19:41
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Now, this is an interesting statement. Roy, you seem to be stating that behavior influenced by hormones is thereby less mechanistic, or something? I wonder if that's a trap Wolfe d…
03 Sep 2002, 18:07
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Which was in fact my point ... This is just a goof, really, but it's a stfnal idea that I've played with many time and never come up with a good storyline for ... I've often had …
26 Aug 2002, 18:23
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Mantis done wrote... Ummm. Granted, I've only read about half a dozen of Dickens's novels ... but not a one of the ones I've read (OLIVER TWIST, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, DAVID COPPER…
21 Aug 2002, 20:39
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All but the last three words. Why there? Not "why" as in "why would he be there," but "why" as in "what, in the text, supports the conclusion that this is where Weer's ghost is ha…
20 Aug 2002, 23:04
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While I don't have an answer to hand, one data point: in the 1939 film THE WIZARD OF OZ, sepia-tone (rather than standard B/W) was used in the Kansas segments to give them a "dated…
19 Aug 2002, 18:44
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I observed that Again, so much for universalism. But at least _some_ are. Mere survival is not the "salvation" I referred to; it is the regeneration of humanity which (according…
02 Aug 2002, 19:02
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Whoa. I didn't object, I questioned, and was very careful to qualify my statement as "to-me-here-now": This isn't saying "you shouldn't be so certain" -- it's asking "how did you …
01 Aug 2002, 21:33
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Correct ... as far as it goes. But _the_ shadow of _the_ torturer (not _some_ shadow of _some_ torturer) does not fall upon them; they are not touched by the salvation Severian i…
01 Aug 2002, 16:47
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Sigh. Okay, let me clarify things here ... I believe my original statement was: Okay, that was way too strong ... I think I had better have said that I find it implausible that …
01 Aug 2002, 00:14
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Andy Robertson quoting Josh Geller quoting... No; but the much larger removal of _all_ such epithets from polite conversation comes a lot closer. As for granting Orwell primacy …
31 Jul 2002, 22:29
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As regards the Ascians, Patera Nutria inscribed: Actually, the text makes clear that they are from _north_ of the equator (or "waist of the Urth"), and that this is a false belie…
31 Jul 2002, 16:01
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...perhaps. Certainly I think that any Orwellian strain is weaker and more distant than the Maoist. I think SF fans (myself included!) have a tendency to hear resonances of SF te…
30 Jul 2002, 16:41
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Cool ... One thing, though ... Robert, you refer to Doris as "almost certainly" the daughter of Den Weer and Sherry Gold. Perhaps I've missed (or simply forgotten) something in the…
30 Jul 2002, 15:52
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I could well be wrong (twice in one day...) -- I've always associated France with the whole extended group that included Belloc, Chesterton, etc., but I can't for the life of me …
29 Jul 2002, 23:26
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Rostrum asks: In the case of my acquaintances in 70's Berkeley, well, no; it wasn't just "zeal," it was political correctness in its original, non-ironic sense. These people wer…
29 Jul 2002, 22:35
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... particularly since Anatole France was, if I am not mistaken, a member of the extended "set" to which one of Wolfe's acknowledged ... heroes? Models? ... whatever ... , G.K. Ch…
29 Jul 2002, 18:41
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Crush quoted David and said... Well, while you're right that the Hieros don't help us set up any kind of time limits, it's a _little_ more complicated than that -- it's establish…
17 Jul 2002, 18:53
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Charles Reed wrote ... ... well, I mainly wanted to comment on the Subject: line. Oy! Is there any reasonable doubt that (once it's been pointed out) this is just another example…
17 Jul 2002, 16:25
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Mantis quoted Matthew... Well, that's certainly what I was thinking of; and in context, I'm pretty darn sure that those are the same mountains that Typhon and company later carve…
17 Jul 2002, 16:20
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More of a walnut, I think. A hard nut to crack. Bravo! I was not referring to the single cliff; others have mentioned the mines of Saltus, (which are pretty darn deep down), the …
17 Jul 2002, 16:17
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The 97 Kyear figure is _very_ debateable, and I for one hold it to be completely implausible ... we're talking a sufficient amount of time so that the ruins of ancient human civil…
16 Jul 2002, 20:42
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Mantis replied... Second that. Actually two questions, of which only the first is "easy" (and even that somewhat quibblesome): ... plus various short stories scattered across a …
16 Jul 2002, 18:27
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My fellow insect said: I think the question of whether Typhon is dead or in SA might be ambiguious ... I had certainly read him as being in SA up to this posting: in my reading o…
15 Jul 2002, 23:08
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More to the point, the Mainframe gods can affect the vision centers only through the eyes -- Pig, without eyes, cannot upload his Silk to Mainframe. Mucor, walking about as a loos…
15 Jul 2002, 19:11
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I know it's somewhere, but it might actually be in "Castle of the Otter" in Wolfe's own voice, so to speak. Because he also says it takes a long time (I think O(100) generation) …
15 Jul 2002, 18:52
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Just about 2/3 through RttW and (to resolve some doubts others have expressed) there is a clear statement by a Neighbor that they (a) travelled to the _Whorl when it arrived in the…
15 Jul 2002, 18:27
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Rostrum sez: Well, no ... he's in suspended animation on Mount Typhon.…
15 Jul 2002, 18:08
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He-who-adds-tone-to-this-list writes: Sorry, I had that backwards. Kansas is in sepia. [...] Pig mentions that he went to Silk's place and didn't find him there. I regard this …
12 Jul 2002, 15:41
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He-who-must-forever-be-in-Kansas writes: Yes; I reread that passage last night. I don't think there is any real doubt that his arm wounds are self-inflicted; the only serious ques…
11 Jul 2002, 22:01
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I'm a bit behind where Stephen is -- partly because I have so much else to read (yes, Kevin, the reviews are coming, and soon); I'm about halfway through rereading IGJ and would s…
08 Jul 2002, 17:45
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Good post, Marc. One other point: Whatever rules may apply to the use of mythological monsters in the Lupiverse, Typhon certainly does _not_ fall under the "saints" naming convent…
20 Jun 2002, 17:42
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Okay, some of this has been replied-to, but I think perhaps less clearly than could be desired (given Andrew's follow-up). Andrew The undines, as near as can be told, _are_ homo s…
17 Jun 2002, 16:35
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Hartshorn writes... I think "too strong" is probably more accurate than "untrue." Language, along with other mental structures, does pretty clearly _guide_ the way we think about…
12 Jun 2002, 21:17
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