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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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O, what a can of worms is opened here! If Charlie Turner is a unicorn, and if there never was a coldhouse prank, then maybe Sherry Gold's a phantom too, a middle-aged man's onanist…
20 Aug 2002, 21:12
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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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A couple of clarifications: First, yes, it was I. Second, I do not mean (nor did I mean to imply) that Ascian Correct Thought is _exclusively_ a parable of the Maoist Cult of Per…
29 Jul 2002, 15:47
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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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Alga wrote of the I do, I do! But not with the last statement; I think frankly, that, with one exception, and the semi-exception of the Ascians, your premise -- that Wolfe's in…
16 Jul 2002, 18:53
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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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1. Silk's relationship with Hyacinth. This simply cannot be understood outside of the context of the (very short) book of the prophet Hosea in the Bible. To summarize thematically…
15 Jul 2002, 18:53
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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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Stephen Case: you have presented the best & most coherent argument for the "Silk commits suicide theory" I have ever encountered -- others may have expressed it before, but if th…
11 Jul 2002, 16:17
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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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God does promise Noah that He will not again destroy all the world by water. The coming of the White Fountain does not violate this promise, because all the world is _not_ destro…
17 Jun 2002, 16:03
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Well, no, not really, but another approach to what's going on here. Moving slowly through OBW, I found this: Throughout my life I have done my best to imitate Silk (as I am d…
13 Jun 2002, 15:23
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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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Bob King wrote... H'mmm. Bob, your long one-line paragraphs are getting cut off. Perhaps you can use the occasional carriage-return/line-feed? Well, yeah, I agree with that, at l…
12 Jun 2002, 20:47
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Crush again... [Lupinity deleted] Well, yes and no ... among other things, this depends on just what Christian theology you're talking about. Catholic theology has, to the best …
12 Jun 2002, 16:34
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Crush declaimed: Well, here you fall afair of the common Catholic theological concept of the "anonymous Christian" -- the person who, for whatever reason, is not given the grace t…
12 Jun 2002, 16:27
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Through faith, of course. 8*) No, you see ... the point is that by participation, we're all right, even though it only happens the once. Don't think in time, think in eternity. O…
12 Jun 2002, 16:24
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Rostrum saith: Yes. But on the other hand, he also writes of having been allowed to tour and photograph the "surviving" buildings of that distant future period. Which seems to put…
12 Jun 2002, 16:18
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Crush: I suppose this is a question of interpretation... To me, the "in so far as there is a Christ figure" seems to me to be a way of saying that there really isn't, but if you h…
11 Jun 2002, 22:51
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Emerging from the murky mists of the Internet, composing on computers their provident remarks, James and Jeff have jointly written: I should clarify my point here ... it i…
11 Jun 2002, 16:01
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Matthew asks: and Hartshorn replies: Ummm ... well, maybe a little, but the speech patterns of the Ascians are _not_ derived from Newspeak. They are a clear and luminous referen…
11 Jun 2002, 15:31
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Andrew writes again... Well, I'd say "it's pretty clear that the Outsider is the God of Christianity." The entire theology of the Trinity seems to be untouched by the texts (thoug…
10 Jun 2002, 19:05
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Andrew responded to Crush... Well, an important point, which should not be glossed over, is Severian's experience with Loyal to the Group of Seventeen. It's clear that, despite t…
10 Jun 2002, 18:42
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Welcome, Crush. You wrote... Right. A big help with understanding this concept when I was much younger was John Donne's sonnet "Batter my heart, three-person'd God," which is one…
10 Jun 2002, 17:52
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Welcom, Andrew Reeves. Hiss, click click. While I'd not thought of it in those terms, I guess you could in fact describe it that way. But then, from the Catholic point of view (wh…
07 Jun 2002, 15:49
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