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I happened to be flipping through my copy of _The Annotated Hobbit_, just now, and ran across the following citation from a letter by J.R.R. Tolkien that addresses the etymology …
25 Jan 2001, 21:53
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It is more likely that "Triskele" is used in the sense of a design in the form of three running legs (or stylizings thereof) arranged at 120-degree angles with the "hip" being th…
11 Jan 2001, 06:27
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As we discuss the respective humanity of humans and inhumi, it occurs to me that _Short Sun_ has dealt little with chems so far. They were certainly accepted as people in the Lo…
06 Aug 2000, 19:28
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Spoiler space courtesy of Christopher Culver: *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOILER SPACE* *SPOI…
22 Jul 2000, 23:19
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Perhaps it is one of the mercurial Wolfe's strong, cutting sentences having both a man-edge and a woman-edge. -- Dan Rabin…
09 Jul 2000, 20:54
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"Talarican" <exultnttalarican at mindspring.com> writes: Confirmed. The first edition hardcover has (p. 88) When it is gone, all the worlds will come together in a fiery death fr…
13 Mar 2000, 21:56
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Micheal Andre-Driussi writes, That was me, too. The Gene-Wolfe-three-novellas editions have a brief passage in the scene in the library in which the narrator finds an edition of …
08 Mar 2000, 20:04
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I just finished reading "Forlesen" in _Orbit 14_, its original appearance. Compared with the version in _Gene Wolfe's Book of Days_ as reprinted in _Castle of Days_, this first pub…
06 Mar 2000, 20:23
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Rostrum writes: If we go back to the scene in which Canog overhears Severian explaining his role to his "followers" in his cell, I think we can start to put some of this together.…
23 Nov 1999, 23:26
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Talon has listed some proper names not in the list at the beginning of _Blue_. I would like to offer the following (minor) corrections: "Magnesia" was her (Marble's) original nam…
23 Nov 1999, 21:33
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A couple of points: 1. Wolfe clearly enjoys having simultaneous scientific and mystical explanations for phenomena (viz. Dr. Crane's explanation of Silk's enlightenment). I thin…
03 Nov 1999, 21:49
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Isn't the term "azoth" for the element mercury alchemical in origin? I would guess that Wolfe's use of alchemy is on a par with his use of Kabbalah: a nice system to plunder for v…
03 Nov 1999, 21:25
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On pp. 169-170 (US hardcover) of _Lake_, Silk is telling Oreb how augurs are chosen (they figuratively sail past Scylla, who takes them): "... That is why artists show her [Scylla]…
03 Nov 1999, 21:22
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[It's not that I'm not enjoying the modernism thread, but that I can't contribute much, being the Modernism-101-only-plus-Pynchon sort myself.] I think we're agonizing a lot over …
28 Oct 1999, 22:02
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Tony Ellis reports success in giving Wolfe books to both sf- and non-sf-experienced readers. I've had an odd mix of successes myself. At least three of my close friends, all of w…
27 Oct 1999, 22:45
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Morally repugnant to whom? My interpretation of Krait's "cattle" metaphor and his comment "I must eat" is that the inhumi's drinking of blood is as matter-of-fact to them as eatin…
02 Oct 1999, 23:13
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I was thinking along the same lines as Alex David Grace--that the inhumi somehow derive their intelligence from their intelligent diet. We've been told they risk a lot in travelin…
29 Sep 1999, 19:55
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Alex David Grace remarks (in commenting on my original comment) that Mucor is still creepy in _Blue_. To clarify, my original remark was intended to refer to the way in which in t…
29 Sep 1999, 19:44
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I was going to send in a few comments last night after I finished reading _On Blue's Waters_, but somehow the awe prevented me. There is also Horn's expressed frustration that wri…
27 Sep 1999, 22:50
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Wow. Since I come from a country where book reviewers are only allowed to employ approved phrases of Correct Criticism, I can only say, "A master at the height of his powers." T…
27 Sep 1999, 21:30
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I just noticed this one: 1. When Severian is initiated into the Order of Seekers for Truth and Penitence, he is anointed on his forehead with blood, the chrism of the Order. 2. W…
23 Apr 1999, 00:50
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Robert Borski writes: That would be Ceryx, zombificator Zamae. _Lexicon Urthus_ tells us his name means "a herald". But he seems most unlike Inire to me. On the other hand, Sev…
21 Apr 1999, 21:49
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Robert Borski writes: From _Citadel_, ch. 28 "On the March": The bent figure meets descriptions of Father Inire elsewhere. Father Inire is a Hierodule; Hierodules wear masks. F…
20 Apr 1999, 21:24
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A lot of the recent commentary here on _Peace_ has centered on Weer's life story: was he a murderer, was he a sad man, what unfulfilled task leads to the persistence of his ghost, …
13 Apr 1999, 22:56
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Robert Borski has pointed out some very close correspondences between Wolfe's treatments the Annese of _Fifth Head_ and of the Ascians of _New Sun_. I don't, however, find myself …
30 Mar 1999, 23:11
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William Ansley asks, I don't know for sure, but when I first saw the cover, I said, "Aha, Gahan Wilson!" and was surprised not to see it credited to him--his style is so distincti…
03 Mar 1999, 22:15
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We have recently been discussing whether the identity of Severian, the New Sun, and the Conciliator is deducible from _The Book of the New Sun_. I offer the following citations: …
28 Jun 1998, 17:46
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[_Peace_] Williams Ansley wants to know what's behind Weer's allusion to the reason that Napoleon is pictured with his hand thrust into his jacket. And *I* want to know what's beh…
30 Apr 1998, 22:30
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Baldanders and the family portrayed in _Fifth Head_ seem to have a lot in common, thematically. They maintain laboratories, seek knowledge, and hope to lift themselves above the c…
05 Apr 1998, 23:28
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I thank Damien Broderick for pointing out the clues in the passage in `The Fifth Head of Cerberus' wherein the narrator visits the library and finds old science-fiction books. It …
01 Apr 1998, 20:25
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This theory of David Lebling's is quite intriguing! Here are a couple more resonances: 1. The `lost dog finding its way home' motif resonates with the perception of death among …
03 Mar 1998, 20:04
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Alice Turner states, in urth.v0006.n020.1: Christopher R. Culver concurs: Could we have citations, please? I'll accept the statement as concerns Ymar and Severian's predecessor,…
26 Jan 1998, 21:14
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Here's my deduction of who played whom in Dr. Talos's play, based on explicit statements, physical characteristics, and the constraint that no actor can appear in more than one rol…
23 Nov 1997, 17:13
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I for one would prefer that the Urth mailing list remain focused on Gene Wolfe's work. That's what I subscribe for. Since I'm an infrequent contributor, perhaps I should back up …
20 Aug 1997, 15:44
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Joel Priddy (`cephalothorax') ponders Apu-Punchau's eclipse, coming up with two solutions, one involving Severian bending time, the other involving the ship _Tzadkiel_ reflecting t…
18 May 1997, 15:59
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Henry Rathvon and others have cited the line `At that moment I burst into the room' as the point of revelation of Horn's authorship. Actually, the entry _Horn_ on p. 8 in `Gods, P…
13 Jan 1997, 21:36
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About `Xiphias': The scientific name for the swordfish is _Xiphias gladius_. `Gladius' is Latin for a short sword. More on names: Here's a relationship that Wolfe doesn't seem …
28 Nov 1996, 19:49
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