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Thanks for the tip. I'll try it some time. You might be right if there were any meaningful distinction there. At any rate, I am certainly not going to change settings for a singl…
07 Jan 2011, 04:02
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Exactly. It's one or the other! Yep.…
07 Jan 2011, 01:17
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That may well be, but I have 2 settings on Thunderbird: Above and Below. And I almost never use Thunderbird on this forum, since it stays at home. My Webmail is crap. Sorry! I'd…
07 Jan 2011, 01:15
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One more comment. The very plausibility of an ancient origin rests on A Story's apparent disconnection from the "present." We can't tell how long ago it was, because there are no a…
06 Jan 2011, 22:24
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Oh, no problem. I am very much on the fence and can't keep abos and Shadow Children straight any more than I can keep the various Hiero-dudes straight. I'd note that "racial memory…
06 Jan 2011, 22:09
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Would this explain the green eyes? That is, to the extent that these people also evolved from primates on Earth as we did, they are human, but they are physically marked as another…
06 Jan 2011, 21:58
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This is something I had not imagined. I wonder: if Gene Wolfe crashlanded on a planet of mind-imitators, what kind of civilization would result? Discuss. I think everyone would go …
06 Jan 2011, 20:52
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If only interleaving were so easy. I try to do it but Webmail makes it difficult and Thunderbird isn't much better. I sometimes resort to dashes, and I hope that is effective. Of c…
06 Jan 2011, 20:31
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Yes, exactly. --- On Thu, 1/6/11, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote: David, do you mean it would be more accurate to say VRT was doing his best to BE an anthropolo…
06 Jan 2011, 19:58
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That's the heart of the conundrum, for me. When possible, I try to take Wolfean phenomena as literary rather than literal. But that principle is of little use here. Is Wolfe usin…
06 Jan 2011, 13:10
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This explanation strikes me as an economical one. Also, remember that we become that which we pretend to be.…
06 Jan 2011, 01:19
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But you must also admit that, since you're not a writer, you are ipso facto not married to a writer's wife, and therefore you have no idea what a writer's wife will put up with. Un…
05 Jan 2011, 16:38
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Rosemary Wolfe? --- On Wed, 1/5/11, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote: I think you are right. Without having seen that photo, I've always assumed Severian resemble…
05 Jan 2011, 15:37
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Nice! Yes, that line has the ring of a poet singing about his own ancestors.…
05 Jan 2011, 00:28
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I agree with this: If someone feigns evil for long enough they become evil.…
03 Jan 2011, 22:15
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I guess I'm thinking of a conscious Eternal Evil, not one that says "I am Evil" but one that, like Satan in Paradise Lost, is self-pitying and prideful and jealous and will do an…
03 Jan 2011, 22:13
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Being Autarch is a negative MacGuffin! --- On Mon, 1/3/11, Son of Witz <Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> wrote: From: Son of Witz <Sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> Subject: Re: (urth…
03 Jan 2011, 18:23
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How would you see that? Perhaps you are thinking of the author as acrobat or mountebank (that is, a hint that Wolfe is playing the trickster), but it could also mean that the exist…
03 Jan 2011, 18:21
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Well, you're consistent, Lee. ;) I wonder if "There is something essentially evil in the essence of Creation." I think certainly there is something essentially evil in the essence …
03 Jan 2011, 18:00
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--- On Mon, 1/3/11, Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com> wrote: From: Jerry Friedman <jerry_friedman at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: (urth) interview questions To: "The Urth Ma…
03 Jan 2011, 17:53
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You mean aside from your medieval prejudice against cannibalism? More seriously, I question whether anything on Urth is high. Can you give an example? And I would theorize that not…
03 Jan 2011, 15:44
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Of course I meant them in a limited sense (i.e., limited to Fifth Head), but they do seem to recur in Wolfe. I'd relate them to his general idea about myths, how ancient myths refl…
03 Jan 2011, 15:35
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There are a few thoughts that I had on reading FHOC and I have not moved forward much from them: (1) The Shadow Children preceded us on Earth, having left Earth before we evolve…
03 Jan 2011, 13:24
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yes!…
02 Jan 2011, 20:13
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I like the FHOC cover. But not on BOTNS! I enjoy the depiction of Mr Million....…
02 Jan 2011, 20:11
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Those have a feel similar to that of some of the late 1960s Lord of the Rings covers: highly stylized, colorful, and slightly "off," but brilliant and reminiscent of the The Dyin…
02 Jan 2011, 19:57
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These look like YA covers. In that light, not as bad as I expected. Plainly there is little attempt at any kind of realism. But Disiri's face is kinda crooked.…
02 Jan 2011, 19:47
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I googled "Urbis" and "Pestis" to see what loose associations might come up. There were none of any great interest: pestis (plague) is the species name of the Black Death, and Ur…
02 Jan 2011, 14:40
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Same here. I would guess they are more "in the style of" an author than direct quotes.…
01 Jan 2011, 15:49
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Modeling Severian after Hercules certainly would have given Wolfe the ability to construct a seemingly loose, episodic narrative with a higher purpose. Such as we have here. Oth…
01 Jan 2011, 13:53
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Oops, Nessus killed Hercules, not the other way. Well, we might wonder then who is Hercules.…
01 Jan 2011, 04:36
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Yes, definitely. But this only forces us to think of what else it may be the nexus of, if not a global network of large cities.…
01 Jan 2011, 04:33
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Thinking of the etymology of "Nessus," I recall that it is the name of a centaur slain by a poisoned arrow. When we visit Nessus, we see the river Gyoll many times, which must be…
01 Jan 2011, 04:29
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Art directors can be a timid breed. They are sensitive to backlash and blame, because that's what they are hired to prevent.…
31 Dec 2010, 19:09
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Nessus was built by the Neighbors! Roy said so. Urth is Green! ;)…
31 Dec 2010, 19:06
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I was going to say something about paired opposites too. I don't want to get too programmatic about it, but it does make sense that the Increate has aspects that "appear" opposit…
22 Dec 2010, 18:32
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Just briefly, I don't see that the Fish "symbol" is entirely ruled out. I'd say it's twisted into unrecognizability, for very good reasons: some having to do with avoiding a Sund…
22 Dec 2010, 16:58
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Grendels' mom?…
22 Dec 2010, 16:55
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True! I meant Abaia specifically.…
22 Dec 2010, 16:52
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Not as far as I have heard.…
22 Dec 2010, 14:51
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Damn you, Lee! ;) This is a whole new "can of worms," ha ha.…
22 Dec 2010, 14:51
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Grendel? Yes, it's incredibly suggestive once you let it sink in. At first glance, when you first Google the name, you wonder how an Indonesian eel could fit into BOTNS. But of …
22 Dec 2010, 14:48
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Plus, as it has always seemed to me, he might theoretically be able to "swim," in Lovecraftian fashion, between the worlds. There's no textual support for this, just a smell of C…
22 Dec 2010, 14:37
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You're right, Marc---I've never seen any theories on how the Green Man got his green. I always assumed it was via a more or less recognizable technology. But this pathway is quite …
21 Dec 2010, 17:01
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Clone, or horse to Tartaros's rider? I thought this was a case of possession.…
21 Dec 2010, 12:41
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Ah, but is not their height then another result of technology? Does it not help them keep the natives down?…
21 Dec 2010, 02:27
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Hmm. What's wrong with the Outsider actually being an Insider? I mean, it's awkward, but he's not a god that "plays by the rules," is he? He's everywhere; "Outsider" is an ironic m…
20 Dec 2010, 20:26
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Great! I like James's Neighborly explanation, but the pit is not explained by it. Why is a pit lying there? Carnivorous plants are a more-than-plausible answer. And if it makes Hor…
20 Dec 2010, 16:13
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I've read one Mieville and I don't quite get the hype either. Anyway, I was thinking that it's funny that to most Americans, "very rundown and poor and disgusting" IS socialism. …
20 Dec 2010, 12:29
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That's right---especially the second paragraph---and it's a theme in BOTNS, where the oppressive effects of this type of rule are clearly seen throughout the Commonwealth, and wh…
20 Dec 2010, 12:24
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