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What we know is that Jonas knows how to operate them. Now it seems unlikely to me that transporters were ever a commonplace technology, that most people would have been able to op…
13 Dec 2010, 23:28
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I do not believe I have patronised you. If I had avoided criticising your interpretations of BotNS and just ignored them, that would have been patronisation. I haven't suggeste…
13 Dec 2010, 19:41
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Which there are. Some things in Wolfe's stories are ambiguous, others are rather certain. Triskele is a dog, or a dog-shaped aquastor. It is very unlikely that he is a cat. I…
13 Dec 2010, 18:57
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I have always thought that the horridly artificial plastic oranges in _Peace_ were a reflection of the ghastly mass-produced 'Pringles'. Wolfe reportedly developed the machine t…
13 Dec 2010, 17:01
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Actually, no. It was several suites joined together. But is Jonas the representative of Near Future Urth? He is a robot built to serve on a starship; he may well have been carr…
13 Dec 2010, 16:55
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For a fact I do try to include an occasional touch of humour. Perhaps my witticisms are missing the target. Do you also find your audiences respond well to patronisation? As fo…
13 Dec 2010, 16:50
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Yes - the multiple layers should support each other! When they conflict, it likely means that something is wrong with our ideas about one or more of them. I don't say anything …
13 Dec 2010, 16:04
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From: "David Stockhoff" <dstockhoff at verizon.net> I'm combining two of your posts on the same issue: "We crashed. It had been so long, on Urth, that there was no port …
13 Dec 2010, 15:45
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----- Original Message ----- And being hunted, perhaps. - Gerry Quinn…
13 Dec 2010, 01:59
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----- Original Message ----- Could be. I take it she really is trying to help Orchid, but she may well be letting her own case guide her thoughts. (Though what you say brings in…
13 Dec 2010, 01:41
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That question is easier. Of course I do. - Gerry Quinn…
13 Dec 2010, 01:35
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You dare to define God? I am not so brash! But seriously, it doesn't matter whether he is of the physical universe or not, so long as he is logically compatible with it. You ar…
13 Dec 2010, 01:32
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Actually, I can't. What problems do you mean? We know from textual evidence that Jonas's ship had artifical gravity, so the environment inside was fairly Urthlike, and flaking …
13 Dec 2010, 01:11
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As things, not people. At least, Scylla does. But Scylla, despite being a goddess, is immature. It seems clear however that other gods do not, and wise persons be they human or…
13 Dec 2010, 00:50
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Nothing springs to mind. I thought she meant the Outsider. - Gerry Quinn…
12 Dec 2010, 18:03
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Two logically incompatible things cannot both be true. That is a rational position, rather than a materialist one. If God exists, and the physical universe exists, it must be th…
12 Dec 2010, 17:04
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Why not? Must starships always have bare, metallic ceilings? It could be that some starship captains prefer a more ornate decorative style. What sort of image would they choose…
11 Dec 2010, 22:02
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The bare fact of the crash doesn't actually eliminate Tzadkiel's ship, since it travels in time - the crash could be in the future of Severian's sojourn on it but still in the pa…
11 Dec 2010, 21:54
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A difficult question, because I'm not sure. I have sometimes wondered whether the concept of God - that is to say the concept of God as active agency, not the concept of God as …
11 Dec 2010, 21:50
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I never heard that theory. I don't believe it, because Jonas comes from the distant past (and so does Kim Lee Soong and presumably many others). Presumably they came on a ship f…
11 Dec 2010, 21:38
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We have FTL communication, via the mirrors. But you may well be right - we know next to nothing about Typhon's supposed interstellar empire; all we are certain of is that he was…
11 Dec 2010, 21:19
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From: Jerry Friedman ... Actually, he does reveal it. "Beyond it I saw a network of slender metal bars, and through them a vaulted ceiling with many moldings and a flaking…
11 Dec 2010, 21:07
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That's a point. A slight slant on the floor would have been a nice additional clue, but alas, there is no indication of such a thing. Still, if it isn't Jonas's ship, or a simil…
11 Dec 2010, 19:38
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You are making an intuitive leap based on a single fact that, leading to a conclusion that is without foundation. When I tested myself on this once or twice some years ago, I ca…
11 Dec 2010, 19:29
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----- Original Message ----- It's not just about the ceiling: Jonas pulled himself up until he was sitting with his back to the wall. His face had gone pale under the brown,…
11 Dec 2010, 15:42
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Another piece of evidence for this - when Severian and Jonas were arrested on the grounds of the House Absolute, they were led down into a hollow in the ground. I only realised …
11 Dec 2010, 06:00
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----- Original Message ----- Fair enough - indeed the concept of a 'propulsion chamber' does not fit well with the idea of relativistic velocities (but then again what does?), …
10 Dec 2010, 22:02
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We don't see Tzadkiel's ship until _UotNS_. In BotNS, however, we see lots of ships, and indeed spend much time in them.. First there are the ships of the citatel, in one of whi…
10 Dec 2010, 20:12
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Certainly those who fail to see these holistic patterns are punished; they will miss certain insights. But those fail to apply logic and weigh evidence are punished equally - t…
10 Dec 2010, 18:20
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From: Jerry Friedman From: Gwern Branwen <gwern0 at gmail.com> [missed-chances theory] I think that if you imagine that unknown supernatural forces are causing all this it…
10 Dec 2010, 02:57
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Note that I was answering Lee, who seemed to be saying that this *was* an American misreading.of the 'god of vines' concept. You seem to be saying the opposite. Also, wouldn't …
10 Dec 2010, 00:16
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I think this would be a somewhat obscure word-game. To get it one would have to identify Dionysus as the son of Thyone, and then *misread* his association with vines - in other …
09 Dec 2010, 22:53
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I am not trying to convert anything to mathematical principles. I point out that everybody knows grapes grow on vines, and that Dionysius was associated with grapes (via wine). …
09 Dec 2010, 21:17
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So Wolfe, so familiar with every obscure god or South American jungle bird, remains uniquely provincial when it comes to the meaning of 'vine'? But surely, someone who knew that…
09 Dec 2010, 19:24
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I quite like lists - they may be old-fashioned but in some respects they are more convenient than forums, which involve logging in and may still forget what posts you have read. …
09 Dec 2010, 19:10
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----- Original Message ----- From: Jerry Friedman ... I pretty much agree with this--it's "the dislocation of all we expect from nature and probability"--but I suspect su…
09 Dec 2010, 17:39
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It's a few years since I tested myself - I came out INTJ, but my J answers did not exceed the Ps by all *that* great a proportion! Maybe there is something in David's P vs J chara…
09 Dec 2010, 17:18
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I believe I have an explanation of the story, which falls close to the category of 'Missed Chances' in your list,.but the link there from Alice Turner does not really hit the tar…
08 Dec 2010, 06:05
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Okay, I've looked up those passages. Yes, Dionysius is referenced as the son of Thyone. In fact, Horn/Silk accepts as plausible Hound's proposition that Dionysius may possibly b…
08 Dec 2010, 03:37
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This is a nice conception and I believe it has some validity, but I also see some issues with it. Three quarters of a century ago, no self-respecting critic would have failed to…
07 Dec 2010, 23:20
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Note that I was arguing against a theory postulated by James, not you. Again, I wasn't having a dig at you, but yes, you do produce produce elaborate theories and justify them la…
07 Dec 2010, 22:35
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Roy's reading makes a lot of sense. He has previously mentioned that he doesn't remember what the neighbour's hands were loike on one occasion, so he mentions them now. I agree…
07 Dec 2010, 16:58
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Interesting review - not a favourable one, but well thought out. I think he does put a finger on a number of points that many will find problematic and which are certainly odd. …
07 Dec 2010, 16:42
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Gerry Quinn- Not for humans. My assumption here was that the Neighbours have different customs related to such agreements; perhaps they are more communally-minded …
07 Dec 2010, 16:38
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For some reason reason to with formatting I can't interleave my response, so I'll have to top-post. Not for humans. My assumption here was that the Neighbours have different cust…
06 Dec 2010, 21:24
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It's a tricky question IMO. Logically you'd expect that Severian titled the chapters, but somehow chapter titles don't feel like they are so strongly in the narrator's voice. S…
06 Dec 2010, 21:01
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----- Original Message ----- From: James Wynn James Wynn- There is no justification in the story for [Horn's] spirit to subsequently die while Silk's lives. If Sil…
05 Dec 2010, 17:14
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There *is* a way to know, or at least to make some determination of likelihood. That is to examine the ways in which these theories are supported or contradicted by the text. I…
05 Dec 2010, 16:16
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From: James Wynn Gerry Quinn- Maybe I am being over-simplistic, but my impression is that Silk's spirit is dying, but not his body (as the Neighbour says). As you put it,…
04 Dec 2010, 23:11
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----- Original Message ----- From: Jane Delawney Why the face thing by the way? I suspect a mourning ritual gotten slightly out of hand. Silk may have intended only to make s…
04 Dec 2010, 16:50
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