Posted from 2 addresses as James Jordan, James B. Jordan
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Back in the olden days we fought over who was who. I and others thought Silk was dead (soul departed) and Horn was living in his body, being influenced by his "kinetic memory" (b…
13 Jul 2002, 01:24
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While it would be a serious mistake to read these narratives only as theological allegories, I don't think that aspect can be separated from them as some "extra layer" either. Si…
12 Jul 2002, 23:04
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Well, yes. That's just what I think happened. He was defending his house and his wife and himself. The horror of having killed someone (or at least wounded him and driven him off…
12 Jul 2002, 15:01
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It seems to me that Silk's throwing away a knife might be a knife he used in a vain attempt to ward off attackers, not one he used to inflict wounds on himself. The Neighbor says…
12 Jul 2002, 00:10
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For me, this same evidence points not to active suicide but to the sin of despair, of losing faith in God. These are strongly linked, of course. Despair is one of the greatest of…
11 Jul 2002, 14:03
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Right on the money. I cannot imagine you are wrong about thi. Yes, and we do have quotations from Aurelius in Silk's book, no? And Severian founded the Torturers, and he…
14 Jun 2002, 17:31
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Good point. Hadn't thought of it that way. Just what Typhon might well have done. Well put. Oddly, Wolfe reacted quite negatively to the God As Torturer idea …
14 Jun 2002, 17:19
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I'm inclined to think that there is Christianity in the Urth world, but that we don't see it except very indirectly. Wolfe has left it in the background, but hinted at it with hi…
14 Jun 2002, 17:13
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JJ: This universe that you sought in Briah are part of it. Is that our universe? Or is that a universe that resurrected saints have set up in the world to come as part of the cit…
11 Jun 2002, 14:55
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I was just going by the obvious reference to Christ, who reconciles humanity to God, and thus is the original conciliator. Nutria…
11 Jun 2002, 14:46
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Yes. Well, the fact that is does somehow pass through the singularity, on board the Ship perhaps, or in the Yesod Library, is the intra-textual indicator that these eve…
10 Jun 2002, 21:02
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I think that's reasonable, but also... .... remember that Urth is a universe-cycle before ours. These events predate the promise to Noah by about 50 billion years maybe. We don't…
10 Jun 2002, 14:56
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You're right. But Wolfe may be spinning things a bit differently, as he clearly is by granting "Cain" redemption. Another note that might be worth looking for. God warns Cain tha…
06 Jun 2002, 14:54
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Fascinating as always, Borski. A couple of thoughts -- and I have not reread the story before bringing these up. Man-tru(e) seems a pretty obvious name. Which makes me wo…
31 May 2002, 23:20
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This sure looks right, but I'll bet I'm right also. Surely Wolfe has read *Ringworld,* where the Oz characters are switched, so that the lion-like character lacks brains, the gro…
28 May 2002, 15:32
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'Twas just a thought. Mozart is transparent compared with Bach's density. Mozart is more sunny; Bach more serious. Mozart more straightforward; Bach more complex. The co…
20 May 2002, 19:43
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The Four Johns The Madman Theory A Room to Die In - Nutria…
20 May 2002, 19:37
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Mantis wrote: TDE has an "earnest" Well put. Vance in general is a Mozart to Wolfe's Bach, stylistically; but TDE's somber, almost tragic, ambience may have had a bi…
20 May 2002, 18:27
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Good thot. Either that, or that an evil No. 6 is coming someday, which is how I've taken the last sentence. BTW, thematically this feature might be linked to Wolfe's stor…
22 Apr 2002, 17:01
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(rest of good points skipped) In defense of Wolfe, he has said (in the my old interview with him) that he does not take the Genesis account literally. (And, it's really …
22 Apr 2002, 15:00
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It just occurred to me that Long Sun was originally called "Starcrosser's Landfall" (LoC data in the first edition of *Lake,* and Horn's statement at the end of the series somewh…
20 Apr 2002, 15:45
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Nigel, I think you have 1/2 of the reason Wolfe uses this old SF tropes (that he grew up with it and has some nostalgia for it). The other is what he himself has said: t…
20 Apr 2002, 15:31
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Not to disagree, but just to provide a bit more for anyone interested: The text of Rev. 13:18 is not "hex, hex, hex," (6,6,6) but "hexakosioi hexekonta hex" (600,60,6). B…
20 Apr 2002, 15:17
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Yep, though it's not "our" distant past. It was part of my loooong interview, online at http://www.op.net/~pduggan/gwjbj.html And here is the relevant part, with a bit more for t…
19 Apr 2002, 22:03
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Cool question!! Is history running backwards on Urth, so that we are moving back toward a Garden of Eden with a Green Man? Probably not, I guess. I guess we just have to leave th…
19 Apr 2002, 19:39
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Quite true, literally. But "mystically" the Communion unites believers not only with Christ but with one another, and even with the saints in heaven. Wolfe simply makes the "symb…
19 Apr 2002, 19:29
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At 12:45 PM 4/19/2002, you wrote: (A numerological reflection relevant also to 5HC: "666," the Number of the Don't know what Wolfe thought about this, if anything, but F…
19 Apr 2002, 19:12
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I'm using Eudora. If someone knows how to turn this off, and can give me directions, I'll be happy to do so. I cannot figure it out from what Eudora provides. I'm computer and in…
19 Apr 2002, 16:00
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Dan'l rejoined: Adam saith: It's more than "imitating Christ" and less than "being a new Christ." Rather, the Christian conception is that Christians live "in Christ" …
19 Apr 2002, 15:59
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You may be right, but all of Wolfe's stuff "looks" "very secular." The religious/theological stuff is almost always sub rosa. The "benefit" would only be another overlay of meani…
18 Apr 2002, 14:03
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Given Wolfe's research into Byzantium for the Severian Quintet, surely he knew all about this. Thus, you may well be onto something. OTOH, planet with vegetation and water on the…
18 Apr 2002, 13:50
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OTOH, if Urth is really Old Earth, then Marc's point about no memory at the dawn of time and full memory at the end of time hints that the Soldier books are also in the same univ…
18 Apr 2002, 13:47
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I believe the root meaning is that early on Wolfe attended one or more of Knight's SF Writers Workshops. Nutria…
18 Apr 2002, 13:43
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I guess so. But my point, and I think Wolfe's, was "theological" and thematic. No. 5 is Everyman -- eschatological humanity moving toward "antichrist" -- apart from grace. No. 5'…
18 Apr 2002, 13:31
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A few Nutricious thoughts on an excellent essay: It's both, surely. Man is the image of God. Think of "The Last Thrilling Wonder Story" (is that right?). I like the idea…
17 Apr 2002, 15:19
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Could all these "Johns" have come from "Buckaroo Banzai"? Well, I guess not, given the dates of writing and of the movie. But a John is a user of prostitutes, so the names fit wi…
16 Apr 2002, 15:10
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Methinks Dan'l is right. Gene Wolfe is pointing to the "heart of darkness" in everyman/woman, and using himself as an example. Number Five and Maitre are what Everyman could be -…
16 Apr 2002, 15:00
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At 11:52 AM 4/15/2002, you wrote: (As I Jerry, also notice that it is a whorehouse, the opposite of the church (Bride of Christ) in the Book of Revelation (The Great…
16 Apr 2002, 14:56
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At 01:28 AM 4/15/2002, Marc wrote: Let's be honest - Wolfe's oppositional themes (perfect memory/end of the world Let's be honest -- I've never noticed that before. I'm bowled ov…
15 Apr 2002, 14:56
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Well, Alga, once again you and I have something weirdly in common, for 5HC was also my first Wolfe, and thereafter I got and read all I could. But I read the whole thing in the A…
13 Apr 2002, 18:52
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Correction to the above: The 17 nations are in Acts 2, not Romans 2. Otherwise, there are a number of occurances of 17 in the Bible, particularly in the Psalter. Books 3 …
27 Mar 2002, 22:46
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Another aspect is that the demon made or called by the Revolutionary corresponds to the Vodalus Revolutionary party within the Commonwealth. They are bringing about the suicide o…
05 Mar 2002, 23:11
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If Sev. is the New Sun, and a kind of "new Christ," then the Old Sun is the "old Adam." The black hole is a symbol of the depravity in the heart of man, which needs regeneration …
05 Mar 2002, 23:02
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While we're briefly on the subject of music, church and otherwise: 1. My claim that the Lutheran tradition has produced the most good hymns was not a comment on current h…
26 Feb 2002, 02:59
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Alice, Isaac Watts was not Church of England but a Congregationalist. The Puritan Congregationalists (his forebears) sang only metrical psalms. Watts set most of the Bib…
25 Feb 2002, 04:48
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For anyone else listening in: Sorry, I was very unclear. Most protestants DO believe Peter went to Rome and died there, interpreting "Babylon" in 1 Peter 5:13 as a code for Rome.…
19 Feb 2002, 22:09
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No sneers from me. I've maintained this from the beginning, here and there. Certainly the Long Sun is based roughly on the gospels, though I think *Exodus* has some of Acts in it…
19 Feb 2002, 17:47
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Maybe, but I think the simplest is the best here. An old man with a young concubine is surely going to feel younger. And being around little children also makes an old man feel y…
19 Feb 2002, 17:19
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This is why I think Marc is on to something with his animal-plant hybrid theory. Christianity moves sacrifice from human/animal to bread/wine. Consuming sacramental bread and win…
12 Feb 2002, 17:58
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In another post I mentioned that Wolfe sees sanctification as a very long and difficult process. His comment to me years ago about Severian was that Severian has come from a horr…
12 Feb 2002, 17:33
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