Posted from 2 addresses as James Jordan, James B. Jordan
-
One would hope that this volume will collect all the short stories that are part of the New Sun cycle also. It would be nice to have them all in one place. Nutria…
12 Feb 2002, 17:27
-
Yes. I think one has to be mostly satisfied with the symbolic dimension, that Silk is like Christ and Hyacinth is like the wayward Bride of Christ, who is quite often a Harlot (a…
12 Feb 2002, 17:25
-
The horn falling into the pit may be righter than you realize. AS I recall, in "A Story by John Marsch" in 5th Head, there is some description of two large stones and a bush that…
04 Feb 2002, 01:03
-
If plant-human hybrids are a theme of the book, then consider the ultimate plant-human hybrid: the Roman Catholic transsubstantiated bread and wine. And this does seem to figure …
01 Feb 2002, 16:33
-
I stand corrected! Sure, it's got to be Wolfe, but Wolfe is clearly making a joke on himself. I'd like to return to this story at some point. There's a lot of interesti…
31 Jan 2002, 15:46
-
Well, remember that Quetzal slithers onto a tree at one point (in Nightside?). There's "serpent in Eden" motif here that is very obvious, given that we're in the Church -- thoug…
31 Jan 2002, 15:41
-
The Commonwealth is Byzantium. Rostrum wrote: "That other stuff about unity-in-disunity you must be getting from somewhere else in the book." I do think it is there. I …
30 Jan 2002, 16:45
-
At 09:13 AM 1/9/2002 -0500, you wrote: (Note also that Babbie becomes more of a person as Seawrack also reverts. It looks to me that she is a daughter of Scylla (the elongated…
09 Jan 2002, 15:57
-
I tend to think so also. Of course, Marc is digging up some interesting things along the way, but the overall hypothesis seems very tenuous when their are easier explanations. On…
08 Jan 2002, 21:44
-
Yeah. You'd better do that. Last year one of the older members of this list, code-name Severian III, visited someone who had put up some sloppy posts and cut the fingers off his …
05 Jan 2002, 02:46
-
Mantis, This sounds very credible to me. I don't know about the Tolkein people, but I can tell you that in theological circles it is regarded as risky to quote C. S. Lew…
05 Jan 2002, 02:30
-
Dan'l, No problem with your post on my part. I'm only interested, on this list, in understanding where Wolfe is coming from. To answer your question: It's just a matter …
04 Jan 2002, 19:55
-
Good point. No problem. You may well be. Good point. The 3-horn business comes after the rule. Now, am I understanding you right? Are you saying that Horn's spirit first goes in…
04 Jan 2002, 19:49
-
Adam, Thanks for your reply. Just a few clarifications, bearing in mind that all we want to do in this discussion is to understand what Wolfe thinks: You replied: …
04 Jan 2002, 18:03
-
Politics and Religions are supposed to be off-limits in polite conversation, but when discussing Wolfe they are inescapable. So, without wishing to open a can of worms, I'd like …
03 Jan 2002, 23:16
-
The rest of your post is interesting, and you may be right, but at present I'm more inclined to think this was a Neighbor calling to Horn as a "baby." I don't see evidence that H…
03 Jan 2002, 22:44
-
At 10:31 AM 1/3/2002 +0000, Andy wrote to Marc: I don't think they correspond, save they each is a duality that invites reflection. Lune is green in anticipation of the …
03 Jan 2002, 22:29
-
Yes, but that's only after he's travelled to the sub-heaven of Yesod, and died (again) and been brought back (again) on the Ship. Severian has a fairly unique gift and calling, t…
03 Jan 2002, 22:08
-
You sly dog! Well, I was very taken with the notion that Severian brings Silk back. I'll look forward to how you set out the whole matter. Until then, I continue to think that th…
02 Jan 2002, 21:55
-
Wolfe did have some nice things to say about Stephen Lawhead, to me, a few years ago. I imagine he considers Lawhead to be carrying the Tolkein torch pretty well. Never read Lawh…
02 Jan 2002, 21:51
-
Someone mentioned rereading some Wolfe with his love of Tolkein in mind. I suggest that there is a good deal of Tolkein-esque stuff, Lupinized to be sure, in *The Devil in a Fore…
02 Jan 2002, 18:00
-
Ah. Then the narrator is Horn, who is a ghost in Silk's body -- at least until Silk is resurrected by Severian and takes over, submerging Horn to "Thecla status." Right? Nutria…
02 Jan 2002, 17:47
-
This was a really interesting post, and I don't know what to make of it (yet; I'll wait for others to interact). But I have a thought: Wolfe expressed to me that Mother Goddess w…
01 Jan 2002, 17:12
-
#s3. & 4. seem extreme. As for #1., I prefer the analogy of declaring war on the Barbary Pirates. Declare war on Al Qaeda and anyone similar, not on nations qua nations, unless t…
01 Dec 2001, 18:37
-
Hmmm. I'm no expert here at all, but I happened to be listening to a series of lectures on the History of the English Language from The Teaching Company, and the speaker said tha…
09 Oct 2001, 16:24
-
I should have remembered this from linguistics, but only now at this late date recollected it: The Indo-European word "pan" means "all" and also "five." (Note "pentegram" "pentag…
04 Oct 2001, 13:25
-
This looks promising. Only two notes: A variant of 'sun'? Somehow? I took the loquacity of the natives to indicate ritual. They approach this "god" with a cont…
19 Sep 2001, 10:00
-
Only one thought, and it's probably wrong: The light from his own home sun, which he has outrun? Or are we in a nuclear winter? Is the "flat" area the site of …
17 Sep 2001, 12:24
-
Mantith ranteth: A more nuanced approach, after jettisoning all the American Hey! Where'd all those other kinds of apes come from? And the horses too? Did I miss something? Nut…
21 Aug 2001, 16:27
-
Go for it. I'm interested. I found the Disney-Pinocchio twists interesting, but I thought Bladerunner addressed the fundamental issue better. Nutria…
21 Aug 2001, 12:15
-
Well, considering Wolfe's study of ancient Greece for his "Soldier" series, it's not surprising that we get references to Plato and Epithemeus, and others, in his other works. Bu…
20 Aug 2001, 11:40
-
Odd. I likewise myself also have for some reason begun reading Nero Wolfe for the first time. What an amazing coincidence!!!!!! On Pandora, I don't have anything to add to your d…
15 Aug 2001, 21:04
-
Well, I've taken it that time-travelling Severian was the Conciliator. We also have reference in the Memoirs of Severian to the "theoanthropos," and I think He predated the Conci…
03 Jul 2001, 13:12
-
Way back at the beginning of all this I provided a long list of gospel parallels for the story of Silk. Of course, that's Wolfe's doing. But since Horn and Nettle wrote TBLS, and…
03 Jul 2001, 10:29
-
Wolfe may have had these experiments a bit in mind, but he's mainly dealing with the Christian sacrament of Holy Communion, which links believers with Christ and through Him with…
24 Jun 2001, 22:50
-
I think you're basically right, save that as I wrote in a previous post, I think Wolfe intends the Silk narrative to be a kind of lesser version of the gospels, not equivalent to…
11 Jun 2001, 09:23
-
FWIW, this is exactly and precisely what Roman Catholic James Blish does in his classic *A Case of Conscience.* Wolfe shares Blish's Thomism. Blish provides both a "nature" versi…
11 Jun 2001, 09:21
-
Perhaps a slightly different take, which may be part of Wolfe's motivation. Silk is Christlike, but he's not Christ. TBLS is like the gospels, but it's not the gospels. Wolfe is …
11 Jun 2001, 09:14
-
Hmmm. Others have objected that Silk merely recognizes who he has been all along at the end, but I've never been happy with that. I think you are on to something really important…
01 Jun 2001, 12:30
-
It certainly seems more than a coincidence! Very interesting. Nutria…
29 May 2001, 15:20
-
Oh, I just think it associates Jane Doe with hell and damnation, anticipating what is shortly revealed about her. The quotation you added links being President with God, which ag…
21 May 2001, 08:18
-
Having been away for three weeks, I now play catchup. I think the Lilith business is right. Of course, it is not in the Bible, and has nothing to do with Christian doctrine. (It'…
19 May 2001, 13:39
-
Well sure. That's being more precise than I was being, but I think the analogy fits either way. As you probably know there is more than one version of "transubstantiation" in RC …
26 Apr 2001, 12:18
-
Interesting observation. This is something they learn from inhuman humans. As Jesus said, and Wolfe no doubt agrees, the kings of the earth love to lord it over others. The disci…
26 Apr 2001, 12:08
-
The Secret, it seems, is a weapon that can destroy the inhumi, but one that may be and likely is too heavy to wield. I'd like to go back to something someone suggested, which is …
25 Apr 2001, 22:43
-
I asked a while back is Seawrack might be a modified inhuma. No takers. So now I'll ask if Big Mora might have a bit of godling in her, and that's a bit of why she can dream as s…
23 Apr 2001, 12:42
-
Like a nidiot I forgot to add this to my previous posting: If Horn is wearing the ring when the Neighbor sends him into Silk's body, then this is probably another case of astral …
20 Apr 2001, 16:38
-
N. Gevers objected to my mooted tweak of his proposal: Nothing humble about you, Nick! ;-) Yeah, I don't suppose my thought adds to the Secret, but I'm not su…
20 Apr 2001, 16:26
-
Gosh, and that was my interview, and I'd forgotten. Well, I'm all for authorial intent, though as you can see, Wolfe was a bit unsure in his memory. But since all these sins over…
20 Apr 2001, 10:32
-
If this attractive theory be correct, it seems to me that it should connect to the question of how the inhumi travel from Green to Blue. Since they can't tolerate cold, we know t…
20 Apr 2001, 10:17
Urth Net