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I don't think it's a caricature but it's pretty obviously inspired by G.W. Bush. Since it's a NY publication, perhaps Schweitzer thought he was doing the book a favor not to high…
15 Sep 2009, 14:01
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Yeah, but almost all Wolfe's novels have epigraphs. It's not typical for him to hang the entire title on one. That still doesn't necessarily mean that the title means anything st…
15 Sep 2009, 12:05
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Lest the minor difference in spelling lead to some confusion, Wolfe pronounces it "Wolder-kahn".…
15 Sep 2009, 01:19
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More questions: Who is the "evil guest"? Gideon Chase is referred to as "the guest" on the first page. He is even characterized in ways that imply he is evil. At least the Presid…
14 Sep 2009, 17:04
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Umm...well, anything is possible, but it would be a pretty vague metaphor in any case. And it would be especially obscure in this case because "love" was not the point of the pan…
14 Sep 2009, 14:35
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[snip] Both of these are examples of me addressing your assertions. They don't involve me psychoanalyzing your motives for offering them. That's an important difference that I g…
14 Sep 2009, 14:07
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I absolutely agree with this. I made no definitive declarations about Reis's death or Chase being the impersonator. The last sentence in my first post on this subject stated "I'm…
11 Sep 2009, 18:04
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Wolfe said that "Shadow of the Torturer" had a really good cover because the publisher didn't expect much from it. As more success was expected from each volume, the art director…
11 Sep 2009, 15:43
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Well, we'll see. I'm beginning to find the existence of Rian (as an actual son anyway) to be pretty suspect. As we agree, there is a serious problem with his failure to make an a…
10 Sep 2009, 21:11
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[snip] Making yourself look bigger and making yourself smaller are not the same problem. Nor is glamour the same as shape-shifting. I don't see how this is going to be key to …
10 Sep 2009, 13:30
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Roy says: I haven't started re-reading so I don't know if anyone mentioned whether the Gideon Chase who went to Woldercon had one or two legs. Few people knew he had lost it. Y…
10 Sep 2009, 01:09
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Wolfe said: I said: Allan Anderson said: I'll have to re-read AEG with this in mind, but if Chase is running around disguised as Reise in order to earn his gold and to get clos…
09 Sep 2009, 16:41
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Hmm...this posted weird on the Urth site so here's a more readable one: This is the first time I've been to Dragon*Con and I found it pretty daunting. The majority of the events…
08 Sep 2009, 21:49
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This is the first time I've been to Dragon*Con and I found it pretty daunting. The majority of the events were spread over 3 large hotels, with 3 to 7 floors each. Most administrat…
08 Sep 2009, 21:42
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Interesting. After a quick scan of a variety of his books, I think he does it very rarely if at all. He seems to use far fewer infinitives than I do and seems to avoid the inclin…
31 Jul 2009, 05:43
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Sorry for maligning Lowth without checking whether it was so. Based on the other works cited in the wiki article, it appears that some 19th cen. stylists believed that it was mer…
29 Jul 2009, 18:56
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You mean where Severian says he doesn't forget anything? I'm not trying to be dense. I just want verification before I proceed. Surely that is the most universally recognized opi…
29 Jul 2009, 15:43
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The logical flaw is his argument "I do not forget." which is based (presumably) on a specific unsupported premise: "I would know if I had forgotten something." This is the logica…
26 Jul 2009, 02:09
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But having gaps in your memory is not the only way you can "forget". Severian's tale exemplifies this at the tippy-top of page 2 of The Shadow of the Torturer: "I would have hid…
24 Jul 2009, 12:55
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Okay. Attempting to put it another way, you are saying that the question Severian is begging is "Is it possible for one to know for certain if one has forgotten or misremembered…
23 Jul 2009, 17:12
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You must be, Adam. Logicians are not Vulcans, they only enjoy pretending to be ones. They have petty pet peeves just like the rest of humanity. In some cases, those who assume t…
23 Jul 2009, 15:31
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Thanks for not reporting my BTQ abuse to Logic Protective Services. ;-) Still, while I can see how the term "begs the question" might be misused ("Which begs the question, who ma…
23 Jul 2009, 14:32
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"Manticore" is from the Indian word for tiger. Granted, tigers don't have three rows of teeth or a tail with spikes, but Pausanias (2nd century) recognized it as the tiger with f…
21 Jul 2009, 20:55
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I always thought it was intended as a critique on the integrity of history. Wolfe did this even more directly in "Peace". Also, while Severian *says* he has perfect memory, it be…
21 Jul 2009, 15:51
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I like Sidon, but I it *does* feel odd that Sidon occurs after Latro has already returned home. The expectation is that the arc of the stories is Latro's attempt to "get back" an…
21 Jul 2009, 14:10
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Nathan Bailey's "Canting Dictionary" (1737) contains all three of those words: http://www.fromoldbooks.org/NathanBailey-CantingDictionary/transcription.html…
20 Jul 2009, 14:27
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Thanks for the run-down, Matthew. Do you remember what Wolfe's defense of Ruth Plumly Thompson was?…
20 Jul 2009, 14:19
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Well, Daedalus was also lost in in own maze. Weer might be Theseus if Sherry Gold is Aphrodite, I suppose. But if Weer is also the Minotaur, where are the virgins sacrificed to h…
07 Jul 2009, 17:53
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Gene and Rosemary are scheduled to attend ReaderCon (Burlington, MA) July 9-12 Also, they will be at DragonCon in Atlanta the Sept 4-7. I'll be at DragonCon in case anyone else i…
24 Jun 2009, 22:55
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Michael Straight: Josh: That's pretty funny, Josh. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I was expecting something along the level of "Pandora" quality. When I finished …
24 Jun 2009, 22:48
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***This contains very minor spoilers that you probably no about unless you have avoided all the trailers*** I saw Terminator Salvation this weekend and I liked it with…
26 May 2009, 15:04
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Maybe there are. Green only goes to one, so he is only able to recognize influences of Laura's world on his. The obvious response to this is, "Then shouldn't Wolfe have alluded …
22 May 2009, 14:24
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Okay. Then it is the only one I had read and one of the few. It also predates two of the three you named. Ford's paradigm (he was also published by Tor, I see) seems like such an…
21 May 2009, 17:45
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That's not the explanation given. Green compares the universes to two adjacent guitar strings tuned to the same note. When you pluck one, the other resonates. By the same token, …
21 May 2009, 16:09
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TAD is the only "parallel universe" story to offer a systemic justification the close similarities in parallel universes that have major variations in their histories: Nearby uni…
21 May 2009, 15:20
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You can download copies of Wolfe's books? I wish I had those. But doesn't Wolfe get paid a % of every book you buy? And if not enough people buy the DVDs doesn't that eventually …
20 May 2009, 21:58
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This new generation gets **everything***. First cable TV. Now this!…
20 May 2009, 02:23
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How is a water well not a direct benefit? Does he benefit more than the people whose children are getting educated? You're concept of the rich is colored by a preconception of Th…
20 May 2009, 01:40
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It sounds to me like you guys are over-paid. You should mention that your employers/customers. I have and I'll wager most of the people in the top 20% of wage earners have. In f…
20 May 2009, 00:55
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We don't have to consider those things. Neither does Moe. We are more numerous than Moe. We're not negotiating with Moe. If Moe complains we'll denounce him as greedy and do what…
20 May 2009, 00:30
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I understand public good. I also understand the true meaning of shared responsibility, and that there is no free lunch. Let me re-iterate the analogy I offered in the post you re…
19 May 2009, 23:43
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Adam, in "The Devil in a Forest", Wolfe presents the issue moral terms. If I'm benefiting from a service more than my neighbor, and also paying less for that service than my neig…
19 May 2009, 22:06
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Libertarians and classical Liberals do not call for the withering away of the state. That's some other political philosophy. J.…
19 May 2009, 21:18
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I'm not sure where some people got the idea that Somalia was founded as a Libertarian/Liberal society, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't. If the rich take your offer and go to a tax-…
19 May 2009, 21:04
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I recommend you take the opportunity to refresh you memory of the Robin Hood ballads and stories. The abbe' is Friar Tuck. Joselyn is Maid Marian. Mother Cloot the evil prioress …
19 May 2009, 20:55
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There are a remarkable number of false dichotomies in this short blurb. Welfare states engage in far more than police service. If you were to declare that large cities should only…
19 May 2009, 20:47
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Because the people there do not respect the integrity of private property? You will find millionaires hiding out in the Bahamas. And many millionaires have left the "more equitab…
19 May 2009, 20:25
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Go over to the "Gene Wolfe Fans Talk Politics (Again) thread. I'm reserving this one for actual discussions of "The Devil in a Forest". :-) J. ----------------------------------…
19 May 2009, 20:15
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Well, okay, Adam but if you change your mind about the cost-benefit of the services provided, they will take it from you anyway. The obvious conclusion is that your personal cons…
19 May 2009, 20:01
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I'm all for scientific inquiry, but if we going to have a persistent thread on the virtues of Socialism and Libertarianism divorced from direct references to Wolfe's books, then …
19 May 2009, 19:08
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