-
Roy, Wolfe is saying that Peacock would have been indulging in conspicuous consumption so as to impress the visit- ing faculty member. A digression is in order here: During the n…
28 Oct 2002, 16:25
-
Sorry if I wasn't clear, alga. I meant primarily to suggest that Richard may have looked, and per- haps felt, like a child next to Edward. As it happens, I couldn't remember whet…
16 Oct 2002, 01:46
-
Regrettably, I don't know about the size of Napoleon's shoulders; I certainly don't re- call anything unusual from the pictures I've seen, but that doesn't mean much. What struck …
15 Oct 2002, 08:39
-
It may be true that you can't starve a chem to death, Roy, but a talus runs on fish-oil; deny it that, and I do think that you'll succeed in starving it to death. This doesn't, of…
07 Oct 2002, 03:52
-
mantis, I, for one, would be interested in hearing your thoughts on "Thou Spark of Blood", if you still feel that you have something to say about it. I can't promise you that it …
18 Jul 2002, 17:56
-
Blattid, I believe that you've forgotten "The Cat", which is told by one of the Stewards Odilo (father, son, or grandson--I'm having trouble remembering which). At least one of t…
17 Jul 2002, 08:29
-
Yes, I've seen it and like it. It struck me as more of a vignette than a short story, despite its eleven- page length, and as pretty straightforward, even simple. Regrettably, I'…
16 Jun 2002, 19:34
-
Blattid, In sharks and bony fish the dorsal fin is part of the skeleton, while the dorsal fins of cetaceans (and, for that matter, of their reptile analogues the ichthyosaurs) are…
15 May 2002, 17:47
-
Mr. DiGiacomo, _Letters Home_ is a collection of "all the letters, and fragments of letters, that survive from" Wolfe's service in Korea. He also says in his introduction that "[…
10 May 2002, 20:49
-
Darryl, No, it's not true. _Operation ARES_, for which Christopher Culver is looking (it's because of his message that we're discussing this), is Wolfe's first published novel; B…
09 May 2002, 18:33
-
Speaking of errors, there's quite a one on the rear jacket flap of the 1975 Harper & Row hardcover edition of _Peace_: it says that _Peace_ is Wolfe's first novel. As for the Orb…
09 May 2002, 16:42
-
Also, the dragon in Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea short story "The Rule of Names" calls himself Mr. Under- hill before his disguise is breached. Before that, he poses as a somewhat ine…
08 May 2002, 17:07
-
There appear to be at least three jokes in "Under Hill"; as it's brand new, I leave it to you all to find them. And thank you, Nick Gevers. Mark Millman (Nacre)…
07 May 2002, 19:51
-
Adam, Forgive me, but I believe that you may be over-thinking these jokes. Don't forget Wolfe's several references to his sense of humor; when he says that it can make women cry …
23 Apr 2002, 17:50
-
Rostrum, I meant both "easier to find than _Crank!_ #3" and "probably easy to find at your local bookstore"--at least two near me have it in stock, though I admit that one is an S…
11 Apr 2002, 18:00
-
Marc, I'm afraid that your uncritical acceptance of the 30,000-league figure for Green's distance from Blue may be a bit dangerous; after all, Wolfe's characters make mistakes, co…
07 Apr 2002, 05:04
-
mantis, This one's my mistake; since the key at the bottom of the list has _Year's Best Horror_ and not _Best New Horror_, I just assumed BNH was a typo. On checking, _Best New H…
21 Mar 2002, 23:15
-
Rostrum, Here's some additional information about mantis' list of uncollected stories, which I've copied at the bottom of this note. With the exception of "The River", I own copi…
21 Mar 2002, 21:11
-
Joe, Welcome to the list; we're very glad to have you aboard. I'm afraid that Mr. Wolfe give Babbie glasses as one of his jokes; Babbie (presumably like many other Bluvian creatu…
09 Jan 2002, 08:58
-
"Choora" is a specific word for a type of Afghan military knife, from the region around the Khyber Pass, meant to pierce mail armor; it's single-edged, sharply tapered, and has …
04 Dec 2001, 15:27
-
Contention welcomed, Dan'l. It's true that only the sentient inhumi specifically target humans; but then it's equally true that these are ex- actly the inhumi that the human popu…
27 Apr 2001, 11:25
-
Contention welcomed, Dan'l. It's true that only the sentient inhumi specifically target humans; but then it's equally true that these are ex- actly the inhumi that the human popu…
27 Apr 2001, 11:25
-
At the risk of being obvious, allow me to point out that, unlike the inhumi, wolves, bears, sharks, snakes, crocodilians, and the like do not preferentially target humans as thei…
25 Apr 2001, 17:30
-
alga, You're thinking of the right person; his series is titled His Dark Materials, and comprises three volumes: _The Golden Compass_; _The Subtle Knife_; and _The Amber Spyglas…
18 Apr 2001, 11:12
-
Surely, mantis, Severian is a grandson of Typhon, at nearest, if not a remote descendant. Unless you're prepared to throw out the conclusion that Ouen is Severian's father and D…
08 Feb 2001, 17:31
-
Whoops! Thanks for the correction, Ian; and so much for my decaying memory. Nacre *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.…
06 Feb 2001, 16:15
-
For the most part, I agree with David DiGiacomo's answers. For the question above, though, I'd suggest that it's another example of Horn's and Silk's mem- ories mixing. "It" is…
05 Feb 2001, 12:31
-
Nutria, I'm afraid I can't agree with your iron theory. Wasn't Quetzal killed by the wound from a slug gun? Furthermore, I believe (though I don't have my Long Sun books here …
29 Jan 2001, 12:18
-
Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
-
Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
-
Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
-
Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
-
Folks, "The Eleventh City" has just appeared in the anthology _Graven Images_, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Thomas S. Roche (Ace/Berkley Publishing Group; ISBN: 044100766X; $1…
17 Oct 2000, 16:14
-
Folks, Should we now be calling this list "Ushas"? Mark Millman…
17 Oct 2000, 14:50
-
Odysseus, too, has a thigh wound, though it's old and healed and apparently doesn't cause him to limp. It does, however, serve to identify him to members of his household upon h…
23 Aug 2000, 12:07
-
Post please, alga. If the list doesn't agree with me, please include me in the direct mailing. And thank you for your efforts and your generosity. Mark Millman…
07 Aug 2000, 17:36
-
Folks, I bought the anthology _Such a Pretty Face_ (edited by Lee Martindale, available in both hardcover and paperback from Meisha Merlin Publishing) the other day, for the Wo…
29 Jun 2000, 15:56
-
I don't know whether this will help anyone, but I tend to visualize a sort of a tailless cross between a naked flying squirrel (substitute lemur or possum for squirrel, as geo- gr…
14 Apr 2000, 15:36
-
It is a grim pun, but it may not be quite as bad as Adam suggests. "Inhumation" means "a burial", but doesn't imply that it's a living burial. Merriam-Webster on-line (at http:…
13 Apr 2000, 15:01
-
A friend of mine who doesn't subscribe to Urth or Whorl made the following remarks, which I thought interesting, and urged him to post. He declined, but told me that I might do …
12 Apr 2000, 15:39
-
A friend of mine who doesn't subscribe to Urth or Whorl made the following remarks, which I thought interesting, and urged him to post. He declined, but told me that I might do …
12 Apr 2000, 15:39
-
Well, if Silk were in a two-headed Pas-body, he'd certainly be a topic of conversation and very unlikely to pass anywhere with- out notice. We probably won't have much evidence on…
06 Apr 2000, 10:05
-
I can't believe that the women from the future are clones of the captured twin; for one thing, the women are the same height as a pair of eleven-year-old girls. For another, th…
28 Jan 2000, 14:14
-
alga, Thank you for getting us these very helpful translations, and please thank your friend for obliging us by making them--and so quickly, too. Mark Millman And at 08:17 AM 2…
26 Jan 2000, 10:39
-
"Tall" can also mean proud, brave, or handsome, as in "tall ships" and "tall in the saddle". I suspect that you're right, and Dr. Talos was assessing Severian's usefulness as an …
04 Jan 2000, 10:28
-
I just got back from a business trip to England, where I saw people use a dot, not at half-height in the line, but at the bot- tom of the line (just like a punctuation period), to …
23 Dec 1999, 09:47
-
And at 11:55 pm on Thursday 16 December 1999, William H. Ansley responded: I took a look at "The God and His Man" this morning in my paper- back copy of _Endangered Species_ (it a…
22 Dec 1999, 12:39
-
Whoops! Sorry, mantis; I should have realized that you weren't attempting to provide a complete explanation of the phenom- enon. I apologize for jumping on you so quickly. Now t…
02 Dec 1999, 10:18
-
Of course nobody uses the term "black hole"--it would ruin Wolfe's carefully crafted diction. But the "worm gnawing at the heart of the sun" and the description of the White Foun…
01 Dec 1999, 14:39
-
Clever thought, mantis, but I can't swallow that idea. Master Ash tells us that ice covers the entire globe in his time, which implies a cooling process. Hallvard and Typhon con…
01 Dec 1999, 12:51
Urth Net