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How often does the earth's magnetic polarity reverse? Often enough to have happened between our time and Severian's? Do you think Severian's "North" is magnetic North or "true" N…
09 Feb 1998, 08:16
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I had read that as attesting more to the skill of the guild than to the hardiness of their victims, but either or both could be true. -Rostrum…
05 Feb 1998, 17:05
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Maybe this would be a good place to ask this question. Near the end of Citadel Severian finds the bushes with thorns identical to the Claw. My take on this is that he realizes th…
01 Feb 1998, 19:32
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Also, isn't there some mention when Severian first meets Talos and the rest of the acting troup that ALL of Dr. Talos's plays end with Baldanders leaping out and frightening the au…
20 Nov 1997, 15:01
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Arguably, Harlan Elison's "I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream" can be read this way. -Rostrum…
03 Nov 1997, 08:32
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Just to nitpick your nitpick, in Biblical thought (contrary to Milton and others), as in Dante, Hell is not the headquarters of "evil" but a place of suffering. Satan is not pictu…
31 Oct 1997, 09:14
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If found FREE LIVE FREE very humorous, but it's been too long to single out a particular passage. I thought THERE ARE DOORS has some funny bits too (particularly G. Gordon Liddy).…
24 Oct 1997, 15:59
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On Thu, 9 Oct 1997, Jim Jordan wrote at the end of a post about Holly Hunter: I'm inclined to disagree with you about Westwind. I've seen your list of a=x, b=y, c=z for that sto…
10 Oct 1997, 14:50
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This seems so bizarre, I'm inclined to think it has a point. Maybe a satire on Pringles (or potato chips in general) in that they start with a potato and end up with something not…
10 Oct 1997, 08:38
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I recently read Peace for the first time and would be interested in discussing the book. Spoilers follow. I remember the story of Finn M'Cool and his cat from Wolfe's Book of Day…
08 Oct 1997, 11:03
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I think people were just assuming it, because it seems like the easiest and most obvious way to make something like the Whorl. -Rostrum…
07 Oct 1997, 15:24
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Good catch, Tony. As a GKC fan, I doubt Wolfe hasn't read Chesterton's St. Francis biography. The parallel is strong enough that it might be deliberate. -Rostrum…
07 Oct 1997, 14:57
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"THE RINGWORLD IS UNSTAAABLE! THE RINGWORLD IS UNSTAAAABLE!" -Rostrum…
07 Oct 1997, 14:54
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Spoilers ho! I asked this question a few weeks ago, but perhaps I was so brief that no one knew what I was talking about. Mr. Free tells the salesman that he hid the device "un…
24 Sep 1997, 11:39
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Doesn't the introduction to Soldier of the Mist say that the books are translated from scrolls found in an urn that were written in Latin except using Greek letters? I wonder if W…
17 Sep 1997, 10:40
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Spoilers for Soldier Series... I have a friend who is a Classics professor who specializes in this time period. I thought he might enjoy these books, but when I described it to h…
16 Sep 1997, 15:52
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Spoilers... I don't have all the people straight in my head (it's been a while, and I make all the connections), but Latro is a pawn in the conflict among the Mother Goddess, the …
16 Sep 1997, 12:48
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Sorry about the non-Wolfe topic, but I've never heard of Cordwainer Smith outside of this mailing list, and was wondering if any of his fans could recommend some titles. -Rostrum…
11 Sep 1997, 12:28
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Speaking of which, I wonder if there's any chance those typos will be fixed when they release Exodus in paperback. -Rostrum…
10 Sep 1997, 08:44
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Is there any evidence other than Crane's speculation that Silk burst a blood-vessel? Kind of like the Gospels. What I was trying to say in the post that caused Mantis to put my n…
09 Sep 1997, 09:46
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Furthermore, I think it's a shame for Wolfe to say, in a context outside the text of the novel, that the Outsider "is" God. I'm a Christian, and so have absolutely no objections t…
08 Sep 1997, 12:04
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-- Begin original message -- First of all, I'm not sure I'd agree with the description of Wolfe's works as "puzzle stories." My impression is that Wolfe is just trying to tell st…
04 Sep 1997, 09:54
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Some points that might explain the condition of the Whorl after only 300 years: 1) When Silk meets the woman in the tunnels who had been in suspended animation, I seem to remembe…
03 Sep 1997, 08:30
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I hate getting to the end of something by Wolfe and realizing I don't get it. What was the sign under which the device was hidden? -Rostrum…
26 Aug 1997, 13:55
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When I saw the movie Conact (very minor spoiler here) and Jodie Foster met the blind guy, and it took her a few moments to realize he was blind, and no one ever came out and said "…
22 Aug 1997, 11:28
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Perhaps Nadan is simply reflecting that the act of trying to deduce the past by looking at his garments reminded him of the "Peri's asphodel" scene in the play, rather than it bein…
14 Aug 1997, 08:24
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If this shape isn't the one Wolfe had in mind, it ought to be :-), I was just trying to puzzle out his answer. Maybe he didn't have a specific shape in mind, but rather wanted to …
29 Jul 1997, 09:44
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Since the whorl list has been fairly quiet, I decided I could subscribe to the urth list without drowning, and thought I'd say "Hi" with some comments about the short story "Westwi…
25 Jul 1997, 14:10
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Freom Wolfe's answers to our questions: What are the "points" of a gamma? Is this what he's describing? It's the best I could think of from that description (monospaced font req…
25 Jul 1997, 10:44
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It depends on what order the nun is taking vows in. I know at least some orders take vows of "poverty, chastity, and obedience." -Rostrum…
14 Jul 1997, 08:43
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I'm thinking Wolfe may not want to answer questions that might boil down to "give us some big plot spoilers for the Short Sun series." Do some people feel cheated that what they …
25 Jun 1997, 08:38
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A really good parallel is with Luke/Acts (the books of Luke and Acts make up one long "letter" by Luke chronicling the life of Jesus and the history of the early church). Luke sta…
25 Jun 1997, 08:27
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Perhaps Wolfe is thinking of something like this: If a character can be said to be a "Christ figure" by playing a role in the story analogous to the role Christ plays in the Chris…
23 Jun 1997, 13:50
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Both Latro's and Silk's pagan gods are false not because they don't exist or because they aren't very powerful, but because they aren't good. -Rostrum…
18 Jun 1997, 08:40
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Or maybe... "All men are torturers." - Severian -Rostrum…
17 Jun 1997, 09:47
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In Exodus, when the group is at Mainframe, it is revealed that the shade is some substance that is created at mainframe, shot out across the sun, and then evaporates. So you're "…
16 Jun 1997, 09:03
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When I first read Nightside, there were a couple of things that reminded me of C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy. [Minor spoilers for Perelandra follow] In the second book, _Perelandr…
12 Jun 1997, 17:00
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I think one of the most well-done parts of this series is the way it is able to portray Silk's religious experiences and faith in the Outsider in a way that is compelling, but with…
10 Jun 1997, 09:51
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As others were confused about this, I'll mention we're talking about the scene in _Lake_ where Silk is down in one of the landers and sees the stars and the outside of the Whorl. …
10 Jun 1997, 09:01
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I've known about this mailing list for months, but waited until I finally got my hands on Exodus re-read the first three, and finished the fourth before I took a look at the archiv…
05 Jun 1997, 16:55
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SPOILERS At the end, what did the salesman see that was the "sign" that the old man had told him about? I love Wolfe's subtlety, but occasionally I just totally don't get it. Al…
10 Sep 1996, 16:24
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