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The bulk of Wolfe's writing is either short-stories/novellas or multi-volume stories. Even Wizard Knight is way too long to do any justice with a movie. So if you really want a …
12 Apr 2007, 15:57
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Bingo. One of Wolfe's ongoing projects is to try to impress upon his readers how different other cultures are from ours. For most of human history in most cultures, Severian's be…
10 Apr 2007, 17:15
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I think they are the same. I remember Sabra claiming the amulet was Sehuset's tool for stealing Myt-ser'eu from Latro. But that was a lie designed to manipulate Latro into delive…
16 Jan 2007, 00:28
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You're both right! My first question was about background reading for the first two books. Then I asked if there was anything I ought to read before starting Sidon. (Too late fo…
02 Dec 2006, 15:23
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Re-reading Soldier of Arete, I came across a passage that I think sheds light not only on Latro but also Able and some of Wolfe's other characters. Polos is shocked to see Latro c…
01 Dec 2006, 17:31
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I think it's just that she's decided she has a use for him. It's not like she revokes her curse and heals him. Aphrodite=love. She says Latro will not forget her=will not forget…
01 Dec 2006, 08:25
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On 11/30/06, thalassocrat at nym.hush.com <thalassocrat at nym.hush.com> wrote: [Stuff about the fates of Pausanius and Themistocles deleted] Wow, Thalassocrat! You just made my…
01 Dec 2006, 05:20
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Holy essential background reading, Batman! I wish I'd known that ten years ago. Now I'm wondering what else I need to have read. Essential: 1. Story of Spartans slaughtering t…
30 Nov 2006, 22:17
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One other question. Pindaros says that when Themistocles wins the vase then gives it to the Amazon queen, "peace is forged between Theseus's city and Theseus's foes." Which of At…
30 Nov 2006, 17:16
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But no one else can read it, except maybe Hegistratus (does his gift allow him to read any language as well?), and he was at the meeting. Rostrum…
30 Nov 2006, 17:14
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Hmm. That's kind of a stretch. Hard to believe, given Pausanias's pride. And would he really let Latro go, given that he believes that with Latro at his side he has Nike there as…
30 Nov 2006, 17:02
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I just finished re-reading the first two Soldier books in preparation for Soldier of Sidon. I'm convinced that they are Wolfe's very best. But, wow, to completely follow the plot…
30 Nov 2006, 06:04
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Yes, I'm sure that's right. At least I remembered the 'T'. Thank you.…
02 Jun 2006, 17:46
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I'm trying to remember the name of one of Wolfe's older short stories. It's told from two points of view - one, some sort of archeologist type character writing a report and seein…
02 Jun 2006, 17:07
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I feel like you've forgotten what your point was. The point I thought I was arguing with was, "Able is a jerk because he believes might makes right." The examples you gave: 1. …
29 Nov 2005, 21:17
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Again with the black/white, either/or. Boring! I think Wolfe finds some things about the warrior-ethic-plus-obligations admirable. I imagine there are in democratic capitalism t…
26 Nov 2005, 00:00
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There is this one case where we see what I might call "might makes right" where Able goes to defend the pass and challenge all comers. Able plans to guard a pass and challenge any…
25 Nov 2005, 23:56
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In the first part of the first book, there is a lot of stuff Able does that I think is morally wrong and do not defend. But I think much of it makes sense for the character, and I…
24 Nov 2005, 22:33
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On 11/23/05, transentient <transentient at gmail.com> wrote I think this is an oversimplification that lies at the heart of my disagreement with many of those who dislike the Wiza…
24 Nov 2005, 22:02
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I don't think Able thinks, at this point in the story, that being strong makes any opinion he has automatically right. I think he believes he is morally right and therefore has th…
24 Nov 2005, 21:35
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I'm glad to see some discussion and actual argument about Wizard Knight, even if it's taken me a while to get to it. I disagree. Able's might doesn't make him right or wrong. It…
22 Nov 2005, 22:26
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Hi, all. I just finished Wizard and am reading through some of the discussion. On 2/25/05, Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net> asked about this passage: Here's what I think is goi…
07 Aug 2005, 22:37
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Funny how so many people don't understand this. For Lewis, Wonder/Adventure of Narnia:Wonder of Knowing and Loving God::lipstick and boys:dull grey mundane world of ignoring God …
03 Nov 2004, 09:48
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Welcome, Alan. I like your reading of that line -- very clever. Made me say, "Hey, waitaminute..." But I don't think I'm convinced, for the reasons others have mentioned. Also,…
30 May 2003, 22:19
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...at least compared with the ancient Spartans. -- Rostrum…
09 May 2003, 13:13
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Gene Wolfe is large. He contains multitudes. Seriously, the longer I'm on this list the more I realize how various and different are the ways people enjoy his writing, some of wh…
18 Apr 2003, 03:30
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I just finished "Pale Fire" by Nabokov. I read it because someone said "If you like Wolfe you'll like this," and it was mentioned a while back when we tried to put together a rea…
16 Apr 2003, 15:46
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Wolfe's short story collections are a mixed bag. Some stories I really like, some I don't enjoy that much. Island of Doctor Death has some fantastic novellas: Seven American Nigh…
16 Apr 2003, 15:30
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The whole idea of ending a story with the revelation that the viewpoint character is insane and has halucinated the whole story is so cliche and (usually) so sterile, that I'm temp…
18 Mar 2003, 00:51
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That's *a* Christian view of the world. There have been Christians who believed that Christ and the Holy Spirit working in the Church would make the world better and better (but n…
19 Feb 2003, 19:22
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I'm blanking, but feel certain I've seen Wolfe defend some other technological anachronism in one of his stories with, "well, they could easily have had/done such a thing back then…
19 Feb 2003, 19:10
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Because this sort of thing is so subjective. You say Horn's love for Nettle is "unconvincing" (Meaning Wolfe failed to convince you the characters were real? or failed to convinc…
18 Feb 2003, 15:56
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I may have mentioned this in the archives, but I only got the meaning of the quote from scripture at the end of "Alien Stones" when I re-read the story following the Clinton scanda…
11 Feb 2003, 16:24
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But is the episode half as clever and funny as your subject header? -- Rostrum…
10 Feb 2003, 19:12
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Thanks for the links, but my question was not so much "Where are they?" as "Are they good translations?" -- Rostrum…
27 Jan 2003, 17:31
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A couple questions for my Latro supplemental reading: 1. Which works of Herodotus and Xenophon are the most relevant to the Soldier books? 2. Are there good public domain trans…
27 Jan 2003, 16:59
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Nutria is right, except the scene in question is in the middle of Arete, at the end of the Part 1. Supposedly true history: Spartan slaves were forbidden from touching weapons und…
26 Jan 2003, 01:11
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Or Musk? Or Lemur? And even in Latro, I'd say the Spartan leaders are *the* major evil characters. -Rostrum…
26 Jan 2003, 00:58
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There's a *much* stronger connection. According to G.K. Chesterton's biography of St. Francis, Francis began his career when he heard a voice saying to him, "Francis, seest thou n…
25 Jan 2003, 01:54
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I agree that you probably don't need to know a lot about Greek Myth to appreciate the books, but I think you'll find the plot *much* easier to follow if read up a little on the his…
21 Jan 2003, 17:10
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I like them as much or more than Wolfe's other novels. -Rostrum…
20 Jan 2003, 01:53
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I think the colonists on Blue had lost the technology to make silk boxer shorts. I suppose it's possible Horn had some from the Whorl and kept them all these years because they re…
02 Jan 2003, 16:02
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Um....well. Ok, even given that mind-bogglingly unlikely scenario, why would it be more important that we talk about what Wolfe originally intended instead of about interpretation…
31 Dec 2002, 07:38
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I have to say that this cracks me up. The difference between a bunch of folks sitting around talking about which interpretation of a story makes for the most fun reading and the e…
28 Dec 2002, 22:56
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On Tue, 24 Dec 2002, maa32 wrote (Quoting Mean Gene): I think this most likely means: 1. A joke. Like if Tolkien, tired of being asked for the umpteenth time whether The Ring r…
28 Dec 2002, 22:41
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I always look at it like this: If you're having a discussion about what the author intended, then a remark from the author can bring about a conclusion to the argument. You can al…
18 Dec 2002, 14:35
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Yeah, but you don't really want me to start comparing Free Live Free with Heinlein's _Number of the Beast_, do you? -Rostrum…
02 Dec 2002, 22:01
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Well, if yer gonna be nitpicky, just make it "two males and two females go through a magic door and take their thrones as the four rulers of the land." (And yes, Free's time machi…
02 Dec 2002, 21:55
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This sounds an awful lot like the Magnificat (or one of the other prophetic poems in the same genre: Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.). There's definitely a sense in FLF that America (the w…
30 Nov 2002, 07:06
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Exactly. If Pas had only one head, we'd have spent the last 7-8 years arguing about why Pas only had one head. And Robert Borski would have a 5000 word essay demonstrating that t…
15 Nov 2002, 20:03
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