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In Urth of the New Son, Wolfe did almost everything differently from what the reading expected, including a compass having six points and south being at the south. Another example …
07 Dec 2020, 22:13
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The most important thing is to have six cardinal points of the compass, not four. Second, to have south be up. I'm not certain that the people from earth carry this over to the new…
06 Dec 2020, 21:05
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Very good observation. Rici From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Eric Bourland Sent: Friday, January 31, 2020 10:07 AM To: 'The Urth Mailing List' <urt…
31 Jan 2020, 15:45
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I strongly urge all involved to drop this discussion, which I’m afraid I started, and return to the subject of Gene Wolfe. Rick From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net]…
31 Jan 2020, 12:20
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In my experience, people who complain about having to be “politically correct” are people who want to say rude things and are really complaining about not being allowed to be rude.…
30 Jan 2020, 12:27
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I don’t think there is any doubt at all that Wolfe loved his wife. Rick From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Ab de Vos Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 202…
30 Jan 2020, 12:21
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Certainly Wolfe is more subtle than Heinlein, but then Wolfe is more subtle than just about everybody. There is a lot of fun to be had in trying to figure out what Wolfe is doing. …
29 Jan 2020, 13:14
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P.S. Sorry to have gone on so long about Heinlein. I mentioned Heinlein only in the context of Wolfe’s The Land Across. I’m sure there is a Heinlein thread for discussing Heinlein …
29 Jan 2020, 12:50
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I’ve read Starship Troopers three times, but thank you for correcting my memory — that it was “government service” rather than “military service”. Just from memory, I thought all g…
29 Jan 2020, 12:46
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Have you read Starship Troopers? Only people who have served in the military can vote. (Heinlein claims that, in this world, it has been proved mathematically that this is the best…
28 Jan 2020, 16:04
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Other Heinlein parallels/satires in The Land Across: Grafton is Heinlein’s classic “man who learns better” turned inside out. What Grafton learns is what Heinlein “learned” in his …
28 Jan 2020, 12:57
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Another Wolfe novel, The Land Across, is, I think strongly influenced by Heinlein, and essentially a satire of Heinlein. This is just my opinion, I’ve never heard anyone else say t…
27 Jan 2020, 15:21
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I agree that this is a reference to Blue, but I think it is also a reference to ERB?s Barsoom, with the apes and the multi-limbed beings. Rick Norwood From: Urth [mailto:urth-bou…
29 Mar 2018, 13:40
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Watch out for this Marc Aramini. Next thing you know he’s going to ruin the movie Titanic for everybody. Footnote: this actually happened. I went to see a movie of Romeo and Jul…
20 Mar 2018, 19:57
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What do you mean Hamlet dies! And no spoiler warning. You’ve spoiled the surprise ending. Rick Norwood From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Marc Aram…
20 Mar 2018, 19:54
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How about a video game where the player had to read The Book of the New Sun, and then play a game where the character had to understand the finer points of the book? Rick -----Or…
30 Apr 2015, 14:16
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I agree with those who see no point in Wolfe adaptations, since his language is essential to his story. Of course, there is nothing like a blockbuster movie to help book sales. P…
30 Apr 2015, 11:56
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Thanks for the info, but I loved A Deepness in the Sky for the images and characters, and didn’t even notice the politics. In any case, Vinge Is not right-wing in the sense of wan…
29 Apr 2015, 19:18
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You live in a place where conservatism is unfashionable. I am a liberal who lives in a place where liberalism is unfashionable (Tennessee). But when it comes to, for example, Wol…
29 Apr 2015, 15:50
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Entry point to Lafferty. “Continued on Next Rock” Rick From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Andreas Johansson Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 8:25 AM …
29 Apr 2015, 14:57
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Enough with the sorting people into easy categories already! "Liberal arts majors"! Rick -----Original Message----- From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behal…
29 Apr 2015, 12:08
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The article in the link is reasonable and fair, does not try to push an agenda. It seems much more likely that Wolfe hasn’t won a Hugo because some people see him as “difficult”. …
29 Apr 2015, 11:57
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I no longer go to church, but when I did the sermons were mostly about the importance for Christians to always vote for the Republican party. I remember one sermon about the camel…
27 Apr 2015, 17:13
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T. H. White’s biography makes it clear that he was sexually attracted to young children, and that he lived asexually for most of his life, substituting erudition for sexuality. Ri…
27 Apr 2015, 14:38
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Unwashed philistines to mean uncultured people was quite common at one time, or sometimes just used by the upper class to mean working class people. Rick -----Original Message---…
27 Apr 2015, 12:09
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T. H. White is one of my favorite authors — up there with Wolfe, Tolkien, and Peake. I hope the reference in the first X-Men movie brought him new readers. I recently read Farewe…
27 Apr 2015, 12:07
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Sounds like the unwashed beatniks of my youthful years. Rick From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Marc Aramini Sent: Friday, April 24, 2015 4:12 PM To:…
27 Apr 2015, 11:59
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Yes, Paul has an anti-gay statement. He says that gays are as bad as gossips! Rick From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Dan'l Danehy-Oakes Sent: Frida…
24 Apr 2015, 20:08
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There is a very enjoyable Wolfe interview in Twelve Tomorrows, MIT Technology Review SF Annual 2014, which I chanced upon in a bookstore recently. Rick Norwood…
15 Jan 2015, 14:39
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I think the significant thing is not that the door could never be closed, but rather that when you closed it, it didn't stay closed. I get an image of Severian lying down to go to…
21 Nov 2014, 18:40
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I think the intent is more to personify the door. It is faithless because you trusted it to stay closed, and it failed you. Rick Norwood From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists…
21 Nov 2014, 17:29
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I've enjoyed all the books you mention. The Horatio Hornblower series is also excellent, as is Master and Commander. And just recently I read a book about the War of 1812 called …
21 Nov 2014, 17:28
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Just as in the poem the door is faithless for letting in the cold wind, Severian's door is faithless for failing to remain closed. Rick Norwood From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at…
21 Nov 2014, 15:20
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“If I had any supervision, Fred, would I be riding around in a chicken coop with a lion?” Rick Norwood From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Dan'l Daneh…
12 Nov 2014, 13:02
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Marc Aramini kindly sent me a link to the wolfewiki. I looked up the most recent Wolfe I’ve read, “The Tree is My Hat”. I found these questions: * Was it A or was it B, or …
03 Nov 2014, 15:46
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I think Kafka follows (or independently came up with) H. G. Wells famous dictum, to the effect that you can write a story where pigs can fly, but after that you have to be strictly…
03 Nov 2014, 14:25
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I have a suggestion. I've posted comments on one Wolfe novel and one Wolfe short story, but only got a few replies, probably because either people hadn't read those particular wor…
03 Nov 2014, 13:00
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Just finished “The Tree is My Hat”. Didn’t find anything about it in the archive. The main character is named Baden and called “Bad” for short. I’m pretty sure he breaks all ten…
29 Oct 2014, 13:22
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Maybe something to do with Sheol? Rick Norwood -----Original Message----- From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Ant?nio Pedro Marques Sent: Tuesday, Oct…
22 Oct 2014, 13:37
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Good one, Lee. Rick Norwood -----Original Message----- From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Behalf Of Lee I am thinking of the Biblical passage in which "a cher…
17 Oct 2014, 16:04
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I did not mean to be calling you names. You said you did not want to be chained to logic; that sounds like post-modernism to me. I apologize if you think of post-modernism differ…
17 Oct 2014, 14:38
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Ant?nio Pedro Marques is at least unabashedly post-modern, refusing to be chained by logic. You, Marc Aramini, keep confusing logic with science. Mathematics is built on logic. …
17 Oct 2014, 14:03
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Modus ponens is unprovable. You have to start somewhere. Is it possible that modus ponens is false? Of course it is possible. I may be a madman, and modus ponens may not say wh…
17 Oct 2014, 13:23
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1) I didn't say that. 2) Whoever said it, I think you misunderstand what it says. Rick Norwood -----Original Message----- From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Be…
16 Oct 2014, 20:21
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Jeffery Wilson: I do say A is A. That's called the reflexive property of equality. And, yes, I've read the Lewis Carroll bit. Even wrote a poem about it. Said the mathematicia…
16 Oct 2014, 12:07
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I notice that none of the "we can never know anything absolutely" team on this thread has accepted my challenge to explain how A can be true, and A implies B can be true, and yet B…
15 Oct 2014, 18:28
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You keep talking about the universe! Math doesn't give a fig for the universe. Rick Norwood -----Original Message----- From: Urth [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On Beha…
10 Oct 2014, 17:42
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I’m enjoying talking about God and math and all, but it this too off-topic for this list? If so, I’ll shut up. (Like Bugs Bunny, I’m very good at shutting up.) All math can be r…
10 Oct 2014, 15:57
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Of course God has free will. But not Moses, as far as I can tell. I’m of course talking ideal religious philosophy. Most of the people I know couldn’t give a good god damn what …
10 Oct 2014, 13:27
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If He gets bored, he can always smite a few Philistines. There is a Psalm where God fights a dragon, and another Psalm where God sits in a pantheon of Gods, sort of like a primiti…
10 Oct 2014, 13:18
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