# Robert Graves' books [Digest urth.v019.n020] *The Urth list — 2 messages, 2 voices, 19 Oct 1998* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### John Bishop *19 Oct 1998, 17:23* I've read most of them, a long time ago. I subsequently learnt a bit of anthropology, linguistics and history, all making me doubt the background element of matriarchy replaced by patriarchy. And I only ever saw the "bln..." alphabetic order in his works ("Beth Luis Nion"), until just now, when an altavista search shows them being used by neo-pagans. But could he write! Like Orwell, his work was once famous and is now undeservedly obscure. -John --- ### Alex David Groce *19 Oct 1998, 17:58 · follows John Bishop* > John Bishop wrote: > I've read most of them, a long time ago. I subsequently > learnt a bit of anthropology, linguistics and history, > all making me doubt the background element of matriarchy > replaced by patriarchy. And I only ever saw the "bln..." > alphabetic order in his works ("Beth Luis Nion"), until > just now, when an altavista search shows them being used > by neo-pagans. > > But could he write! Like Orwell, his work was once famous > and is now undeservedly obscure. 1984 isn't obscure, but most of his best writing (Road to Wigan Pier & the essays in general) is. 1984 is an important book, but it isn't all that well written, except for a spots here and there (the opening and the finale). I wonder why it happened to Orwell. To bring us on topic, Wolfe's talked about his two favorites, also far more obscure than they deserve to be, Kipling and Chesterton. You can see political/social agendas lurking behind those falls from critical favor, but that really shouldn't hurt Orwell--I mean, having argued with Gollancz and criticized Shaw and the Webbs isn't exactly cause for blacklisting now that nobody defends Stalin... ``` "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." - John 8:32 -- Alex David Groce (adgroce at eos.ncsu.edu) Senior (Computer Science/Multidisciplinary Studies in Technology & Fiction) '98-99 NCSU AITP Student Chapter President 608 Charleston Road, Apt. 1E (919)-233-7366 http://www4.ncsu.edu/~adgroce ``` ---