Subject: (urth) NORTH/SOUTH

From: Urash, Tom <turash at firstam.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 15:28:54 +0000

Jim Jordan wrote:

"My own thinking started by noticing that Blind Ultan is Borges..."

That's brilliant! My love and admiration for BONS has just gone up another
level. Borges as old Ultan - I can only grin like an idiot and shake my
head. Thanks, Jim.

Tom Urash

---

From: Alex David Groce <alex_groce at gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:04:02 +0000

And someone (I forget who) on here has pointed out that Cyby is described
as roughly what Wolfe might have looked at when he wrote BOTNS, so we have
Wolfe as the humble apprentice to the master of the archives.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
--
Alex David Groce (agroce+ at cs.cmu.edu)
Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department
8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

---

From: Greene, Carlton <cgreene2 at hunton.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:16:22 +0000

> Jim Jordan wrote: 
<<"My own thinking started by noticing that Blind Ultan is Borges..." >>

Tom Urash wrote:

<<That's brilliant! My love and admiration for BONS has just gone up another
level. Borges as old Ultan - I can only grin like an idiot and shake my
head. Thanks, Jim.>>

Jim, can you give some support for the assertion that Ultan is Borges?
Haven't read the passage in some time, but Im a big Borges fan (it was
Wolfe's resemblence to Borges that got me interested in TBOTNS) and would
love to see the connection.

Carlton

---

From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:51:41 +0000

>love to see the connection.

Well, I'd read Eco first, so I was set up for it.
	He's a librarian.
	He's blind.
	One of the books contains all books, Borges's Aleph.
	The city is Buenos Aires.

jbjordan

---

From: Greene, Carlton <cgreene2 at hunton.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 18:04:06 +0000

> >love to see the connection.
Jim wrote:

<<Well, I'd read Eco first, so I was set up for it.
> jbjordan>>
Good food for thought there, and thank you.

Carlton

> works
> ranjit at best.com
> whorl at lists.best.com

---

From: Matthew Malthouse <matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:07:25 +0000

> "Urash, Tom" wrote:
> That's brilliant! My love and admiration for BONS has just gone up
> another level. Borges as old Ultan - I can only grin like an idiot
> and shake my head. Thanks, Jim.

 Reading this I was suddenly struck by the posibility of hubris on
Wolfe's part.

 Sure, Cyby as apprentice to Ultan; Ultan knowing exactly where to
lay hands on so many books, and knows much of their contents: so
learned, so wise. Wolfe (as Cyby) figuratively sitting at the feet
of Borges (as Ultan).

 But Cyby still has eyes to read, and learn and grow.  And any
apprentice can hope to inherit the master's mantle....

Matthew