{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/5396", "note": "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.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "urth", "thread": { "id": 5396, "subject": "Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "messages": 23, "voices": 8, "first": "2009-04-05T04:31:31+00:00", "last": "2009-04-08T18:08:34+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "b sharp", "address": "bsharporflat at hotmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-05T04:31:31+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Well a somewhat fruitful thread, for me at least.\n \nRegarding Duko Rigoglio's rant, I too agree that it might describe\nboth the large natural size of Nessus and the Library and the magical\nstuff. I just find the hints of magical stuff more interesting: \n\"A city larger than the whorl on which it stands\", \"countless towers\"\n\"tunnels without end\" etc.\n \nI liken Ultan's library to Rudesind's art gallery so I suspect a magical\nportal between them and the House Absolute. I don't think we are \nmeant to think Rudesind walked the same distance as Severian for their\nsecond meeting in Father Inire's wing of the House Absolute. \nI don't think the mechanism is like the mirrors but more like a \npicture on the wall you step through. Tzadkiel uses something like this\nto transport Severian from her Captain's Room to his stateroom. Severian\nsays of it, \"We have such things in the House Absolute. I see whence \nFather Inire took his model, though ours are not so well contrived.\"\n \nI've always wondered about why Severian sees the face of the dark haired,\npale gown wearing corpse from the Necropolis grave in Ultan's face. \nUltan really likes the idea of eating the dead and that's what \nVodalus and his followers did with that corpse. Something weird is going on \nthere. She must have been someone important for vodalus to go through so\nmuch trouble to get that particular corpse.\n \nOn the day the House Absolute is drowned, Severian sees a woman being taken\non the Path of Air. She has dark hair and wears a pale gown like the corpse. \nShe also has olive skin and an oval face, (like his mother Catherine,the Pellerine?\nSame woman, all three?) Anyway, my only guess had been that the Path Of Air\nled to the top of Valeria's tower allowing the dark haired woman to be brought \nback to the time of Severian's youth.\n \nJeff Wilson's reminder of the 49 floors of the Library allows me to consider\nthat the Path Of Air leads to an upper floor of the Library. This could allow\nfor the connection between Ultan and the mysterious dark haired woman. \n\n-bsharp" } ] }, { "message_id": "<883571995.20090405181338@poczta.fm>", "from": { "name": "Stanislaus B.", "address": "sbocian at poczta.fm" }, "date": "2009-04-05T16:13:38+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Hello!\n\nOn 5.04.2009, b sharp wrote:\n\n..." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I've always wondered about why Severian sees the face of the dark haired,\npale gown wearing corpse from the Necropolis grave in Ultan's face. \nUltan really likes the idea of eating the dead and that's what \nVodalus and his followers did with that corpse. Something weird is going on\nthere. She must have been someone important for vodalus to go through so\nmuch trouble to get that particular corpse." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "...\n\n\"Again I seemed to hear bronze, and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead,\nand that the darkness surrounding us was grave soil pressing\nin about our eyes, grave soil through which the bell called us\nto worship at whatever shrines may exist below ground. The livid woman\nI had seen dragged from her grave rose before me so vividly that\nI seemed to see her face in the almost luminous whiteness of the figure who spoke. \"\n\nWhy weird? Ultan is a Vodalarian, and has eaten part of the corpse.\nHe is hardly a great exception.\n\nThe woman was buried among the poor, and guarded by volunteers. It\nseems she was chosen by Vodalus as a low-hanging fruit. He needed to\nhave some body to eat, in order to cement the faith of his\nsubordinates. This is a fairly common idea in gangs and cults - the\ncrime committed together serves to bind a new member to the\norganization." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Best regards,\nStanislaus B.\n\n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------\nKredyt z doplata, nawet 200 000 zl. Sprawdz!\nhttp://link.interia.pl/f20fc" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "b sharp", "address": "bsharporflat at hotmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-05T19:09:40+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<883571995.20090405181338@poczta.fm>", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Stan B. writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Ultan is a Vodalarian and has eaten part of the corpse. He is\nhardly a great exception. The woman was buried among the poor\nIt seems she was chosen by Vodalus as a low-hanging fruit. He \nneeded to have some body to eat in order to cement the faith of\nhis subordinates. " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": " \nInteresting ideas. I had never noticed anyone assume the fact of\nUltan as a Vodararian so casually. Ultan is asked by\nSeverian about the \"corpse-eaters\" and he replies:\n \n\"It is unwise to know too much about these practices, though when\nI think of sharing the mind of a historian like Loman, or Hermas...\"\n \nSeverian then sees on his face an \"agony of desire\". \n \nUltan continues, \"But from what I once read, you are correct, though\n I do not now recall that the book you hold treats of it.\n\nI always took all that to mean Ultan had never indulged in corpse eating\nbut would like to. I guess Stan feels Ultan is lying and is actually \nquite familiar and that is the source of Severian seeing the corpse's face\nin Ultan. I would agree that a nice possibility.\n \nI disagree that the corpse is a random pick. First it is too much trouble\nfor Vodalus to get it when there would seem to be no shortage of freshly \ndead random bodies all over the Commonwealth. I think the alzabo is very dear\nand they don't feast often; perhaps only once every couple years. Moreover \nThecla's body seems to have been kept on ice to preserve it until the feast.\nAs I understand it, she was picked and preserved with such care because she \nwas loyal to Vodalus and he hoped to imbue this loyalty to his feasters. \nI must assume the Necropolis corpse was likewise a person loyal to Vodalus\n(and I think the poorest people were buried further down, closest to the river).\n \nAnyway, when I mention that the corpse must be an important person I mean\nimportant to the story, more than in social status. That she is Catherine\nisn't very easy to argue but here are the puzzle pieces I put together:\n \nThere is the physical resemblance and the pale gown to tie the three women\n(corpse, Path of Air woman and Catherine) together as one. I suspect the cause \nof death of the corpse is choking by Allowin's necklace as that torture device\nis mentioned more than it needs to be and she has a livid face. Before the \nThecla eating feast, Vodalus' followers express hope she isn't\nanother lesbian. I think this suggests the Necropolis corpse was a lesbian.\n \nFor me, this may be the reason Catherine didn't stay with the Pelerines and perhaps didn't\nstay true to some high placed marriage (I suspect Ouen was a refuge not a love interest).\nI think she was tortured to death for adultery and the St. Katherine maid was drawn from\na version of her from the past each year. Part of this thinking comes from Cyriaca's\nsituation. She is ordered to be tortured to death, for adultery. The method: \nstrangulation (Severian didn't have an Allowin's necklace in Thrax). I guess there are\nfamily connections all through this scenario. (Catherine being sister to Cyriaca, Severian\nbeing cousing to Agia and Agilus etc.)\n \nJust my attempt to tie all these random tidbits together into some comprehensible back\nstory because I have always had the feeling Wolfe doesn't really use a lot of random\ntidbits in his stories.\n \n \n-bsharp\n " } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at gmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-05T23:47:36+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<883571995.20090405181338@poczta.fm>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "\"Again I seemed to hear bronze, and quite suddenly I felt that he\nand I were dead, and that the darkness surrounding us was\ngrave soil pressing in about our eyes, grave soil through which\nthe bell called us to worship at whatever shrines may exist below\nground. The livid woman I had seen dragged from her grave\nrose before me so vividly that I seemed to see her face in the\nalmost luminous whiteness of the figure who spoke. \"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Why weird? Ultan is a Vodalarian, and has eaten part of\nthe corpse. He is hardly a great exception." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"\n\nI'm not sure I understand this explanation. At the time of this event, \nSeverian had not eaten any corpse; so, why did he feel that he himself was \ndead? I suppose it is not absolutely required, but this pairing seems to \nimply they were \"were dead\" for the same reason...whatever it was.\n\nJ. " } ] }, { "message_id": "<49D96C9E.5030204@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-06T02:44:46+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "b sharp wrote:\nI've always wondered about why Severian sees the face of the dark haired,\npale gown wearing corpse from the Necropolis grave in Ultan's face. \nUltan really likes the idea of eating the dead and that's what \nVodalus and his followers did with that corpse. " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Whoa there: Ultan really likes sharing the thoughts of famous \nhistorians, but doesn't seem to be eager to do the necessary cannibalism." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Jeff Wilson's reminder of the 49 floors of the Library allows me to consider\nthat the Path Of Air leads to an upper floor of the Library. This could allow\nfor the connection between Ultan and the mysterious dark haired woman. " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Don't the Vodalarii in the forest mention that the previous meal was a \nlesbian? That would seem to disqualify her from most family trees and \nrule out life experiences more noteworthy than homosexuality, or they'd \nrefer to her as a time traveler or a fallen courtier rather than a \ntribadist." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "<49D97045.8000800@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-06T03:00:21+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "James Wynn wrote:\n\"Again I seemed to hear bronze, and quite suddenly I felt that he\nand I were dead, and that the darkness surrounding us was\ngrave soil pressing in about our eyes, grave soil through which\nthe bell called us to worship at whatever shrines may exist below\nground. The livid woman I had seen dragged from her grave\nrose before me so vividly that I seemed to see her face in the\nalmost luminous whiteness of the figure who spoke. \"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Why weird? Ultan is a Vodalarian, and has eaten part of\nthe corpse. He is hardly a great exception." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"\n\nI'm not sure I understand this explanation. At the time of this event, \nSeverian had not eaten any corpse; so, why did he feel that he himself \nwas dead? I suppose it is not absolutely required, but this pairing \nseems to imply they were \"were dead\" for the same reason...whatever it was." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "A few months ago we went over this - they meet in unlit underground \ntunnels, essentially catacombs for books instead of bodies. Ultan is \nalso very much like the barrow wights or dwarves of the Norse epics, \nessentially a barely animated corpse guarding grave goods and other \ntreasures." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at gmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-06T16:39:28+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49D97045.8000800@io.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": "Stan: Why weird? Ultan is a Vodalarian, and has\neaten part of the corpse. He is hardly a great exception." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"\n\nI'm not sure I understand this explanation. At the time of this event, \nSeverian had not eaten any corpse; so, why did he feel that he himself \nwas dead? I suppose it is not absolutely required, but this pairing seems \nto imply they were \"were dead\" for the same reason...whatever it was." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "A few months ago we went over this - they meet in unlit underground \ntunnels, essentially catacombs for books instead of bodies. Ultan is also \nvery much like the barrow wights or dwarves of the Norse epics, \nessentially a barely animated corpse guarding grave goods and other \ntreasures." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Hmmm...I searched the archives and nothing about dwarves or barrow wights \ncame up.\n\nAnyway, I'll require a lot more convincing. If the catacombs lent out their \ncorpses, I'm not aware of it. I'm sure barrow wights did not abet such \npractices. And if Ultan *were* intended to be analogous to an animated ward \nof a grave, that would put Severian in the position of a treasure \nhunter...not a corpse himself.\n\nJ. " } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DA4FEA.4030407@verizon.net>", "from": { "name": "David Stockhoff", "address": "dstockhoff at verizon.net" }, "date": "2009-04-06T18:54:34+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Well, they were both underground in a musty place of great age, where data was literally entombed, like the dead. Where the knowledge of the historians that Ultan desires is also entombed; where the whole of Urth is entombed. \n\nWho wouldn't get a creepy feeling? The place is symbolic of death.\n\nI agree; this is a stretch." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "----------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nMessage: 1\nDate: Sun, 5 Apr 2009 18:47:36 -0500\nFrom: \"James Wynn\" \nSubject: Re: (urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine\nTo: \"The Urth Mailing List\" \nMessage-ID: \nContent-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=\"iso-8859-1\";\n\treply-type=original" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "\"Again I seemed to hear bronze, and quite suddenly I felt that he\nand I were dead, and that the darkness surrounding us was\ngrave soil pressing in about our eyes, grave soil through which\nthe bell called us to worship at whatever shrines may exist below\nground. The livid woman I had seen dragged from her grave\nrose before me so vividly that I seemed to see her face in the\nalmost luminous whiteness of the figure who spoke. \"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Why weird? Ultan is a Vodalarian, and has eaten part of\nthe corpse. He is hardly a great exception." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " \n\n\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"\n\nI'm not sure I understand this explanation. At the time of this event, \nSeverian had not eaten any corpse; so, why did he feel that he himself was \ndead? I suppose it is not absolutely required, but this pairing seems to \nimply they were \"were dead\" for the same reason...whatever it was.\n\nJ. \n\n\n\n------------------------------" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "b sharp", "address": "bsharporflat at hotmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-06T20:07:26+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49DA4FEA.4030407@verizon.net>", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "James wynn writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "At the time of this event, Severian had not eaten any corpse;\nso, why did he feel that he himself was dead? I suppose it is\nnot absolutely required, but this pairing seems to imply they \nwere \"were dead\" for the same reason...\nwhatever it was." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I could go with D. Stockhoff's rather direct explanation:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Well, they were both underground in a musty place of great age,\nwhere data was literally entombed, like the dead. Where the knowledge\nof the historians that Ultan desires is also entombed; where the whole\nof Urth is entombed. Who wouldn't get a creepy feeling? The place is \nsymbolic of death." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": " \nbut also,\n \nI don't suppose all Wolfe's protagonists function as the author's\navatars but some do, and surely Severian. I can't help but see the\nmeeting of Severian and Ultan as part of a fantasy of Wolfe to meet\nwith Jorge Luis Borges. Two avatars feeling dead together in a book\ncould be the mirror image of two live guys meeting in the real world. \nPerhaps it wasn't just a fantasy and Wolfe really did meet Borges in \nhis library in Buenos Aires and that S. American trip provided much \nof the inspiration for BotNS.\n \nah, I dunno...\n \n-bsharp" } ] }, { "message_id": "<6666.67.142.130.16.1239049675.squirrel@brunians.org>", "from": { "name": "brunians at brunians.org", "address": "brunians at brunians.org" }, "date": "2009-04-06T20:27:55+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "It should be pretty easy to establish whether Wolfe ever met Borges in\nSouth America.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "James wynn writes:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "At the time of this event, Severian had not eaten any corpse;\nso, why did he feel that he himself was dead? I suppose it is\nnot absolutely required, but this pairing seems to imply they\nwere \"were dead\" for the same reason...\nwhatever it was." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I could go with D. Stockhoff's rather direct explanation:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Well, they were both underground in a musty place of great age,\nwhere data was literally entombed, like the dead. Where the knowledge\nof the historians that Ultan desires is also entombed; where the whole\nof Urth is entombed. Who wouldn't get a creepy feeling? The place is\nsymbolic of death." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "but also,\n\nI don't suppose all Wolfe's protagonists function as the author's\navatars but some do, and surely Severian. I can't help but see the\nmeeting of Severian and Ultan as part of a fantasy of Wolfe to meet\nwith Jorge Luis Borges. Two avatars feeling dead together in a book\ncould be the mirror image of two live guys meeting in the real world.\nPerhaps it wasn't just a fantasy and Wolfe really did meet Borges in\nhis library in Buenos Aires and that S. American trip provided much\nof the inspiration for BotNS.\n\nah, I dunno...\n\n-bsharp\n_________________________________________________________________\nWindows Live?: Keep your life in sync.\nhttp://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_allup_1a_explore_042009\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DA73D2.80305@verizon.net>", "from": { "name": "David Stockhoff", "address": "dstockhoff at verizon.net" }, "date": "2009-04-06T21:27:46+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<6666.67.142.130.16.1239049675.squirrel@brunians.org>", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Whether Wolfe ever met Borges or not, I'm sure it was a great desire of his to do so. And who wouldn't want to overhear THAT conversation?\n\nEven so, it strikes me more as a homage than anything else: the young book-loving apprentice meeting the grand master lurking like the Minotaur in his labyrinth. Recall Ultan gives Severian the \"Book of the Wonders of Urth and Sky.\" Ultan is like a sorcerer or a god of the underworld.\n\nBut I have no doubt there are many Borges-inspired games in BotNS." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "------------------------------\n\nMessage: 3\nDate: Mon, 6 Apr 2009 16:07:26 -0400\nFrom: b sharp \nSubject: (urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine\nTo: \nMessage-ID: \nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=\"Windows-1252\"\n\n \n\nbut also,\n \nI don't suppose all Wolfe's protagonists function as the author's\navatars but some do, and surely Severian. I can't help but see the\nmeeting of Severian and Ultan as part of a fantasy of Wolfe to meet\nwith Jorge Luis Borges. Two avatars feeling dead together in a book\ncould be the mirror image of two live guys meeting in the real world. \nPerhaps it wasn't just a fantasy and Wolfe really did meet Borges in \nhis library in Buenos Aires and that S. American trip provided much \nof the inspiration for BotNS.\n \nah, I dunno...\n \n-bsharp" } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DB204A.2050004@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-07T09:43:38+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "James Wynn wrote:\nHmmm...I searched the archives and nothing about dwarves or barrow \nwights came up." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "The catacomb part was a few months ago:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Much of the Citadel complex is underground. In particular, the art \ngalleries run as far as the House Absolute, which is entirely \nunderground, and Hypogeum Apotropaic can be read as \"underground \nbunker\". It is very likely that Severian meets Master Ultan in a tunnel, \npossibly a stretch of catacomb repurposed to house books instead of bodies." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": " the part after \"also\" is my current addition, reflecting on Ultan's \nappearance - there is a similar, though unfriendly encounter between \nThor and a Dvergr in the Poetic Edda, mentioned here under \"skin color \nand hair color\"\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_dwarves\n\nUltan's no dwarf, but he does share some of the creepy color scheme and \nhabits of the other earth-dwellers." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Anyway, I'll require a lot more convincing. If the catacombs lent out \ntheir corpses, I'm not aware of it. " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I think that was largely reserved for relics, though numerous catacombs, \ntombs, and ossuaries have liberal browsing hours." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "I'm sure barrow wights did not abet\nsuch practices. And if Ultan *were* intended to be analogous to an \nanimated ward of a grave, that would put Severian in the position of a \ntreasure hunter...not a corpse himself." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "He *is* there to get some goodies, but I think it just the general \ncreepiness that give him thoughts of being dead and buried; indeed the \n3rd paragraph before the end of the chapter includes \"To the upper \nlevels of that place I returned several times, but I never again entered \nthat tomblike cellar, or ever wished to.\"" }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DB27CE.8020601@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-07T10:15:42+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<6666.67.142.130.16.1239049675.squirrel@brunians.org>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "brunians at brunians.org wrote:\nIt should be pretty easy to establish whether Wolfe ever met Borges in\nSouth America." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "He was at UT-Austin in 1961-1962, much more convenient to meet him there \nthan in Argentina." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "<6375.72.171.0.144.1239102341.squirrel@brunians.org>", "from": { "name": "brunians at brunians.org", "address": "brunians at brunians.org" }, "date": "2009-04-07T11:05:41+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49DB27CE.8020601@io.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Ah! Indeed it would be. Perhaps, by and by, someone will ask him if they\never met.\n\n\n\n." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "brunians at brunians.org wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "It should be pretty easy to establish whether Wolfe ever met Borges in\nSouth America." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "He was at UT-Austin in 1961-1962, much more convenient to meet him there\nthan in Argentina.\n--\nJeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "<23F8C91A-E2CD-4930-A18E-E7233B4DD6B9@butcherbaker.org>", "from": { "name": "Son of Witz", "address": "sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org" }, "date": "2009-04-07T14:11:49+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49D96C9E.5030204@io.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Apr 5, 2009, at 7:44 PM, Jeff Wilson wrote:\nDon't the Vodalarii in the forest mention that the previous meal was \na lesbian? That would seem to disqualify her from most family trees \nand rule out life experiences more noteworthy than homosexuality, or \nthey'd refer to her as a time traveler or a fallen courtier rather \nthan a tribadist." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Come on now, Lesbians are capable of having children. many do.\n\n\nb Sharp, I really like the stuff you've been sketching out here.\n\n~Witz" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at gmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-07T14:24:53+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49DB204A.2050004@io.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "but I think it just the general creepiness that give him thoughts\nof being dead and buried; indeed the 3rd paragraph before the\nend of the chapter includes \"To the upper levels of that place\nI returned several times, but I never again entered that tomblike cellar, \nor ever wished to.\"" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Although I realize some people have physical reactions to this sort of \nthing, a minor extension of Don Dogget's clone theory would provide a \nnarrative (rather than a purely metaphoric --and to my mind desperate) \nexplanation for Severian's morbid sensation.\n\nJ. " } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DC60B7.7030701@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-08T08:30:47+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<23F8C91A-E2CD-4930-A18E-E7233B4DD6B9@butcherbaker.org>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Son of Witz wrote:\n\nOn Apr 5, 2009, at 7:44 PM, Jeff Wilson wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Don't the Vodalarii in the forest mention that the previous meal was a \nlesbian? That would seem to disqualify her from most family trees and \nrule out life experiences more noteworthy than homosexuality, or \nthey'd refer to her as a time traveler or a fallen courtier rather \nthan a tribadist." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Come on now, Lesbians are capable of having children. many do." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Yes, I realize that many (in fact, most in my experience) homosexuals \nhave kids and ostensibly hetero marriages, but how heteronormative can \nyou be when even the people who have shared your most intimate thoughts \nand feelings think of you primarily in terms of your gay orientation?" }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DC615F.8040406@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-08T08:33:35+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": "James Wynn wrote:\n\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "but I think it just the general creepiness that give him thoughts\nof being dead and buried; indeed the 3rd paragraph before the\nend of the chapter includes \"To the upper levels of that place\nI returned several times, but I never again entered that tomblike \ncellar, or ever wished to.\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "Although I realize some people have physical reactions to this sort of \nthing, a minor extension of Don Dogget's clone theory would provide a \nnarrative (rather than a purely metaphoric --and to my mind desperate) \nexplanation for Severian's morbid sensation." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Can you refresh my memory on that, please?" }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "<97B6FA1D6FAD4016BBBE736AEC53B810@eMachinePC>", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at gmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-08T14:35:36+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49DC615F.8040406@io.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "James Wynn wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 4, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": " Jeff Wilson wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": "but I think it just the general creepiness that give him thoughts\nof being dead and buried; indeed the 3rd paragraph before the\nend of the chapter includes \"To the upper levels of that place\nI returned several times, but I never again entered that tomblike \ncellar, or ever wished to.\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "James Wynn wrote:\nAlthough I realize some people have physical reactions to this sort of \nthing, a minor extension of Don Dogget's clone theory would provide a \nnarrative (rather than a purely metaphoric --and to my mind desperate) \nexplanation for Severian's morbid sensation." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " Jeff Wilson wrote:\nCan you refresh my memory on that, please?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "It connects Severian directly to the magic beans in the Spring Wind story, \nand identifies him as a clone one of those \"children\" of Typhon (Spring \nWind). He never claimed that Ultan was a clone to my knowledge, hence the \n\"minor extension\". But once you bring clones into a story, it is a given \nthat there is never just one.\n\nThe theory is pretty detailed and I don't think I can do it justice, so \nmaybe Don will chime in about it. It is the only theory that I know about \nthat attempts to connect that story to the New Sun narrative. I tried to get \nhim to write it up formally so I could post it at the Map of the Whorl site, \nbut he just never had the time or felt the drive to do that. It came out \nduring the time when the list had crashed so I don't think you'll find it in \nthe archives.\n\nJ. " } ] }, { "message_id": "<93d4039f0904080749j78d31ccjdb186bc2c4b1792d@mail.gmail.com>", "from": { "name": "John Watkins", "address": "john.watkins04 at gmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-08T14:49:29+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<97B6FA1D6FAD4016BBBE736AEC53B810@eMachinePC>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "James, I really admire the insights you bring to this topic.\nI am curious, though--if Severian is a clone of one of Typhon's children,\nwhat is Ouen's function? Just a red herring?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 10:35 AM, James Wynn wrote:\nJames Wynn wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " Jeff Wilson wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 4, "text": "but I think it just the general creepiness that give him thoughts\nof being dead and buried; indeed the 3rd paragraph before the\nend of the chapter includes \"To the upper levels of that place\nI returned several times, but I never again entered that tomblike\ncellar, or ever wished to.\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " James Wynn wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": "Although I realize some people have physical reactions to this sort of\nthing, a minor extension of Don Dogget's clone theory would provide a\nnarrative (rather than a purely metaphoric --and to my mind desperate)\nexplanation for Severian's morbid sensation." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": " Jeff Wilson wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "Can you refresh my memory on that, please?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "It connects Severian directly to the magic beans in the Spring Wind story,\nand identifies him as a clone one of those \"children\" of Typhon (Spring\nWind). He never claimed that Ultan was a clone to my knowledge, hence the\n\"minor extension\". But once you bring clones into a story, it is a given\nthat there is never just one.\n\nThe theory is pretty detailed and I don't think I can do it justice, so\nmaybe Don will chime in about it. It is the only theory that I know about\nthat attempts to connect that story to the New Sun narrative. I tried to get\nhim to write it up formally so I could post it at the Map of the Whorl site,\nbut he just never had the time or felt the drive to do that. It came out\nduring the time when the list had crashed so I don't think you'll find it in\nthe archives.\n\nJ.\n_______________________________________________" } ] }, { "message_id": "<6823751C32E64206A3C2DB3D27E06381@eMachinePC>", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at gmail.com" }, "date": "2009-04-08T15:20:32+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<93d4039f0904080749j78d31ccjdb186bc2c4b1792d@mail.gmail.com>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "James, I really admire the insights you bring to this topic. \nI am curious, though--if Severian is a clone of one of\nTyphon's children, what is Ouen's function? \nJust a red herring?" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I would presume that it would have to be a given in that case that Ouen is a clone too (given his resemblance to Sev), and that Dorcas is Ouen's birth mother and Ouen is likely the husband of Sev's birth mother. This seems the most obvious route to Dorcas becoming Sev's \"grandmother\".\n\nRemember that Mucor was the \"granddaughter\" of Marble and that the Raja said Jahlee \"could be\" the sister of Hide (or maybe Hoof--I can't remember right now) and that Number Five called Maitre his father and Jeanine his \"aunt\". All this is fair warning that that familial titles in a Wolfe story should be read with suspicion or at least laxity. There are mythical/theological reasons IMO that lead Wolfe to choose to make familial titles to be true/untrue in his stories.\n\nWhy would an important clone like Ouen be a commoner in Nessus? There were dozens (or hundreds) of Number Fives running around in The Fifth Head of Cerberus. If Ouen was married to Sev's birth mother, I guess it implies a more deliberate plot, however. Further, once you move down this corridor, the possibility cannot be ignored that all of Sev's patrilineal heritage are clone's of himself, so that amnesiac Dorcas found it very easy to take Sev as her lover. But all this, is not part of Don's theory. It is just a potential logical extension of it.\n\nJ." } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DCCB7C.2030104@io.com>", "from": { "name": "Jeff Wilson", "address": "jwilson at io.com" }, "date": "2009-04-08T16:06:20+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<97B6FA1D6FAD4016BBBE736AEC53B810@eMachinePC>", "reply_link": "header", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "James Wynn wrote:\nJames Wynn wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 5, "text": "\"...and quite suddenly I felt that he and I were dead...\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": " Jeff Wilson wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 4, "text": "but I think it just the general creepiness that give him thoughts\nof being dead and buried; indeed the 3rd paragraph before the\nend of the chapter includes \"To the upper levels of that place\nI returned several times, but I never again entered that tomblike \ncellar, or ever wished to.\"" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 3, "text": "James Wynn wrote:\nAlthough I realize some people have physical reactions to this sort \nof thing, a minor extension of Don Dogget's clone theory would \nprovide a narrative (rather than a purely metaphoric --and to my mind \ndesperate) explanation for Severian's morbid sensation." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": " Jeff Wilson wrote:\nCan you refresh my memory on that, please?" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "It connects Severian directly to the magic beans in the Spring Wind \nstory, and identifies him as a clone one of those \"children\" of Typhon \n(Spring Wind). He never claimed that Ultan was a clone to my knowledge, \nhence the \"minor extension\". But once you bring clones into a story, it \nis a given that there is never just one." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "That's true, but there's already an awareness of clones in the society \nat large, the khaibit class. I could see Severian and Ultan being \nkhaibits that have survived their primaries, and Severian's \ninterpretation of this state as a sense of being dead.\n\nThis might also play into the \"where is Severian's sister?\" mystery - in \nthis case, one would be down at Echopraxia and one at the Well of \nOrchids, depending on how you count siblings with khaibts." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com\n< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >" } ] }, { "message_id": "<49DCE822.7020103@verizon.net>", "from": { "name": "David Stockhoff", "address": "dstockhoff at verizon.net" }, "date": "2009-04-08T18:08:34+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Hut/Ultan's Library/Catherine", "in_reply_to": "<49DCCB7C.2030104@io.com>", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I suspect the thrust of the \"tribade\" conversation at Vodalus' forest \ncitadel is being missed or over-interpreted. It's clear that the concern \nabout the previously eaten woman's lesbianism (whether or not she bred \nor would have bred) comes purely from a male character's \"libertine\" \ndesire to experience heterosexual sex from a woman's perspective. That's \nall there is to it.\n\nThe Vodalarii are into doing alzabo for the sex. The Waldgrave is \npresumably the one who wants to \"remember\" having sex with men as a \nwoman; the other men would probably enjoy \"remembering\" having sex with \nwomen as a woman just as much. Either way, the men all want to \"sink \ninto\" being a woman.\n\nClaw chapter 11:\n\nOur five guards, who had talked only reluctantly at first in response to \nJonas's\n\njests and queries, grew more cheerful as I became more desperate, \ngossiping as\n\nif they were on the way to a drinking bout or a brothel. Yet though I \nrecognized\n\nthe note of anticipation in their voices, the gibes they made were as\n\nunintelligible to me as the banter of libertines is to a little child: \n\"Going\n\nfar this time? Going to drown yourself again?\" (This from the man at the \nback of\n\nour party, a mere disembodied voice in the dark.)\n\n\"By Erebus, I'm going to sink so far you won't see me until winter.\"\n\nA voice I recognized as belonging to the armiger asked, \"Have any of you \nseen\n\nher yet?\" The others had sounded merely boastful, but there was hunger \nof a kind\n\nI had never heard before behind his simple words, He might have been \nsome lost\n\ntraveler asking about his home.\n\n\"No, Waldgrave,\"\n\n(Another voice.) \"Alcmund says a good one, not old or too young.\"\n\n\"Not another tribade, I hope.\"\n\n\"I don't . . .\"\n\n\n------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Wed, 08 Apr 2009 \n03:30:47 -0500 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: Re: (urth) " } ] } ] }