{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/1041", "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": "whorl", "thread": { "id": 1041, "subject": "Amazon has RTW cover up", "messages": 6, "voices": 5, "first": "2000-11-22T11:45:18+00:00", "last": "2000-11-27T14:06:07+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Purdy", "address": "mcp at jhu.edu" }, "date": "2000-11-22T14:33:03+00:00", "subject": "(whorl) Amazon has RTW cover up", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "FYI all, the cover for Return to the Whorl is now up on Amazon.\n\nThis one's got me stumped. Who's the giant? And is that a humanoid figure \nin his hand? It's easy to lose the little finger on the giant's hand, but \nif you can separate that finger out (it points in a different direction \nthan the other fingers), there appears to be an arm from the smaller \nhumanoid figure propped up on it. You can see a waist and legs, but the \nhead of the figure and one of its hands are radiating so much light it's \nvery tough to be certain. About the only thing that can be said with any \ncertitude is that Oreb's on the cover. Very tiny, but it's gotta be Oreb.\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes", "address": "ddanehy at siebel.com" }, "date": "2000-11-22T11:45:18+00:00", "subject": "RE: (whorl) Amazon has RTW cover up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I hate to say it, but my first reaction is that the\ngiant's face looks more than a bit like Wolfe's. I\nhope this doesn't turn into some metafictional crud.\n\n(Dammit, Dan'l, have faith in Wolfe's taste. Even \nif it turns metafictional surely it won't be crud.\n\"The Last Thrilling Wonder Story\" certainly wasn't...)\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Purdy", "address": "mcp at jhu.edu" }, "date": "2000-11-22T15:24:55+00:00", "subject": "RE: (whorl) Amazon has RTW cover up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Dan'l,\n\tI just popped over to the one photo of Wolfe online that sprung to mind \n(it's on Paul Duggan's Wolfe page), and darned if you ain't right. That \ngiant DOES look a lot like Wolfe.\n\tAlthough I love just about everything Wolfe writes, the prospect of a \nmetafictional intrusion into/resolution of the Whorl storyline provokes \npangs of dread. I'm hoping this was more of a tip of the hat to Wolfe on \nthe artist's part.\n\tCan anyone make anything out of that funky headgear on the giant?\n\tMichael\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "William Ansley", "address": "wansley at warwick.net" }, "date": "2000-11-24T00:33:41+00:00", "subject": "Re: (whorl) Amazon has RTW cover up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "At 2:33 PM -0500 11/22/00, Michael Purdy wrote:\nFYI all, the cover for Return to the Whorl is now up on Amazon.\n\nThis one's got me stumped. Who's the giant? And is that a humanoid \nfigure in his hand? It's easy to lose the little finger on the \ngiant's hand, but if you can separate that finger out (it points in \na different direction than the other fingers), there appears to be \nan arm from the smaller humanoid figure propped up on it. You can \nsee a waist and legs, but the head of the figure and one of its \nhands are radiating so much light it's very tough to be certain. \nAbout the only thing that can be said with any certitude is that \nOreb's on the cover. Very tiny, but it's gotta be Oreb." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I don't know why everyone thinks that the larger guy on the cover is \na giant. The glowing guy could be teensy. And the bird could be much \nfarther away than everyone is assuming.\n\nMaybe one of the major influences on _RttW_ is _Darby O'Gill and the \nLittle People_.\n\nOr maybe not." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "William Ansley\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "James Jordan", "address": "jbjordan at gnt.net" }, "date": "2000-11-24T11:01:08+00:00", "subject": "Re: (whorl) Amazon has RTW cover up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Since we're all just guessing in the dark, here's mine:\n 1. Neither Silk nor Horn is Christ, but both are trying to be\nChristlike, so to speak. They occupy that position in the narrative, to some\ndegree.\n 2. Oreb is not a dove or the Holy Spirit, but again, to some degree he\noccupies that position in the narrative.\n 3. Now we have a giant, holding what looks like a man, with Oreb flying\nover the man. I'd say this person is linked to the Father.\n After all, among the dozens of things Wolfe is doing in these novels,\none is to show the mysterious work of the Christian God (the Trinity) in the\nprovidential direction of history, through His agents.\n One thing I think we can assume, and that is that, like the other two\ncovers, this is an illustration of an event in the course of the novel.\n A truly wild guess would be that the giant is Severian, grown large\nsomehow (like Baldanders).\n\nPat. Nut.\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Kevin J. Maroney", "address": "kmaroney at ungames.com" }, "date": "2000-11-27T14:06:07+00:00", "subject": "RE: (whorl) Amazon has RTW cover up", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "At 03:24 PM 11/22/00 -0500, Michael wrote:\nAlthough I love just about everything Wolfe writes, the prospect of a \nmetafictional intrusion into/resolution of the Whorl storyline provokes \npangs of dread. I'm hoping this was more of a tip of the hat to Wolfe on \nthe artist's part." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "There's a lot of metafictive content in _Return to the Whorl_, but it's\nvery much in keeping with the metafictive content of the first two\nvolumes--that is, an awareness by the author of the work that he is writing\na work about his life, and also commentary by other hands upon that work.\nGene Wolfe doesn't appear in it (at least, not that I noticed; Robert\nBorski is much better than I at spotting hidden Wolves in these works). \n\nThe character depicted on the cover of _Return_ is new to that volume, and\nhas not been seen (or mentioned, I believe) previously. \n\nI don't think the illustration looks particularly like Wolfe, but in my\nmental image of Wolfe, his glasses are an inseparable part of his head. And\nthese days, he's got a walrus mustache, so he looks even less like that\npicture." }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Wombat, a.k.a. Kevin Maroney kmaroney at ungames.com\nKitchen Staff Supervisor, New York Review of Science Fiction\nhttp://www.nyrsf.com\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] } ] }