Subject: (whorl) Marble, Trivs

From: Alice Turner <al at interport.net>
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 06:29:00 +0000

[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

 > Re: adding Mint to the Marble Rose.  Start (IV, 313).  Then (IV,
 > 380).  Still doubtful?  See (II, 208).  Neat, huh?
 
 Mantis, I don't think so. I had meant to point out that IV,379 (not 380)
 was clearly a typo, a proofer's error, and I think 313 (which I hadn't
 caught) is the same and that they both ought to be corrected before the
 paperback comes out. II,208 is one of Silk's fever dreams, of which there
 are several that merge identities--it can't be taken as proof of anything.
 
 Sorry, I did get it backward: Magnesia is Marble's "maiden"
 (pre-ordination) name. Molybdenum is the name of Hammersmith's former
 sweetie that she pretends to be.
 
 And I also erred in limiting Kypris to one screen in the face of my own
 theophany list (I wrote my last post just before going to the hospital for
 a few days for an infection, and obviously I was a bit light-headed
 myself--see Silk above). But that doesn't counter my general observation,
 which is that Kypris, and Kypris alone of the gods, was active before
 Mamelta did a fix-it.
   
 > You ignore my paraphrasing of a Marble lie--I'm not sure why,
 > because you deem it not "the" important lie (that of claiming to be
 > Moly)?  The lie I went on about was a lie she was shrived (shriven?) for
 > many times, which makes it seem of some import; it is a case where we
 > have
 > enough pieces to attempt to evaluate or judge the mendacity involved, to
 try
 > to see how Marble is perceiving things; etc.  Oh well.
 
 I didn't exactly ignore it, I meant that it wasn't the one that was
 upsetting her--and Silk too. That was the name change, quite clearly
 (IV,337, 359). Actually, I don't quite understand the shriving one. Could
 you spell it out?
 
 > Then again, I don't know if you intended it, but your message seems
 > to suggest that "image free" Sphigx of militaristic Trivigaunte is
 > actually a Tartaros run operation.  Which I could certainly
 > entertain. (Prior to this moment, I thought Tartaros was sleeping
 > ala Cthulhu, like all the other major gods.  Except for the dead one,
 > of course.  He's dead.)
 
 If this is me you're still addressing: no, I never intended that, and,
yes,
 I do think that Tartaros, like every other god but Kypris, was indeed
 deactivated or "sleeping" up until Mamelta's repairs. (And I suspect that
some of  them, those we never meet, are still deactivated.)
 
 > Do you think that the rebellion on the Whorl anticipates (echoes) the
 > rebellion on Urth?  Do you think that the end results are more
 > different or more similar on post-exodus Whorl and post-Monarch Urth?
 > Do you think it is a trap to think such thoughts?  Hmmm.
 
 No. Different. Yes.
 
 -alga-

Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com