Subject: (whorl) Re: Digest whorl.v011.n018

From: Alice Turner <pei047 at attglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 05:01:35 +0000

> SF WEEKLY has just published John Clute's review of IN
> GREEN'S JUNGLES, and (among other remarks of interest)
> Clute declares that it is "reasonably clear" that
> Horn/Silk is himself an inhumu. Any reactions?

My immediate reaction is outrage. That seems to me like the horrible
yahoo Southern racism of the civil rights era when to sympathize was to
compromise in the minds (so-called) of the racists. Horn is not an
inhumu, no way. He has become a remarkably tolerant human (maybe
superhuman) person, able at last in this book to react to another (maybe
not-so-human) person on a personal level, not generically. I think that
Wolfe has achieved a real breakthrough with both sexism and racism in
IGJ. Because I am female, I welcome the sexist breakthrough particularly
and the almost poetic way that it is celebrated. But I, and you, should
not ignore the fact that the inhumi are metaphorically of another race.

-alga

*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.
*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/
*To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request at lists.best.com
*If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list: urth at lists.best.com

---

From: Bjjp2 <bjjp2 at aol.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 12:10:58 +0000

In a message dated 8/15/00 10:29:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
whorl-errors at lists.best.com writes:

<< SF WEEKLY has just published John Clute's review of IN
 GREEN'S JUNGLES, and (among other remarks of interest)
 Clute declares that it is "reasonably clear" that
 Horn/Silk is himself an inhumu. Any reactions? >>

How about "Holy Shit!"  Sorry, that's the best I can do.  Need time . . . 
Need time to think . . .

---

From: Alex David Groce <alex_groce at gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2000 10:30:25 +0000

I'm with alga--Horn as an inhuma seems pointless and wrong.  I may
turn out to the wrong, but this seems like another example of Clute's
real talent for working out Wolfe's mysteries working itself into an
over-clever frenzy (ahem, momma Autarch).

What evidence is there to suggest this, in contrast to the
considerable evidence against it (the writing, Oreb, etc.)?  On the
other hand, this is a better review than Clute did of OBW.

It does seem possible that Silk was committing suicide--the blood was
very possibly from the funeral sacrifices (which I picture him doing
alone) for Hyacinth, but Horn says "my hands and arms and face and
neck were bleeding" which does sound as if Silk (assuming it is Silk,
which seems very very likely) has been cut.  On the other hand,
bleeding hands, arms, face and neck seems like a pretty extreme and
messy approach to suicide---it sounds more like Silk has been attacked
and since his spirit wants to die, he hasn't bothered to deal with his
wounds--suicide by omission, if you will.  At any rate, the fact that
suicide (while of sound mind) would be damning seems not to suggest
against the idea--that there is now one whole man means, I take it,
that Silk has a chance to escape his despair (the increasing
intrusions of his personality through the narrative suggest that he is
indeed moving away from his catatonia).

--
"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