House Absolute

Jeff Wilson · 03 Dec 2008, 21:49 · from 2008-December.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2008 15:49:58 -0600
Subject: (urth) House Absolute
In-Reply-To: <40976.198.1228261518.squirrel at o2.hostbaby.com>
References: <63FB9AC7E0AEC7459DBCC99DC44247CA01F6AFF4 at BOSIDEXDB.Bankofscotland.ie>	<4935C471.9050409 at io.com>
	<40976.198.1228261518.squirrel at o2.hostbaby.com>
Message-ID: <4936FF06.5020501 at io.com>

Tim Walters wrote:

>> It's also debatable that Urt's core really is cooling. The learned Ultan
>> and Palaemon seem to get most of their education from the piles of books
>> in the Library, and may have no way to know which books have outdated
>> theories; they may have enjoyed Bellamy's _Looking Backward_and gotten
>> the notion that the refrigeration of the earth is a foregone conclusion
>>   in the wisdom of the ancients.
> 
> What's the artistic point of the cliff scene, world-famous for its
> evocation of deep time, if not to show that a gazillion years have passed?

To show that many, many human societies have arisen, fallen, and been 
trampled unto dust, and the dust piled upon dust until it has become 
fused into rock. Wolfe may be one-upping Shelly: Not only is there 
nothing left of Ozymandias' works but sand and fragments, but they are 
deeply buried by the sand and fragments from his dozens of peers who 
followed.

> What's the artistic point of mentioning the cooling of Urth's core, if not
> to show that a gazillion years have passed?

To show the ironically ignorant nature of the far future civilization ( 
paraphrasing "there is another word for it I can't recall, but lightning 
is what makes it go") who continue to be brought down by human hubris in 
their attempts to ascend to godlike heights of wisdom.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >

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