Calde of the Long Sun and Learning to Read Wolfe

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 14 Jan 2009, 17:18 · from 2009-January.txt.gz

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From: danldo at gmail.com (Dan'l Danehy-Oakes)
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:18:20 -0800
Subject: (urth) Calde of the Long Sun and Learning to Read Wolfe
In-Reply-To: <W5244813728301351231952661@webmail36>
References: <W5244813728301351231952661@webmail36>
Message-ID: <1f7617370901140918u11755ee6gec1469b0aabcac4a at mail.gmail.com>

"Alcalde" is Spanish for "mayor."

On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 9:04 AM, Son of Witz <sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org> wrote:
> Just finished Calde of the Long Sun.
> what a read!
> I haven't searched the list yet, in order to avoid spoilers,but I can't find anything to define "Calde".
> I'm not clear if Calde is a higher office than Prolocutor.
> Obviously it's the theocratic civil ruler, but I'm not clear on the hierarchy.
> Is Calde like a Bishop/Mayor or a Pope/Emperor?  the book doesn't exactly make it clear.  The fact that it's specific to Viron makes me think it's like a Bishop/Mayor role, and that the Prolocutor is the equivalent to a Pope for the whole whorl.
> any help?
>
> thanks
> ~witz
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Ken Rutsky [mailto:rkenneth at nycap.rr.com]
>>Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 02:56 PM
>>To: ''The Urth Mailing List''
>>Subject: Re: (urth) Calde of the Long Sun and Learning to Read Wolfe
>>
>>That's a great point.  I wonder if Loris saying "Is this germane?" during
>>the last scene of Calde is a humorous way of hinting at this mode of
>>writing/reading.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: urth-bounces at lists.urth.net [mailto:urth-bounces at lists.urth.net] On
>>Behalf Of Michael Straight
>>Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 12:39 PM
>>To: The Urth Mailing List
>>Subject: Re: (urth) Calde of the Long Sun and Learning to Read Wolfe
>>
>>For me, one of the most important keys to enjoying Wolfe's work is to
>>let him take you where he wants to go.  He's constantly doing this
>>bait-and-switch, leading you up to some exciting event, making you
>>want to see it, then taking you aside to listen instead to some
>>conversation that is (at least at first glance) completely unrelated.
>>You chafe, feeling like you're missing the real story.  But the key is
>>- you are not.  That thing you're missing is a distraction, a
>>magician's trick.  This conversation here is the real story.  Don't
>>miss it.
>>
>>- Rostrum
>>
>>On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 6:10 AM, Ken Rutsky <rkenneth at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>>> Just finished book 3 of the Long Sun.  I am dazzled by this work, more
>>than
>>> I was with the New Sun books.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I suppose some of it has to do with learning how to "read" Wolfe, which I
>>> believe I'm just starting to do.  Now, I'm not a dullard; my degree is in
>>> English and my favorite writers include Borges, late-period Samuel Delany,
>>> Nabokov.a lot of "lit snob" stuff.  However, I've little background in
>>> studying the Bible, which I'm realizing is key to Wolfe's work, and is
>>> something I'm rectifying on my own.  In addition, I am getting better at
>>> spotting massive revelations about the book's characters and the Whorl
>>> itself in casual, almost throwaway asides and oblique references; in
>>> particular, I was blown away by learning who Blood's father is in the last
>>> pages of this volume.  Having had these insights into his style, I'll have
>>> to go back and re-read New Sun in the future.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On to volume four!  I can't wait to comb through the list archives to read
>>> past discussions on this series.  I've been very impressed with what I've
>>> read here so far.
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
>
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-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant
-----
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
http://www.danehyoakes.com

I once absend-mindedly ordered Three Mile Island dressing in a
restaurant and, with great presence of mind, they brought Thousand
Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce. -- T. Pratchett

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