Averns averted

Jonathan Laidlow · 30 Apr 1999, 14:39 · from urth-v0026.mbox · original

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From: "Jonathan Laidlow" <LAIDLOJM at hhs.bham.ac.uk>
Subject: (urth) Averns averted
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 14:39:12 GMT
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Well thank god we don't have to meet on the sanguinary field Roy!!

And apologies for taking Robert B's name in 'vein' - I am not=20
Quetzal. That should be 'vane'.....

Just a quick note before the long weekend here in the UK.

I appreciate your description of the 'tapestry' of Urth, but I'd=20
still argue that some details are more pertinent than others - the=20
angel references, for example, are much more important than android=20
classification. It may well be that Wolfe only had one kind of=20
android in mind while writing BotNS and thought of another when=20
writing 'Urth'. We'll never know. But surely it is far more important=20
that Jonas' is an android who became human, than that he is an=20
android/former spacesuit?

And all the things you mention are of great importance ('Boatman I &=20
II, angels, Holy Katharine, the mandragora, cabalism, floriography')=20
but they all contribute towards a greater narrative purpose. And its=20
this level I like to work at when I'm reading - to follow your=20
metaphor: I want to see how the individual parts of the tapestry tell=20
the story.

Jonathan
Visit Ultan's Library - A Gene Wolfe web resource
http://members.tripod.co.uk/laidlow/index.htm
Jonathan Laidlow
University of Birmingham, UK

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