the prime calcula/his citadel and oreb

Gerry Quinn · 17 Jan 2011, 20:29 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:29:34 -0000
Subject: (urth) the prime calcula/his citadel and oreb
References: <SNT123-W271952927C16CAA4BA6641CFF40 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <932F6FD6B66441DA8A6E762434B18537@jill>

From: "Lee Berman" <severiansola at hotmail.com>
> Gerry Quinn:
> > I think the more obscure clues can often be pointers to the
> > ideas Wolfe is getting at, but I also think that in his SF it's the 
> > concrete events
> >and details - the stuff that actually happens - that holds the key to 
> >understanding.
> >It's not the Mystical Kabbalah - it's a science fiction story, guys!
>
> Why do you feel this way, Gerry?

Why do I feel the sky is blue?  Because alternatives are disturbing to me? 
Or maybe, just maybe, because it's blue.

We *are* talking about science fiction stories here, not the Kabbalah.  It 
is reasonable to take the form into account when interpreting, no?

But the main reason is what one can see so often on this list:  people get 
caught up on some idea they think must be the secret key to a Wolfe story, 
or mistake metaphor for plot - and end up building tottering towers of 
babble that don't make any sense at all in terms of the concrete elements of 
the story.

- Gerry Quinn

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