This Week in Google Alerts: story with Gaiman

David Stockhoff · 19 Feb 2011, 12:27 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2011 07:27:11 -0500
Subject: (urth) This Week in Google Alerts: story with Gaiman
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.64.1102171746280.5118 at orpheus.qimr.edu.au>
References: <AANLkTim2PO7XbNhMCSNsQFD+G26dUtjo9jpXn+rZxbnj at mail.gmail.com>
	<Pine.LNX.4.64.1102171746280.5118 at orpheus.qimr.edu.au>
Message-ID: <4D5FB71F.20309 at verizon.net>

Funny that the guy who complained about Wolfe's use of Latin calls 
himself Lepton. I am assuming he is not actually Greek, yet he 
resurrects this archaic language and reuses its dead, worn-out words. ;)

I was interested to read this thought:

"Yes, I know what Latin is. What I'm saying is that the sword is not 
actually called Terminus Est. It's name is actually in English, which to 
Severian and the other characters is an ancient and defunct language. If 
Wolfe gave us the actual name of the sword, it would convey to us the 
meaning but not the sense. So Wolfe translates it to Latin."

We've had some debates about names and languages used (towns on the 
Whorl, etc.). But I am not sure anyone has proposed that the dead 
language is actually English, even though this would explain some of 
Severian's linguistic explanations, among other things. There is 
probably a limit to how literally one can take the idea, but generally 
sense it works well and yet is not obvious. And of course it's another 
puzzle of the simplest and most confounding kind.

On 2/17/2011 2:47 AM, David Duffy wrote:
>
>> - odd discussion of Wolfe's linguistic choices in TBOTNS:
>> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/491538-wolfe-s-writing-style-yay-or-nay 
>>
>
> This is part of a group reading
>
> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_folder/69982
>
> Cheers, David Duffy.
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