Babbiehorn?: Was: a sincere question mostly for roy

James Wynn · 19 Nov 2011, 16:20 · from 2011-November.txt.gz

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From: crushtv at gmail.com (James Wynn)
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2011 10:20:37 -0600
Subject: (urth) Fwd: Babbiehorn?: Was: a sincere question mostly for roy
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On 11/18/2011 9:24 PM, Marc Aramini wrote:
> I think our readings our going in different directions on
> >  this one because I think the faerie are a secondary concern
> >  to Wolfe next to his didactic religious catholic symbols in
> >  short sun and that Horn as nieghbor seems like something
> >  from his "5th Head of Cerberus" writing period

Heh. I once made a list of about 20 parallels between 5th Head of 
Cerberus and Short Sun. One of them,  by the way, was sentient trees. I 
don't think I included that the Neighbors and the Abos were both 
analogized Faerie beings, but it is the case.  And of course Wolfe 
returned to that SF-Faerie trope again The Evil Guest.  As for Wolfe's 
Faith...

On 11/19/2011 9:46 AM, Marc Aramini wrote:
> Yeah, but the nieghbors get permission to come back to Blue from the representative of humanity, that's the role Horn plays both there and later when he cuts through the mess of bodies to free up the sewer (IMO).
>
> The identity confusion between memory and identity is already present in Horn, Silk, and rebooted Silver Silk - does having Horn be a neighbor after the pit follow Horn's role as representative of humanity, or are the neighbors then asking one of their own to return?  I really really think Horn has to be at least somewhat human after that for that scene to have any meaning.

Of course he is. When the narrator meets with the Neighbors, he is 100% 
human. He is also 100% Neighbor. He's the "Neighbor-Man" (as 
He-Pen-Sheep called him). He *has* to be both to be a fit mediator 
between the Neighbors and Mankind...which is his role here. That is a 
flat-out analogy of Christ...the "one mediator between God and 
man"...who was 100% God and 100% man. I'm surprised, considering that 
you recognize that Wolfe is often thinking about his Faith in his 
stories that you don't find this more appealing. This is the difference 
between, say, Hercules and Jesus. According to Christian theology, Jesus 
wasnt' half-God.

"He weren't no universal principle.
He weren't no universal mind.
He weren't no New Romantic
Snowing us that love is blind.
He never told us that he was invincible.
Never sold us on his x-ray eyes.
Never came off like some extraterestrial
Hanging out in human disguise."
     ~ Steve Scott, "Flesh and Blood"

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