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Urth Digest, Vol 120, Issue 59
marcobadie at katamail.com · 22 Aug 2014, 20:46
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From: marcobadie at katamail.com (marcobadie at katamail.com) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 22:46:04 +0200 Subject: (urth) Urth Digest, Vol 120, Issue 59 In-Reply-To: <mailman.155.1408717945.311.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net> References: <mailman.155.1408717945.311.urth-urth.net at lists.urth.net> Message-ID: <NAQ70S$8405DEEFA3DD163C5AE8478D9F87BA18 at katamail.com> thanks for your comments. But why Hildegrin would be interested?in the woman of a peasant? And Vodalus? Also, the grave of the dark-haired woman is placed higher? in the necropolis than the graves of peasants. Marco Cecchini Da: "Urth" urth-bounces at lists.urth.net A: urth at lists.urth.net Cc: Data: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:32:25 -0700 Oggetto: Urth Digest, Vol 120, Issue 59 > Send Urth mailing list submissions to > urth at lists.urth.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.urth.net/listinfo.cgi/urth-urth.net > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > urth-request at lists.urth.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > urth-owner at lists.urth.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Urth digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Baldanders' dream (Gerry Quinn) > 2. Re: Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer: > Chapter I (Gerry Quinn) > 3. 5HC (Lee) > 4. Re: Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer: > Chapter I (Brad Henry) > 5. Short Story 101: A Solar Labyrinth (Marc Aramini) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 11:59:20 +0100 > From: Gerry Quinn > To: The Urth Mailing List > Subject: Re: (urth) Baldanders' dream > Message-ID: <53F72288.7050603 at bindweed.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > > On 21/08/2014 17:20, Lee wrote: > >> Gerry Quinn: Echidna is, but the Cumaean isn't, so it hardly ties the two > >> characters. Snakes and caves do not an Echidna make. > > I find them to be sufficiently linked. It is to be remembered that the Cumaean > > is the leader of the Witches in BotNS. There is a constellation of traits > > including snakes, witchcraft and caves which link such Greco-Roman female > > mythological characters as Echidna, Lamia, Hecate, the Pythian Oracle and the > > Cumaean Sibyl. > > Note the plural in "characters". It seems to bear out what I said; > snakes and caves do not uniquely identify a character. > > > > >> Besides, she's not necessarily a snake: > > > > "Snake-like" or "snake-associated" would be more accurate descriptors. Mythological > > Echidna was not a "snake" but she had snakey attributes. > > > > > > > >> She shares no obvious personality characteristics with Echidna. > > > > I'm not sure what "personality characteristics" you might be referring to. But, > > Echidna, in Long Sun, clearly has snakey attributes and was quite notably involved > > in an incident of human sacrifice. > > > > The Cumaean also has snakey attributes and is associated with human sacrifice. > > (Hopefully the connection between human sacrifice and Apu Punchau doesn't need > > to be explained; The Cumaean's "s?ance" is not quite what it seems). > Frankly, it does have to be explained - it is certainly not a direct > link. In any case, human sacrifice was not unique to a single god in > Long Sun. > > As for personality characteristics, I mean things like the Cumaean's > interest in witchcraft and archeology, and Echidna's rather prudish > interest in the virginity of the priesthood, and her killing of Pas to > preserve her rule over the Whorl. They don't seem at all like the same > person. > > > Typhon and Scylla from Long Sun are mentioned in BotNS (and Short Sun). Echidna > > is not mentioned in BotNS by name, but given the combination of cave-dwelling, snake > > association, witchcraft and human sacrifice, I think Wolfe has given us enough > > clues to find her in BotNS. Just my opinion, of course. > > It would take a lot more in the way of 'clues' to convince me that two > seemingly unrelated characters, who never appear in the same series of > books, are one and the same. > > And as so often, I find myself asking: Why? What purpose of Wolfe's > would it serve to make them the same anyway? Even if you identify them, > where's the moment you say "ah, that's why the Cumaean did X, in order > to fulfil Project Y of Echidna's?" > > - Gerry Quinn > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:05:09 +0100 > From: Gerry Quinn > To: The Urth Mailing List > Subject: Re: (urth) Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer: > Chapter I > Message-ID: <53F723E5.8010201 at bindweed.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; Format="flowed" > > > On 22/08/2014 08:10, marcobadie at katamail.com wrote: > > My third post at the Urth list. > > Thanks you, Gerry Quinn and Lee, for your comments and observations at > > my first posts. > > > > My point: the double resurrection in Chapter I of Shadow of Torturer > > states a connection between Severian and the the dark-haired woman, > > just dead. > > > > Next. > > When Severian is resurrected from water by the Undine, he is baptised > > in the form of a baptism by immersion, unconsciously entering the > > congregation of the subjects of Abaia. > > In the same day, Severian is confirmed in the allegiance to Abaia when > > he accepts the coin with the face of the Autarch from Vodalus, this > > time consciously making definitive the choice the Undine made for him > > at the baptism. > > The Confirmation administered by Vodalus makes Severian a "Soldier of > > Abaia" (Severian thinks himself a Vodalarius). Soldier is a derivation > > of Solidarius, Latin meaning someone who works for money. Solidare in > > Latin means "to pay" and the Roman soldiers were paid in "Solidi". > > Severian instead is paid in chrisos (only one). > > > > Later, in the Claw of Conciliator, Severian will receive the sacrament > > of Eucharist in the form of the flesh of Thecla. > > The succession of sacraments follows the tradition of the Eastern > > Orthodox Church rather than the Roman Catholic Church (where Eucharist > > is very close to Confirmation). > > I'm not convinced by the connection between Severian and the woman - > might she not simply be the mother of the peasant who wanted to guard > her corpse that night? > > The rest works for me; Severian was arguably baptised, confirmed and > received the Eucharist of the Church of Abaia/Vodalus as you say - but > in the end he abjured that faith... > > - Gerry Quinn > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 09:59:33 -0400 > From: Lee > To: "urth at urth.net" > Subject: (urth) 5HC > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > >Gerry Quinn: I mean, what would actually be Wolfe's purpose in intending > > >an alternate story? In what way is a story of two rival aboriginal races, > > >one of which clearly believes its ancestors are human but is incorrect > > >despite its human memories, better than one in which there is one aboriginal > >race, and one that is of human ancestry just as they say? > > > >Antonio Pedro Marques: ...making the whole exploration of identity more > >profound. > > > I feel Antonio has the answer. One can take a minimalist approach to > > interpreting the novel and assume it is just one person who is killed > > and replaced. (keeping in mind that before the corroboration of this in a > > Wolfe interview, some skeptics felt doubt over whether Dr. Marsch was replaced). > > > Or one can extrapolate the story to the fullest in which every character > > in the book is struggling with personal identity issues (including #5's > > family but for different reasons there). > > > The advantage to the expanded interpretation is that it allows this book to > > serve as a sort of Proustian allegory for the human race. It allows Wolfe > > to express the sentiment that if we humans think about ourselves deeply > > enough, none of us really knows who we really are or where we really came > > from. > > > Not everyone enjoys thinking about themselves or the human race in this > > manner but this level of interpretation of 5HC exists for those who do > > let their thoughts drift in this direction. > > > >The abo who replaced Marsch, and who would seem well equipped to know... > > > No. You seem to be assuming that the killing and replacement of humans is a > > conscious function of these creatures. I (and others) are seeing the opposite: > > > The drive for killing and imitation is an unconscious instinct. The reason for > > this is that a conscious awareness that you have killed and replaced somebody > > would hinder your ability to imitate them. So from Shadow Children to Abos to > > Victor/Dr. Marsch there is a strong self-delusion happening, driving each > > imitator to think they really are their victim and to invent whatever lie is > > needed to perpetrate that delusion. > > > Thus Victor does not continue writing in Dr. Marsch's personal journal to trick > > other people into thinking he is Dr. Marsch. He does it primarily to trick > > himself. > > > >....does not believe in Veil's Hypothesis. > > > Exactly. How could an Abo believe in a theory which would expose his deception? > > > >(Indeed, Veil herself provided a reason to disbelieve it any, pointing out her > > >motivations for wanting to believe it.) > > > So Dr. Veil both formulates and disbelieves her theory that humans on these planets > > have been replaced. Once again, Wolfe gives us a choice. Which story do YOU believe? > > > >The relaxation method (not principle) was invoked by Marsch to describe > >what has happened to the clone sequence whose end-product is currently > >No. 5 - each is now nearly identical to the previous one. > > > > No. Marsch is using this principle to explain to Number Five why his chain of clones > > approach is NOT working. There is no adjustment. No adaptation. This is meant as > > irony, coming from a being who is (unconsciously) a master of adjustment and adaptation. > > > Number Five and Maitre's burning frustration is illustrated in the dream sequence. In the > > dream, the captain will not untether the ship until he can figure out what is tying the > > ship to the dock. They (Number 5/Maitre) consider themselves superior but don't understand > > why they can't even achieve mastery of this one backwater planet. > > > Number Five doesn't want to hear it, but the answer to his question is given by "Victor" in > > the guise of Dr. Marsch. Adjustment and adaptation, the exact abilities which have allowed > > the native, imitative species to take over both planets. > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 10:31:50 -0400 > From: Brad Henry > To: The Urth Mailing List > Subject: Re: (urth) Baptism and Confirmation: Shadow of the Torturer: > Chapter I > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > For what its worth, this description is very close to both the New > Testament (baptised into christ's death, etc...) understanding of baptism > and the Catechism (that develops more fully the connection between the > noah-flood, the arc, and baptism). > > > On Fri, Aug 22, 2014 at 5:25 AM, Marc Aramini wrote: > > > I like it, but there is and always has been a syncretic symbolism in new > > sun between water, healing, and death that undercuts this baptism imagery a > > bit. It's not just baptism, it is healing coupled with death. He heals > > the sick at Thrax in the water cataract stumbling three times with terminus > > est - water imagery is turned into both healing and death- it is the flood > > and the crucifixion of urth, renewal through drowning. Over and over water > > is rebirth. Not for abaia, I don't think, but the link between the flood > > of genesis and the apocalypse of eschatology. Water is always linked to > > healing, death, and resurrection from the very start and presages the flood > > of renewal. I don't think Vodalus is important enough with his false coin > > to warrant a confirmation before sev gets his diabolical Eucharist. > > Usually confirmation is fully adult - I wouldn't expect it right after the > > baptism unless we had an adult convert. ( Wolfe may have been, BUT ...) > > > > > > On Friday, August 22, 2014, marcobadie at katamail.com < > marcobadie at katamail.com> wrote: > > > >> My third post at the Urth list. > >> Thanks you, Gerry Quinn and Lee, for your comments and observations at my > >> first posts. > >> > >> My point: the double resurrection in Chapter I of Shadow of Torturer > >> states a connection between Severian and the the dark-haired woman, just > >> dead. > >> > >> Next. > >> When Severian is resurrected from water by the Undine, he is baptised in > >> the form of a baptism by immersion, unconsciously entering the congregation > >> of the subjects of Abaia. > >> In the same day, Severian is confirmed in the allegiance to Abaia when he > >> accepts the coin with the face of the Autarch from Vodalus, this time > >> consciously making definitive the choice the Undine made for him at the > >> baptism. > >> The Confirmation administered by Vodalus makes Severian a "Soldier of > >> Abaia" (Severian thinks himself a Vodalarius). Soldier is a derivation of > >> Solidarius, Latin meaning someone who works for money. Solidare in Latin > >> means "to pay" and the Roman soldiers were paid in "Solidi". Severian > >> instead is paid in chrisos (only one). > >> > >> Later, in the Claw of Conciliator, Severian will receive the sacrament of > >> Eucharist in the form of the flesh of Thecla. > >> The succession of sacraments follows the tradition of the Eastern > >> Orthodox Church rather than the Roman Catholic Church (where Eucharist is > >> very close to Confirmation). > >> > >> Next post: Catherine and the Undine > >> > >> Marco Cecchini, from Italy (sorry for my sloppy english). > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Urth Mailing List > > To post, write urth at urth.net > > Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net > > > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 07:32:24 -0700 > From: Marc Aramini > To: The Urth Mailing List > Subject: (urth) Short Story 101: A Solar Labyrinth > Message-ID: > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > A Solar Labyrinth > > ?A Solar Labyrinth? first appeared in *The Magazine of Fantasy and Science > Fiction* in 1983 and is reprinted in *Storeys from the Old Hotel.* > > SUMMARY: > > Mr. Smith builds a shifting labyrinth comprised of shadows, supposedly in > the Adirondacks. Children and adults attempt to navigate the ever shifting > maze, and eventually Mr. Smith and a single solitary child remain. > > COMMENTARY: > > The first sentence starts out with a rather bold statement: ?Mazes may be > more ancient than mankind.? Certainly natural mazes and obstacles existed > for primitive creatures, but given the love of myth, spirituality, and the > mystical, we should note that a maze, at least in this story, seems to > imply an artificial construct. The representational metaphor of creation, > inherent in the name ?Smith?, a craftsman?s name for one who works in metal > as well as one who strikes or smites, ties in with this idea. Creation as > humanity understands it certainly predates mankind, expressed as the > labyrinth of the natural world. Wolfe perhaps hints at the existence of > other ancient things before humanity but still real, perhaps now considered > as mythical. > > Without slipping into a Gnostic paradigm for the created world, where > perception is an illusion and possibly a labyrinthine trap, there are still > several patterns in the details Wolfe chooses. Of course immediate mention > of Theseus is made, who follows a ?clew? and becomes ?the first in what > threatens to be an infinite series of fictional detectives.? The purpose > of the Cretan labyrinth was to contain a curse from the gods in the form of > the Minotaur, the child of Minos' queen and the white bull he failed to > sacrifice to Poseidon, but there are other symbolic associations that fit > very well with the idea of the labyrinth as something solar in nature. The > name of the minotaur, Asterion, means ?star?, and some modern mythologists > regard the Minotaur as a solar personification (he was the grandson of > Helios through his mother), his death becoming synonymous with the slaying > of the bull of the sun in ceremonial worship of Mithras. The concept of > Theseus as detective ties in with the idea of the labyrinth as something > that obscures meaning ? that there is indeed a center that can be reached > and an objective solution. > > The other opening reference, to the story of Fayre Rosamund and her ball of > thread, in addition to featuring an anachronism (Hampton Court Maze was > constructed at the start of the 18th century, Rosamund Clifford, mistress > of King Henry II, died in the 12th century), highlights a story of > infidelity and murder ? the purpose of solving Rosamund?s Bower was to > satiate the jealous ire of Queen Eleanor. Theseus? mission also involved > death ? slaying a monster which King Minos was using to exact his own > revenge on Athens for the death of his son Androgeus. > > Mr. Smith?s maze here is quite different than the traditional labyrinth, as > it is highly abstract in nature. He has created a shifting maze of shadows > with no walls, and though some stay within its imaginary confines, others > choose to leave when they grow bored of it. Its barriers are illusory, but > they are cast by real objects. > > The story states that recent mazes have been walled, cheap, and > unimaginative ? furthermore, aerial views allow ?armchair adventurers? to > solve them with a pencil. The text bemoans the loss of ?monsters, maidens, > and amazement?. Mr. Smith has developed ?a new kind of maze, perhaps the > first since the end of the age of Myth.? His maze is composed of fairly > simple objects, but the starting point Mr. Smith selects for those who seek > to navigate the maze becomes the center. He walks with them for a time, but > the groups of children who come are treated differently. He warns them > that a minotaur lurks in the shadows, and gives them the same instructions > and encouragement. ?Some reject his maze out of hand, wandering off to > examine the tilted crucifex or the blue-dyed water in the tower Torricelli > barometer, or to try (always without success) to draw Arthur?s sword from > its stone.? Here we have children choosing religion, science, or > attempting valor and physical feats rather than intellectually engaging in > Mr. Smith?s maze. > > Of course, Wolfe?s statement in the introduction to *Storeys from the Old > Hotel* is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy : > > ?Labyrinths seem to fascinate just about everybody, and for a while I was > almost equally interested in what used to be called dialing. I tried to > keep the sinister element well in the background, and it seems I kept it so > far back that few readers notice it at all; but I like it that way.? > > Something of a self-fulfilling prophecy ? now we all seek the > sinister. However, > in light of the purpose of the labyrinth, there are only a few > possibilities: murder, sacrifice, or becoming lost. Given Mr. Smith?s > proclivity for showing off photos of his latest Ariadne (nine years old - > as at least one story notes that every nine years the tribute from Athens > must be sacrificed to the Minotaur), the possibility of kidnapping and an > obsession with children rears its head. It might be of some note that he > does show the children what ?haunts the shadows? ? the frowning figure of > the Minotaur, found on a section of the wall that ?appears? ancient. Perhaps > the Minotaur?s threat is not as ancient as it appears. The bellowing of > the bull might or might not proceed from stereos. We should note that > Ariadne was actually in charge of the labyrinth (she is also the > granddaughter of Helios). > > The labyrinth is insoluble at noon, and ?always, as the shadow of the great > gnomon creeps toward the sandstone XII set in the law, the too-old, > too-young, insufficiently serious, and too-serious drift away, leaving only > Mr. Smith and one solitary child still playing in the sunshine.? > > While they are at play, is the child the sacrifice demanded of the > labyrinth or merely the special child that Mr. Smith has sought? Wolfe > will touch on the threat of pedophilia in ?And When They Appear?, but given > that the dominant purpose of the labyrinth has always been violent or > sacrificial, it is difficult to believe, save for the picture of the nine > year old ?Ariadne?, that Mr. Smith?s intentions are predatory in a sexual > fashion. > > (Dialing is unequivocally the math and engineering behind creating the > shadows on sun dials, taking into account the movement of the sun, which > Mr. Smith has mastered to create his labyrinth. Don?t believe anyone who > tells you differently.) > > OTHER MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS > > There are several solar deities mentioned in the text, including > Tezcatlipoca and his equally solar nemesis Quetzalcoatl, who is said to > lurk in the shadows that create the labyrinth. The temple of the war god > Tezcatlipoca was positioned and constructed with the movement of the sun. > Because there are few representations of Tezcatlipoca, some resources refer > to him as the ?invisible god?, which might be ironic in light of the > narrative claim that the representation of him is directly from the ruins > of Teotihuacan. He was also depicted with alternating bands of black and > yellow and was sometimes depicted as a jaguar. > > Quetzlcoatl and Tezcatlipoca were enemies who destroyed each other?s solar > creations (the suns of the earth, water, and wind). This progressive cycle > of competing suns is fascinating, with a new sun being born out of the > destruction of the old one, under the province of a different solar deity, > and might very well interest Wolfe in light of the direction he took in *Urth > of the New Sun*. > > The mention of Teotihuacan, the city of the Toltec, is interesting as well. > The name of Teotihuacan means? the place where gods were born?, and the > word Toltec implies ?a craftsman of the highest level?. > > When Mr. Smith shows a picture of his latest Ariadne, we should keep in > mind that Ariadne was in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made. > Even though she fell in love with Theseus, the labyrinth existed so that > King Minos could exact his revenge on the Athenians for the death of his > son. > > The monster in the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, is actually King Minos? wife?s > son, and in some ways he came to be associated with the bull of the sun. The > bull is one of the animals associated with the late Hellenistic and Roman > syncretic worship of Mithras. In this tradition, the killing of the astral > bull holds a central important place in their worship. > > LITERARY ALLUSIONS: > > Besides the historical and mythological allusions explored above, I can't > quite shake the feeling that the labyrinthine themes Borges enjoyed > exploring in his short work are at play ? he even gave the Minotaur a > rather innocuous and human voice in ?The House of Asterion? as he waited > for his redeemer to come. Some claim that the title itself refers to > explication of Wolfe?s own *Book of the New Sun*. > > REPRESENTATION: > Of course the entire story works as a metaphor for representation ? the > shadows are called ?the faded blank ink of God.? Words and ink of represent > things, and Wolfe is a sophisticated enough symbolist to know that > signifiers and signs often work in a way that is vague, approximate, > subjective, or symbolic. These are the shadows on a page. Navigating the > maze of shadows is the act of interpretation, with the smith sometimes > closely following along the same paths, while other times passing clouds > and misprision or simply walking away allow the reader to escape thorny or > difficult patches. Eventually artifice is stripped away, and as the sun > reaches its zenith and sits directly overhead, the objects that the shadows > represent are all that is left. We are left with the things themselves, and > the labyrinth of shadowy ink has effectively ceased to exist > > What other monstrous things are left behind when the subterfuge of the > slippery words and shadows are stripped away? > > UNANSWERED QUESTIONS: > > Since the Minotaur lurks in the shadows, and the shadows disappear at noon, > does this leave the solitary child in danger when the maze and its shadows > disappear? > > If the dominant metaphor navigating the shadows is of interpreting a text, > what danger does this represent to the child who is perfect for Mr. Smith?s > intentions? At noon only the objects as they really are exist, and the > ?ink? distorting those objects and creating illusory boundaries fades away. > > CONNECTION WITH OTHER WORKS: > > While the story is completely coherent and ?real?, the backdrop metaphor > for the act of writing (with the shadows the faded ink of God) places this > work in the more symbolic short stories, the fables, allegories, and dream > scenarios that began to populate Wolfe's work in the mid-seventies with > ?Melting? and ?To the Dark Tower Came? and continued throughout his career. > > Neil Gaiman read the story during the presentation of the Fuller Award to > Wolfe in March of 2012, and commented that he still wasn?t sure if he > should be terrified or not. His own contribution to *Shadows of the New > Sun*, ?A Lunar Labyrinth?, clearly stems from this one. In Gaiman?s story, > the sinister rears its head quite overtly before the conclusion. > > A tourist comes to a small town in search of local monuments, and an older > man takes him up to a mazelike labyrinth on the night of a full moon, its > edges ringed by rosemary. Our narrator, who claims he ?was not a real > torturer?, has the Wolfean leg injury, from falling on the ice on his left > knee the previous year, and his elderly guide walks with a cane. He begins > by asking, ?So how did it end??, to which his guide responds, ?It never > ends,? though he admits the people tried to burn the labyrinth, believing > it to be too costly. > > The motifs that Gaiman develops throughout the story are those of the moon > looking down at the hedges in its various phases (only children walk it > during the dark moon, and some believe they see a torturer then), the scent > of roasted lamb, and the growth of the rosemary around the maze (?Rosemary > is for remembering?). Most of the month, the maze is an innocuous > entertainment tied to ?canoodling? or making out, but on the night of a > full moon, it becomes something more akin to a sacrificial test ? if > someone running the maze cannot get to the center and back out without a > misstep, ?the labyrinth gets to cure you of all that ails you.? > > The cycle of the moon affects the emotions involved ? as it grows fuller > the people who come to walk it interact with desire or lust (though that is > the time when the sick and infirm can walk the labyrinth), but after the > sacrifice of the full moon, as the moon wanes, it is with love. According > to the guide, after the dark of the moon, young children (whom he calls > Romulus and Remus, children famously suckled by a wolf) and parents arrive > to navigate it, and as it waxes, couples of all ages come. He dismisses > the labyrinth of Crete as nothing in comparison, ?just some tunnels with a > horn headed fellow wandering lonely and scared and hungry.? > > When the narrator gets to the top, ?the sky [is] the color of wine, and the > clouds in the west glowed with the light of the setting sun.? He notes > that his guide ?was an old man who walked with a stick and talked to > strangers ? Nobody would ever miss him.? The guide assumes a lycanthropic > guise at the top, and our narrator is forced to run the labyrinth, > believing that the moon, who had always accepted his gifts before, will not > betray him. He runs ?like a lamb to his laughter.? > > Gaiman?s story does not seem to pivot on the metaphor of the labyrinth as a > fiction, though the appearance of a torturer, a werewolf who walks with a > cane, and rosemary certainly serve as links to Wolfe?s life and work. The > narrator is a killer who sacrifices to the moon, but here he faces an older > mythic lunar power, that affects humanity with an increasingly bestial and > atavistic fervor before the sacrifice is made, at which point the cycle of > the moon allows genuine emotion to transpire between the couples that come > to navigate the labyrinth. Only in the dark of the moon does the labyrinth > seem innately tied to fiction ? perhaps pre-rational myth is a more > appropriate context for the lunar labyrinth. The murderer appears to be on > track to become the next slaughtered lamb. Clearly the majority of > Gaiman?s references are designed to pay tribute to Wolfe (though, unlike > Wolfe, the older guide with the cane has a sister who gives birth to > something monstrous after walking the labyrinth). ?A Solar Labyrinth? > probably dealt with the process of reading and representation as a whole, > with the sacrificial aspect almost removed from its dominant metaphor; ?A > Lunar Labyrinth? seems more concerned with mythic cycles affecting behavior > in addition to pulling symbols and motifs from Wolfe?s own life. > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Urth Mailing List > To post, write urth at urth.net > Subscription/information: http://www.urth.net > > ------------------------------ > > End of Urth Digest, Vol 120, Issue 59 > ************************************* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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