hides the universe

maa32 · 23 Feb 2002, 01:40 · from urth-v0202.mbox · original

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From: maa32 <maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>
Subject: (urth) hides the universe
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 18:40:29 -0700
Message-ID: <urth-v0202-208 at digest.urth.net>
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Two things:

First, for Steve and William: Thanks for at least keeping my theories in mi=
nd,=20
guys.  I really DID put a lot of thought and time into them, so of course I=
'm=20
going to seem somewhat sure of them.  I also kept the most obsessively=20
complete notes, cross referencing mundane things like wind, horns, trees,=20
sticks and just about anything else I could think of. After obsessing, you=20
would like to think there is some validity to your hard work.  If you read =
the=20
text again, watch out for those weird meta-comments on the text where he ta=
lks=20
about Urth and Blue having the same sky, where he talks about how he can't=20
tell "you" where the vanished people came from because it would be better i=
f=20
you figured it out for yourself, where he mentions how horrified he was whe=
n=20
he realized the island was made of big trees, and how he emphasizes "don't=20
concentrate on my words, not the words on the page, to understand me" at on=
e=20
point in Return to the Whorl. And that scene where he scales the cliff with=20
one hand on green while fighting off the inhumu makes so much more sense if=20
you think of it as a scene with moon gravity.  And if they are somewhat=20
vegetative, it might make their survival more believable if they can jump=20
through outerspace from place to place (like the tree ship Yggdrasil).

Secondly, I was also confused about the statement in the interview which sa=
id=20
the white hole in the sun hides the universe.  Did he mean "save"? How has =
it=20
become hidden? (Besides maybe Urth being hidden as Blue and covered in wate=
r).=20
Does anybody have any insights into this statement?

Also, Wolfe keeps claiming There are Doors is his favorite novel.  Maybe I=20
should give that one a close, close reading.  I haven't found any of the "t=
ext=20
transforming" connections that definitely abound in Peace, The Fifth Head o=
f=20
Cerberus, and The Book of the New and Short Suns (at least for me, in the l=
ast=20
case; I think we pretty much agree on the other novels having subtle points=20
that transform the whole story). Someone has proposed that There are Doors =
is=20
actually a 1st person novel written by someone with a dissassociative=20
disorder.  I wonder. It seems as if he has put so much more esoteric resear=
ch=20
into the New Sun and the Soldier books, and it seems like they would have b=
een=20
much harder to write and much more satisfying to finish.  I wonder why he=20
likes that one so much. Is it just the theme? Or has he accomplished a=20
technical triumph we (or at least I) have not yet fully recognized?  He IS=20
tricky, after all.

Marc Aramini

--=20

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