The Ziggurat in context

Nicholas Gevers31 Jan 2000, 12:34original as archived

Nutria, I'm afraid I'll have to delay my detailed take on "The Ziggurat" until I've finished another, rather vexatious critical chore; but you're quite right that my ST review will only appear in print some time off (in FOUNDATION), so here's a general comment. It seems to me that the stories in ST were selected with a theme in common, that of escape. The world must be escaped or transcended; but the escape routes are many, and only one (the route to Heaven) is a true path. The rest are snares, roads to damnation and disaster. Emory's route is one such: self-indulgence, an impulse to dominate. It may make him feel in charge of his destiny for a while, but read in comparison with the trends of the other stories, it won't lead anywhere good.

Jim Jordan31 Jan 2000, 16:22original as archived

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At 12:34 PM 1/31/00 -0800, you wrote: Nutria, I'm afraid I'll have to delay my detailed take on "The Ziggurat" until I've finished another, rather vexatious critical chore; but you're quite right that my ST review will only appear in print some time off (in FOUNDATION), so here's a general comment. It seems to me that the stories in ST were selected with a theme in common, that of escape. The world must be escaped or transcended; but the escape routes are many, and only one (the route to Heaven) is a true path. The rest are snares, roads to damnation and disaster. Emory's route is one such: self-indulgence, an impulse to dominate. It may make him feel in charge of his destiny for a while, but read in comparison with the trends of the other stories, it won't lead anywhere good.

Mebbe. I'll need more to be convinced. I accept your overall assessment of the book as a collection. Maybe I should take the link between "taming" and "Tamar" more negatively, as a further example of male chauvinism instead of as a step in the right direction. Hmmm. That would not push me into any of the extremely negative interpretations we've discussed here, but would indicate a sadder ending than I'd originally read. Any thots, Alga? Nutria