Digest whorl.v010.n115Whorl

Re Ultan's Library, congratulations to Jonathan Laidlow and all involved. I, like alga some time ago (I think?) was very impressed with Nick Gevers' essays on TBLS. They made me want to go out and read it, and I had to occasionally remind myself that I already had and found it largely boring and disappointing. Given the dominant theme of both essays, that TBLS is a demonstration of the need for true religious belief, I wonder if being an atheist has anything to do with my dislike of TBLS - there may be a correspondence! On the other hand, if such was the theme of TBLS, OBW seemed to me to be more questioning and doubting of religious beliefs. (Then again, I like it a lot, so maybe the correspondence holds). Nick Price's review of OBW was also a fine job (and needless to say I agree with the diplomatic criticisms it contains of the plotting of TBLS), but one point of detail - how do we know Hari Mau was searchoing for Silk on the Whorl? - my impression is that he was doing so on Blue only. *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.