From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan@gnt.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) Misogyny, Arthur, and G. Gordon Liddy
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 00:14:46 


[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]

At 05:32 PM 6/19/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Mrs. Shields is a good case in point for Joel's contention: she's a
>glutton (thinks constantly of recipes), and seems to care for her
>husband only inasmuch as he provides her with things (at one point, she
>burbles, "I really love you!" when he agrees to let her use his car).
>She doesn't seem to be unduly disturbed by her husband's death. The
>daughter, Mercedes, seems nice--but that's no doubt only because she's
>not a woman yet!

	Yes, and remember that when she tries to pray, all she can do is recite
recipes rather than the Lord's Prayer or the Rosary! But Wolfe is going to
say that, yes, she has her problems, but not necessarily any more than any
other character.

>
>My absolutely favorite character in the book was G. Gordon Kitty. He was
>a scream, and purrfectly likeable (but then he was a tom). When he
>pulled out his "Browning Grand Pussance" I just about rolled off the bed
>laughing. (Well, it's funnier if you're into guns: "Grand Puissance" is
>the French name for the Browning High Power pistol...)

	Hey! Thanks for that!!

>
>Does Wolfe have a fascination with G. Gordon Liddy? I seem to remember
>him saying in an interview that the "North" character in THERE ARE DOORS
>is actually G. Gordon.

	That was my interview. He explained that he initially thought that Oliver
North was the same type of person as Liddy, but later decided he was wrong.
His perception of Liddy was of a machiavellian manipulator, which is pretty
much the face Liddy wore for many years. 

Nutria