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From: "Jason Voegele" <voegele.6@osu.edu>
Subject: (urth) The Quiet Urth
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 02:08:51
[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]
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And a silence descended upon the Urth like none that was ever known =
before...
Well, it's been a while since I've posted here, mostly because we've =
been discussing books/stories I haven't yet read. Anyone up for a =
dissection of The Fifth Head of Cerberus? It seems, for some reason, =
that Christian symbolism is a good place to start off.
Of course, there's the obvious Satan imagery--666 Maltimbaque (?) St., =
the "black scarf and scarlet dressing gown" that No. 5's "father" wears, =
etc. What is it that Wolfe is trying to say here? Is science/knowledge =
a great evil in Wolfe's mind, or only the misuse of it? If the latter, =
what is the line that the protaganist has crossed which makes his/his =
father's actions immoral? Am I being too banal? Aah well, just thought =
I'd provide a catalyst.
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As an aside, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Wolfe a couple of weeks =
ago. He was here in Columbus, Ohio for the "Context X" convention. By =
pure chance, I bumped into him as I was registering for the convention. =
I told him that I wouldn't be able to make the "Meet the Authors" =
session and he kindly offered to sign a couple of books for me--a copy =
of Peace and my leather-bound copy of Shadow. (David Brin was the =
other guest of honor and I had brought a copy of Startide Rising for him =
to sign. Wolfe offered to sign that one for me as well, claiming that =
he knew how to spell "Brin".)
He was very friendly and approachable, and chatted with me more for ten =
minutes or so. I mentioned our mailing list, although he appeared to =
know about it already. I also asked him if he'd had the opportunity to =
watch City of Lost Children yet, and he told me that he was waiting for =
company to come over and watch it with him--oops, I wasn't supposed to =
mention that to mantis :)
Anyway, after meeting the man, and hearing his fascinating brand of oral =
story-telling, he's very like how I'd imagined him, although with a =
lighter-hearted nature and more of a Texas drawl. It's easy to see his =
characters within him, even if they are much more extreme (or should I =
say Severe) in some fashion. It's an experience that sheds a great deal =
of light on his work, and I hope those of you who haven't yet had the =
chance to talk to him will soon do so. (And those of you who have met =
him will kindly forgive me for rambling :)
Jason Voegele--eisegesis
-----Original Message-----
From: David_Lebling@avid.com <David_Lebling@avid.com>
To: urth@lists.best.com <urth@lists.best.com>
Date: Monday, October 13, 1997 9:30 AM
Subject: (urth) Sinister Westwind
>
>[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other =
works]
>
>The sinister interpretation of "Westwind" is entirely in keeping with
>the religious one. Christianity can be (and has been) called "the
>opiate of the people" and "a religion for slaves."
>
>The error is assuming that because the country (world?) of "Westwind" =
is
>ruled directly by God, it has to be heaven-like. However, to a
>believer, _our_ world is ruled directly by God, and each and every one
>of us can have personal communication with him, without even the need =
of
>a pocket phone. Does that mean that our world is any more heaven-like?
>
>I actually wonder if the ruler's pocket phones and TV speeches violate
>the "ground rules" anyway. If you can know other than through faith
>that god exists, then there is no free will, is there? It's like
>Pascal's wager with the dice loaded.
>
> -vizcacha
> (david_lebling@avid.com)
>
works
>*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at =
http://moonmilk.volcano.org/urth/
ranjit@best.com
whorl@lists.best.com
>
>
>
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<DIV>And a silence descended upon the Urth like none that was ever known =
before... </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Well, it's been a while since I've posted here, mostly because =
we've been=20
discussing books/stories I haven't yet read. Anyone up for a =
dissection of=20
<EM>The Fifth Head of Cerberus</EM>? It seems, for some reason, =
that=20
Christian symbolism is a good place to start off.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Of course, there's the obvious Satan imagery--666 Maltimbaque (?) =
St., the=20
"black scarf and scarlet dressing gown" that No. 5's=20
"father" wears, etc. What is it that Wolfe is trying to =
say=20
here? Is science/knowledge a great evil in Wolfe's mind, or only =
the=20
misuse of it? If the latter, what is the line that the protaganist =
has=20
crossed which makes his/his father's actions immoral? Am I being =
too=20
banal? Aah well, just thought I'd provide a catalyst.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>--------------------------------------------------------------------=
-----------------------------------------------</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>As an aside, I had the opportunity =
to meet Mr.=20
Wolfe a couple of weeks ago. He was here in Columbus, Ohio for the =
"Context X" convention. By pure chance, I bumped into =
him as I=20
was registering for the convention. I told him that I wouldn't be =
able to=20
make the "Meet the Authors" session and he kindly offered to =
sign a=20
couple of books for me--a copy of <EM>Peace</EM> and my leather-bound =
copy=20
of <EM>Shadow</EM>. (David Brin was the other guest of honor =
and I=20
had brought a copy of <EM>Startide Rising</EM> for him to sign. =
Wolfe=20
offered to sign that one for me as well, claiming that he knew how to =
spell=20
"Brin".)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>He was very friendly and approachable, and chatted =
with me=20
more for ten minutes or so. I mentioned our mailing list, although =
he=20
appeared to know about it already. I also asked him if he'd had =
the=20
opportunity to watch <EM>City of Lost Children</EM> yet, and he told me =
that he=20
was waiting for company to come over and watch it with him--oops, I =
wasn't=20
supposed to mention that to mantis :)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Anyway, after meeting the man, and hearing his =
fascinating=20
brand of oral story-telling, he's very like how I'd imagined him, =
although with=20
a lighter-hearted nature and more of a Texas <EM>drawl</EM>. It's =
easy to=20
see his characters within him, even if they are much more extreme (or =
should I=20
say <EM>Severe</EM>) in some fashion. It's an experience that =
sheds a=20
great deal of light on his work, and I hope those of you who haven't yet =
had the=20
chance to talk to him will soon do so. (And those of you who have =
met him=20
will kindly forgive me for rambling :)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>Jason Voegele--eisegesis</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: <A=20
href=3D"mailto:David_Lebling@avid.com">David_Lebling@avid.com</A> <<A =
href=3D"mailto:David_Lebling@avid.com">David_Lebling@avid.com</A>><BR>=
To: <A=20
href=3D"mailto:urth@lists.best.com">urth@lists.best.com</A> <<A=20
href=3D"mailto:urth@lists.best.com">urth@lists.best.com</A>><BR>Date: =
Monday,=20
October 13, 1997 9:30 AM<BR>Subject: (urth) Sinister=20
Westwind<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>><BR>>[Posted from URTH, a mailing =
list about=20
Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]<BR>><BR>>The sinister =
interpretation=20
of "Westwind" is entirely in keeping with<BR>>the religious =
one. Christianity can be (and has been) called =
"the<BR>>opiate of=20
the people" and "a religion for =
slaves."<BR>><BR>>The error=20
is assuming that because the country (world?) of "Westwind"=20
is<BR>>ruled directly by God, it has to be heaven-like. =
However, to=20
a<BR>>believer, _our_ world is ruled directly by God, and each and =
every=20
one<BR>>of us can have personal communication with him, without even =
the need=20
of<BR>>a pocket phone. Does that mean that our world is any =
more=20
heaven-like?<BR>><BR>>I actually wonder if the ruler's pocket =
phones and=20
TV speeches violate<BR>>the "ground rules" anyway. If =
you can=20
know other than through faith<BR>>that god exists, then there is no =
free=20
will, is there? It's like<BR>>Pascal's wager with the dice=20
loaded.<BR>><BR>> =
-vizcacha<BR>> =20
(<A=20
href=3D"mailto:david_lebling@avid.com">david_lebling@avid.com</A>)<BR>>=
;<BR>>*This=20
is URTH: discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun and other=20
works<BR>>*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at <A=20
href=3D"http://moonmilk.volcano.org/urth/">http://moonmilk.volcano.org/ur=
th/</A><BR>>*To=20
leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to <A=20
href=3D"mailto:urth-request@lists.best.com">urth-request@lists.best.com</=
A><BR>>*To=20
post to the list, write to <A=20
href=3D"mailto:urth@lists.best.com">urth@lists.best.com</A>. *Trouble? =
<A=20
href=3D"mailto:ranjit@best.com">ranjit@best.com</A><BR>>*If it's =
about the Book=20
of the Long Sun, use WHORL list: <A=20
href=3D"mailto:whorl@lists.best.com">whorl@lists.best.com</A><BR>><BR>=
><BR>></BODY></HTML>
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