From: Alex David Groce <Alex_Groce@gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) ST review
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 10:48:22 

Damien wrote:

>At 10:51 AM 15/01/00 -0500, alga wrote:
>>>From the NY Times, 1/16/00, Gerald Jonas column:
>>
>>    Gene Wolfe's reputation as one of modern science fictions most impotant
>>writers rests largely on his series of novels about redemption, known by
>>their collective title, "The Boo of the New Sun." 
>
>No, that's his collection of ghost stories,

And only with Wolfe would there be considerable argument about WHICH of
his stories are, in fact, ghost stories, and who's haunting who.

Question re: "The Ziggurat"

When Emery is telling "Tamar" about the death of her crewmates, she (I'm
paraphrasing, the book is at home) "makes a quick gesture, then folds her hands
and shuts here eyes."  Does anyone else think she's crossing herself before
praying?

On a side note, "The Ziggurat" is the third Wolfe story I can think of that
concerns a civilization that has gotten rid of men:  "Many Mansions" and "In
Looking Glass Castle" are the other two.  There's an interesting thematic
similarity to Walker Percy's "The Last Gentleman" and "The Second Coming" here,
in the idea that a suicidal man can "snap out of it" most easily if confronted
with chaos, disaster and death (and "a good woman," perhaps, even if she is
insane or alien or tries to kill him?).


"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
--
Alex David Groce (agroce+@cs.cmu.edu)
Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department
8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/