From: matthew.malthouse@guardian.co.uk
Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 08:37:58 +0100
Subject: Re: (urth) Some problems if the Pancreator/Outsider is theHoly




On 11/06/2002 15:55:18 James Jordan wrote:

>JJ: This universe that you sought in Briah are part of it. Is that our
>universe? Or is that a universe that resurrected saints have set up in
the
>world to come as part of the cities that they made?
>GW: No. I thought of it as a long past universe. Something that we are
>repeating rather than something that we are.
>
>http://www.op.net/~pduggan/gwjbj3.html
>
>That was my source.

Thanks.

But that does seem like mischief because the explanation of the origin of
the manuscript is in the book, so we have to add a further wrap around it
to account for the book arriving in our hands.

On a metaphysical level I also cavil somewhat - the similarities of the
books ancient past with our world are too similar.  Either it's not just
cyclic but the repetition is near identical or we have to interpolate
additional holes through which things like the moon picture have been
moved.

For sheer fun I quite like the idea of Ultan's library being part of L
space. Just as the shelves reach might the archive of the House Absolute
so too one might hope to turn an unexpected corner and come across a
russet furred Librarian subjecting a minor grimoire to some remedial
book-binding.

But no, placing tBotNS in a distant past distresses me.  It's too complex.
 Not that we expect anything but complexity from Wolfe; but this is
purposely complex and purposelessness is not a lupine characteristic.

Matthew



--