Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 08:36:16 -0600
From: James Jordan 
Subject: Re: (urth) the book seminar

At 07:40 AM 3/3/2003, you wrote:

>Some questions of my own:
>
>- Does anyone know why Wolfe chose the spelling "Werwolf"?

         Dunno. And I can't help your other questions either. But I do 
recall that the Hero has a foot wound, and this has messianic overtones in 
the Bible (and kingly overtones in Greco-Roman history). The last line of 
the story definitely alludes to the Gospels. The name "Paul" might be 
significant, given Paul as a distinctive follower of Jesus. But, I don't 
recall thinking the story was an allegory of any sort. With Wolfe, the 
allusions might be twisted, inverted, or some kind of dark spin on things. 
Interested to know what others might think.


>- Is the drug mentioned at the end of "Three Fingers" a real drug? If so,
>what does it do?
>
>- How should we read the ending of "Doctor Island"? Has the boy been
>helped, or has his personality been destroyed?
>
>Fernando
>
>--
>
>Fernando Q. Gouvea
>Department of Mathematics          Editor, FOCUS and MAA Online
>Colby College                      Mathematical Association of America
>Waterville, ME 04901               http://www.maa.org
>fqgouvea@colby.edu
>==========================================================
>
>The Byzantines hammered away at their hard and orthodox symbols, because
>they could not be in a mood to believe that men could take a hint. The
>moderns drag out into lengths and reels of extravagance their new orthodoxy
>of being unorthodox, because they also cannot give a hint -- or take a hint.
>Yet all perfect and well-poised art is really a hint.
>   -- G. K. Chesterton
>
>
>
>--



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