From: Alex David Groce <Alex_Groce@gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) mankind
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:18:58 

But Ori, as I pointed out, I read BOTNS when I didn't know anything about
Wolfe (other than, from having stumbled across "The Fifth Head of Cerberus"
novella in an anthology, that he could write like nobody's business) and I came
to an interpretation that's pretty much what Wolfe & us conspirators claim is
the "official version."  Am I just naive?  Or did I come to BOTNS with a
different metaphysics, and so reach what is the natural, textual interpretation
for anyone of that metaphysics (and, apparently, some other people--I know
several atheists who agree with my general view of what BOTNS is about, they
just think Wolfe's created world is a lot less like ours than I think it is).
It's your claim that anyone reading BOTNS in an "unbiased" fashion will come to
see things your way that I disagree with so strongly.

Mind you, it IS pretty ambiguous--if I'm not mistaken, Nutria, who isn't coming
from all -that- far away from my POV on things, at first thought the whole
thing was about a Gnostic & self-devouring world and that Severian was meant as
a grim parody of Christ.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  But this doesn't mean that
"all right thinking folks who don't close their eyes and shut their ears will
see the evil conspiracy lurking behind the hieros."


"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

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