From: Peter Stephenson <pws@pwstephenson.fsnet.co.uk>
Subject: (urth) Re: Digest urth.v028.n112
Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 23:44:30 +0000

urth-errors@lists.best.com wrote:
> >Is it the duty of the FAQ to initiate one into the "mysteries" of TBOTNS?
> >Or to initiate one into the method of reading Gene Wolfe?
> 
> Neither. A FAQ is a list of frequently asked questions and their answers.
> It is a device invented to prevent people from posting the same question
> over and over in a newsgroup (at which task is has generally been a notable
> failure) and to relieve other people from having to reply with the same
> answer over and over or ignore the question (at which task it is a fair
> success; of course the response, "read the FAQ" must be posted over and
> over, but this is a lot less effort).

Hmmm.  I don't think this is entirely appropriate with Wolfe.  If you look
back in the archive I think you'll find we have had the same question over
and over, and each time with different answers embedded in a completely
different discussion.  I certainly wouldn't want to think the questions
shouldn't be asked again, nor that `read the FAQ' would ever be an adequate
response to anything more than the simplest question.  And from the other
discussions recently, that doesn't even seem to include `who is the
author'.


(A propos of which, I can't resist the following, but please feel free to
stop reading now.)

> From: "Jonathan Laidlow" <LAIDLOJM@hhs.bham.ac.uk>
> (and by the by, Barthes wrote 'Death of the Author')

But how do we know that Barthes `wrote' it?  And what do we mean by `write'
anyway?  etc.

corncrake

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