(urth) Hero as Werwolf

Mo Holkar / UKG lists at ukg.co.uk
Fri Sep 25 09:04:44 PDT 2009


At 16:44 25/09/2009, you wrote:
>"I am sorry to detain you, but there is reason to think that you have
>undergone a recent deviation from the _optional_ development pattern.
>In a few minutes, it may be useful for us to review what is meant by
>'_optimal_ development.' Look at the projection." (emphases mine)
>
>It is such in both the Island collection and the Best of. I didn't
>check the original. I asked the class whether they thought it was a
>misprint, and, if not, why the two words were used. Most seemed to
>agree that it was not a misprint but were unsure of the implications.
>The possibility was raised that the masters intended to use homo
>sapiens (the "optional" development) to colonize the moon or similar
>(this being their "optimal" use) for resource extraction perhaps:


Hmm, I tend to believe that it is a misprint, and that it should be 
"optimal" both times. The literal reading would be 
uncharacteristically clumsy: the second sentence wouldn't flow on 
logically from the first. I don't think "optional development" is 
sufficiently meaningful to be genuine.

I guess we'll never know, though!

Mo


# ~ # ~ #

WolfeWiki -- a wiki about Gene Wolfe
http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/ 




More information about the Urth mailing list