(urth) interview questions

[Lee Berman]

>Gerry Quinn: I seem to recall he speaks of many conversations with 
>her.  He also had access even on Sainte Anne to any texts Marsch brought 
>with him, and to Marsch, and he has been over a year in Saint Croix with 
>access to the university library.  There's no reason he shouldn't know as 
>much anthropology as, say, an engineer who writes SF.
 
As a former anthropologist I can testify that Gene Wolfe's knowledge of the 
subject is pretty good. His unflattering portrayal of Dr. Marsch is also 
pretty good. I am "former" in part because of a prevailing attitude of 
superiority that prevails in much of academia. It was tiresome to be around
people who knew they were smarter and understood the world not only better 
than the general population but also better than doctors, psychologists, 
sociologists, etc. Anyway, I wasn't being entirely facetious. It is a bit
ridiculous but the text allows for VRT to have become educated in Anthropology.
Enough to fool Dr. Veil, though??
 
>Yes it IS totally obvious, because in the next breath he talks about the 
>mules having difficulty carrying it, and notes that they don;t appreciate 
>the weight of the much pared-down carcass..  if you want to justify the 
>other stuff, do so by all means, but not from this which is a perfectly 
>plain and obvious typo.
 
Only plain and obvious to those who cannot imagine the difficulty one might
have in assessing weight if one were as big as a tree and small as a worm
at different times of your life. 15 lbs is a LOT to a worm.  It might be a 
typo. But it might not be. I think the problem is your certainty of correctness
in direct opposition to an ambiguous text.
 
>Some theories are better an others, and some theories are objectively bilge.

And who is the objective judge of such things? Why....Gerry Quinn! How can you not
recognize the absurdity of this stance?
 
>But the clone presumably was of the stock of the original colonists, thus 
>sharing the planetary look, just as the clone of a Friesian  cow will look 
>like other Friesian cows.
 
IIRC, the Gene Wolfe family was from earth and Mr. Million was scanned (to death)
there.
 
>Actually no - it differs, I believe, only in that he believes in a second 
>set of aliens who have killed and replaced the original human discoverers of 
>Sainte Anne, and think they are them.  I believe this is an unnecessary 
>twist, and that it is simpler to believe that the humans, after abandoning 
>their tools, developed telepathy.  Apart from the exact origin of the Shadow 
>Children, I don't think the theories differ.
 
So aside from the basic premises, you and Tony have identical theories. Great.
 
>Stop being so precious - you have been taking every opportunity to snipe at 
>me in your condescending fashion over the last several weeks, and now you 
>try to put words in my mouth to make believe I am insulting you. I've 
>pointed out things I think are wrong with your theories - sorry if that 
>offends.
 
I am not offended. But you admit choosing to snipe at me and others; finding only fault
and never virtue in the ideas of others. You have to expect a few slings and arrows if
you are going to cast yourself in the role of villain. It makes good theater and that's
what this list needs, apparently.  It has been rather lively lately, eh?