(urth) Short Story 82: The God and His Man

[Mo Holkar]

Well, Wolfe was only 38 when Galactic Pot-Healer 
came out: and I think most serious SF readers in 
the late 60s would have been keeping up with 
Dick's output, as he was doing some very interesting things with the form.

I expect you're right, though: the zeitgeist is a strong factor.

(I'm interested now to know what Wolfe thinks and 
thought of Dick's work. Is that on record in any of the interviews etc?)

best,

Mo




At 13:21 07/08/2014, you wrote:
>I always wonder at how much is direct reference 
>and how much is zeitgeist. Wolfe almost never 
>mentions Dick as an influence, and once, because 
>of the religious forces at work in Dune, said 
>Dune had little to no impact on his writing. I 
>have read a fair amount of Dick (my favorite is 
>Flow My Tears the Policeman Said because of the 
>lonely woman's take on pets, if I remember 
>right, and Ubik was pretty good) but not galactic pot healer.
>
>And to be honest part of the reason I never read 
>it is probably a reaction to the title - I am 
>trying to imagine 60 year old Wolfe reading a 
>book with "galactic pot healer" on the cover.Â
>
>On Thursday, August 7, 2014, Mo Holkar 
><<mailto:mo at holkar.net>mo at holkar.net> wrote:
>At 01:03 07/08/2014, Gwern wrote:
>On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 2:26 PM, Marc Aramini <marcaramini at gmail.com> wrote:
> > It is likely Tarnung was capable of affecting light waves. It is German for
> > camouflage or disguise.
>
>Tarnung is likely a Ring reference to the Tarnhelm, which grants
>invisibility. Given that the other magic item is a maser which creates
>waves of coherent straight radiation, the Tarnung probably bends light
>to achieve invisibility.
>
>The Ring cycle would be an interesting theme to bring in, as it too
>involves the fall of gods.
>
>
>
>A thought that's just occurred -- is it possible 
>that the name "Tarnung" indicates a response of 
>sorts to the Glimmung (which means roughly 
>"brightness") in Philip K. Dick's novel Galactic 
>Pot-Healer? This is also about a human man sent 
>on a mission to an alien planet by a godlike 
>being, and its themes (conformity vs creativity, 
>the need to obey gods or not) are such as might have resonated with Wolfe.
>
>best,
>
>Mo
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