Very interesting. I had not read that Wolfe quote until now. I learn something new about The Book every day it seems.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 1:21 AM, dcooperv <<a href="mailto:dcooperv@mail.rochester.edu">dcooperv@mail.rochester.edu</a>> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Howdy, I'm a fairly new subscriber, though I've read a bit of the archives.<br>
Anyway, I don't have any deep insights to share, but here's an interesting bit I<br>
found.<br>
In his interview with Larry McCaffery<br>
(<a href="http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/interviews/wolfe46interview.htm" target="_blank">http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/interviews/wolfe46interview.htm</a>), Wolfe says:<br>
"The Alzabo is a monster, sure; but it's something many people fear a great deal<br>
when they work for a major corporation: we fear we'll be swallowed by Procter<br>
and Gamble, become just a cog in its innards or so much a company man that we'll<br>
be just a voice coming out of its mouth."<br>
This I think sums up the psychological appeal (for lack of a better term) of the<br>
Alzabo and similar monsters (body-snatchers, Star Trek's Borg, et cetera).<br>
Compare this with the idea in Helioscope (IIRC), that the fear engendered by the<br>
figure of the torturer isn't just the fear of being tortured, but also "the fear<br>
of being made to be a torturer."<br>
Likewise, we have Dorcas's warning in Claw (don't have my copy at hand, but it's<br>
while they're camped out at the House Absolute), "People don't want to let other<br>
people be people," or words to that effect.<br>
This was just a neat little motif I found running through the work. Can any of<br>
you add to this? Hopefully I can spark some discussion.<br>
<br>
All the best,<br>
Dan Vince<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Urth Mailing List<br>
To post, write <a href="mailto:urth@urth.net">urth@urth.net</a><br>
Subscription/information: <a href="http://www.urth.net" target="_blank">http://www.urth.net</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br>