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<DIV>I did find those things in the archives (the reference to Borges is especially interesting to me). But I'm thinking all of that is pretty self-referential, and that surely there is some reason from *within the story* for the existence of this scene: some plot piece put into place, for example, that I'm missing. </DIV>
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<DIV>Every scene in a book generally has a number of things going on. While Wolfe's own Hitchcock-like appearance, and the reference to Borges, are interesting, I have a hunch they aren't the *reason* for the scene. And that's what's really got me stumped.</DIV>
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<DIV>Thanks again! I appreciate your taking the time.</DIV>
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<DIV>Matt</DIV>
<DIV><BR>--- On <B>Mon, 9/29/08, Adam Thornton <I><adam@io.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid">From: Adam Thornton <adam@io.com><BR>Subject: Re: (urth) a lurker asks a question<BR>To: adeodatus43@yahoo.com, "The Urth Mailing List" <urth@lists.urth.net><BR>Date: Monday, September 29, 2008, 3:45 PM<BR><BR>
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<DIV>On Sep 29, 2008, at 10:34 AM, Matt Teel wrote:</DIV>
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<DIV>I've gone through the Urth archives and haven't found an answer, so I thought I would bring it to the group. What does this chapter contribute to the story? I mean, on a superficial level we certainly get a feel for life in the Citadel, the stagnation of the culture; we get some interesting information about another guild ... but what else? What am I missing? Surely there's more to it than that.</DIV>
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<DIV>This scene establishes Nessus as Buenos Aires. The blind librarian is Borges. I believe that Cyby is a Gary-Stu. Mostly, I think it's a big tip of the hat to Borges and his influence on _BotNS_.</DIV>
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<DIV>Adam</DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>