My second sentence should read: 'I though that "to recommend..."' (i.e. erase the second 'I' - a typo).<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 2:31 PM, Daniel Petersen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com">danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Ah, Lee, I kind of sympathise sometimes with some of the things you seem to be saying on this list, but mostly I don't understand you very well and your comments directed to me here are of that latter variety. I thought I that 'to use the nuanced perception through which we understand Gene Wolfe's work also to understand each other' was precisely what I was recommending. <div>
<br></div><div>I simply don't understand you very well, Lee, and Quinn I feel I do understand to some degree but find his seeming obstinacy about seeing the possible value in certain other interpretations than his own (literary vs. literal is what I'd call it - Quinn being literal) to be rather onerous. I suppose to follow my own stated values here I need to try see these matters from within each of your own (world)views to what degree I can. I just want Quinn to do the same rather than being what seems to me unnecessarily obtuse and dismissive about some of the other theories. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I don't really know what you're talking about with Quinn being an 'object of pity' and all that. Nor do I think my comments (nor those calling for 'censure) betrayed that I was (they were) 'missing something', especially not 'a recognition of human diversity'. I am (they are) calling for just such recognition and celebration of human diversity - belligerence and 'over-stubbornness' do not facilitate this.<div>
<br></div><div>-DOJP<div><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Dec 16, 2011 at 1:50 PM, Lee Berman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:severiansola@hotmail.com" target="_blank">severiansola@hotmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<br>
<br>
>Daniel Petersen: However, I don't agree with Stockhoff's harsh belittling<br>
>of Quinn (yet I do find the latter frustrating in what does indeed seem to<br>
>be a rather obtuse attitude that could do with more nuance and the ability<br>
>to try to see from within others' worldviews - not least, Wolfe's own).<br>
<br>
I really think you are missing something Daniel, though you would not be<br>
alone in it. Isn't it possible to use the nuanced perception through which<br>
we understand Gene Wolfe's work also to understand each other?<br>
<br>
Many (including myself) have expressed dismay at the vitriol and extended<br>
length of some of the argument/debates in here. But there is one person<br>
who has never expressed this dismay: Gerry Quinn. Is he really an object of<br>
pity?<br>
<br>
I don't think so. This is a very complex and multi-layered human being. It is<br>
clear he is not content to discuss Wolfe in a dry, dispassionate, purely<br>
intellectual manner. His posts are designed to elicit emotional responses as<br>
well. And who can deny that he is adept at doing so? Not an object of pity at<br>
all. Perhaps admiration of a skilled social operator at work is the more<br>
appropriate sentiment.<br>
<br>
This is not to suggest that those who engage with Gerry are helpless, mindless<br>
puppets under his control. When David, James, I or others debate with Gerry we<br>
understand, at some level, that he needs emotional content to be a part of<br>
his discourse, and we provide it.<br>
<br>
The calls for censure of the combatants are surely valid and express the true<br>
feelings of the callers. But shouldn't they be tempered with a recognition of<br>
human diversity? A knowledge that different people have different emotional<br>
needs which shouldn't be summarily dismissed in the interest of dispassionate<br>
sameness.<br>
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