The Gradual Interview

Post by **Romeo** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 6:30 pm

Foul sunbane-warped the urviles and sent them after the party when they were coming from Revelstone (the second time). Vain goes down to extract some vengence for what they did to the Wayhnim coverts, and Hollian changes the cycle of the sunbane to help the party escape.

Post by **[Syl]** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:24 pm

Woo hoo! He answered my question. *does the dark dance of joy* Y'know, for some reason that's the exact answer (or lack therof

) I expected. If the roles were reversed, I think I would've answered the same way (and the "Yes. Both." is pure karma rebate).

Post by **danlo** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 9:28 pm

Post by **Seppi2112** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 2:29 am

dlb,

What he means is that the statue is likening Bannor to Covenant, but also Covenant to Bannor. Its telling Bannor that the path he is on is going to lead him to self-hatred and powerlessness that Covenant feels (hence Foul's disfiguring of the Bloodguard as a way to mock their vow's corruption.)

Likewise, Covenant is warned against requiring too solid of an answer regarding the land and his own essence as the white-gold. There is only right and wrong for the bloodguard, and as long as TC remains in that mindset he is inherently crippled and unable to battle the Despiser.

Keep in mind that this is the same sculpture that revealed the nature of the Ritual of Desecration to Mhoram- it basically states that absolutism is wrong; Mhoram finds that the oath of peace is wrong for the very same reason that the Bloodguard break their vow and Covenant is unable to use the white-gold: its too absolute. Once Covenant decides that it doesn't matter if the land exists or not he becomes powerful. Once Mhoram is able to look upon his own despair and his own needs and wants to cause harm, he finds the strength to defeat the Raver.

Post by **variol son** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:23 am

HE ANSWERED MY QUESTION!

Sum sui generis
Vs

Post by **Juan Valdez** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:46 am

..to be sure.....

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 5:19 am

I was surprised that he was so animated with this batch of answers. A couple of "grins" and everything! Still, I'm not sure enough about his sense of humor to ask him this one:
Your wife... is she a goer? Eh? Eh? Know what I mean? Eh? Is she a goer? nudge nudge wink wink Eh?

Post by **Seppi2112** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 6:09 am

I dont follow Fist... lol.

Post by **Dragonlily** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:03 am

SRD wrote:But as far as I personally am concerned, the GAP books are the supreme achievement of my writing life so far... they are considerably more complex and subtle than say, the "Covenant" books. And I believe that they probe more deeply into the nature of good and evil.

Yaaa-a-a-y!!! My fave is SRD's fave!!

*temporarily abandoning philosophy

*

Post by **Romeo** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:54 am

Fist and Faith wrote:Your wife... is she a goer? Eh? Eh? Know what I mean? Eh? Is she a goer? nudge nudge wink wink Eh?

say no more ... say no more ...

(but I believe that's an entirely different thread

)

Post by **variol son** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:59 am

Yeah Fist, i'm pretty sure that Sky and I locked and deleted that thread.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Post by **matrixman** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:21 pm

Wow, SRD sure is takin' care of business with the questions! Congrats to caamora, variol son and TOM C!

Tom's question was one I've had on my mind for years as well. I'm glad SRD doesn't generally mind fan fiction. And to think, he actually wrote a novella about Thor, one of my favorite comic book heroes! Sweet!

Post by **aTOMiC** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 3:36 pm

Matrixman wrote:Wow, SRD sure is takin' care of business with the questions! Congrats to caamora, variol son and TOM C!

Tom's question was one I've had on my mind for years as well. I'm glad SRD doesn't generally mind fan fiction. And to think, he actually wrote a novella about Thor, one of my favorite comic book heroes! Sweet!

One question, MM. Would you like to get your hands on that Thor story?

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 9:51 pm

TOM C wrote:One question, MM. Would you like to get your hands on that Thor story?

Right??? Holy cow!!!!

I'm a huge fan of Simonson's Thor, but I wouldn't be surprised if SRD's turned out to be a new favorite.

Seppi, it's a Monty Python skit of the silliest magnitude.

Post by **Furls Fire** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:53 am

Amazing answer to my question, and I was even expecting an answer of that sort too. But, I thought since there was a thread awhile back on Covenant's leprosy and whether it would still be the disease of "choice" now that it's curable, his thoughts on using AIDS would be of interest. Since it was brought up in that thread... (which I can't find right now, btw)...

Mr. Donaldson wrote:If I were starting all over again now, would Covenant's illness still be leprosy? I'm not sure that question has a meaningful answer. If I were starting all over again now, I would be a different person (and writer) than the man who wrote the original "Chronicles." I might not write those books at all. But consider two things. 1) Where I grew up, leprosy was extremely familiar. My parents worked in a leprosarium. They hired lepers. I encountered them every day. Even today, my personal knowledge of, say, AIDS is trivial compared to my knowledge of leprosy. 2) In the context of the original "Chronicles," leprosy "works": it has an organic relationship with the characters, the themes, and the world. A different illness would demand a different story: different characters, different themes, different world. And (see (1) above) a different writer.

As a side note: this appears to contradict an earlier answer in which I claimed that I don't base my writing on personal experience. That remains true even where leprosy is concerned. I was "familiar" with it; but I was a kid, and I never gave it a moment's thought. Covenant--and, by extension, the Land and the first "Chronicles"--is based, not on my experience, but on my father's. He was the one who knew and cared what it was like to be a leper. And he supplied me with all of the "facts" I needed for my story.

(04/14/2004)

He's so awesome!!!

Post by **Believer** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 3:09 pm

I've read that leprosy is curable now -- does that mean the nerves are restored, or just that no further damage is done. And this is different from 'remission' because it's permanent, and the disease can't come back?

Just curious...

Post by **[Syl]** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:03 pm

Seems like it. From the CDC -

Worldwide, 1-2 million persons are permanently disabled as a result of Hansen's disease. However, persons receiving antibiotic treatment or having completed treatment are considered free of active infection.

It sounds like the nerve damage is permanent, though. They mention management of it, which makes me think of VSE.

Post by **duchess of malfi** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 4:11 pm

As a general rule, nerve tissue doesn't regenerate, whether severely damaged by disease or by injury (breaking your back or neck, for instance). From the sound of it, the disease is cured in that it cannot be passed on to another person, or cause further damage to the victim -- but that doesn't mean any severe damage already done can be undone.

I've heard researchers are working on ways to repair nerve tissues. Christopher Reeves, the actor who played Superman, who was crippled in a horse back riding accident, is a spokesman for such efforts. I'm not sure how far along they are in their efforts...

Post by **Dragonlily** » Sat Apr 17, 2004 10:23 pm

I seem to remember a while back that Reeve took a few steps as a result of that research. Haven't heard recently.

Post by **amanibhavam** » Sun Apr 18, 2004 7:18 pm

maybe I should repost my two questions... I posted them 2 months ago

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

The Gradual Interview