Enter the
RECLUSE'S WEB
A solitary nocturnal cave-dweller, the Recluse lives alone and doesn't really hate people but seems to feel better when they're not around. In his spare time (there's a fair amount of that), the Recluse ponders the larger implications and impacts of as well as which type of mammalian flesh best compliments kumquats in a nice hollandaise.
If you'd like to see the Recluse's web site with it's (fairly) cool background, click here. Keep in mind though that it might take a while to load.
Spec Stuff
- Take a gander at the Recluse's SpecProject Precis.
- Now that you've seen the precis, jump into the completed SpecProject, entitled When the Men Were Men and the Women Were "Girls." Incidentally, this project has been accepted for presentation at the 17th Annual International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts. Woo Hoo!!
- Response to Spec #2 - Reactions to thoughts posted by classmate Alex Moffett's thoughts on "Microcosmic God" by Theodore Sturgeon.
- Stanislaw Lem - Various bits I've accumulated concerning the fine fine Polish SF writer of the very same name.
- Yin-Yang Utopia - A dialogue concerning Ursula K. Le Guin's essay "A Non-Euclidean View of California as a Cold Place to Be" and Naomi Mitchison's novel Solution Three.
- Rose AB - An Annotated Bibliography for Chapters Two and Six of Mark Rose's Alien Encounters. constructed by the students in The Recluse's ENGL 1106 class (The Known and the Unknown: Constructions of Humanity) from Spring 1996.
The Recluse's Collection of Specs
For your edification, Dr. Len Hatfield (fearless leader of us Speculatores in his 20th Century Speculative Fiction graduate course) describes 'Specs' as "1-3 page Speculations dealing with the central issues of the discourse we'll be working on this semester. Specs are supposed to be exploratory, unfinished, and curious. As such, they can be less formal than the typical graduate student paper. At the same time, we'll want to struggle to keep these reflections well focused (there's that light metaphor again) and well grounded. I suggest three rules of thumb: 1) Avoid evaluation or simple gut-level responses; instead, dig into the questions, discomforts, interests that the texts and ideas suggest. Analyze rather than emote (a classic western binary if ever there was one); 2) Keep asking yourself "why?" as you write through your speculations, and reach toward answers, however unsatisfactory or incomplete these might be; 3) Try writing into what you don't know; you'll be surprised by what emerges."
- Spec #1 - Concerning Mark Rose's Alien Encounters.
- Spec #2 - Concerning John Campbell's "Twilight."
- Spec #3 - Concerning Pamela Zoline's "The Heat Death of the Universe."
- Spec #4 - Concerning Stanislaw Lem's The Cyberiad.
- Spec #5 - Concerning Naomi Mitchison's Solution Three.
Web Nodes and Anchor Points
- HyperTheory/HyperLit HomePage - A wonderful little space wherein a stalwart band of (mostly) English graduate students grappled with the complexities and problems of working in and with the hyperrealm.
- HyperPoem - Move through and with a piece of work constructed by the Recluse.
- Shaking the Ether - another Reclusive poem, with title by John Priestley.
- The Cup Stops Here - Relive the underdog New Jersey Devils' Stanley Cup Championship run through images and newsclippings.
Questions? Comments? Rants? Send mail to The Recluse (recluse@vt.edu). He might even answer.
Doo dah.