RICH.GVT%OFFICE-3@sri-unix.UUCP (02/03/84)
From: Rich Zellich <RICH.GVT@OFFICE-3> I agree with John about The Man in the Tree. I enjoyed it very much, up until the end when it just kind of changed direction and then ended abruptly. There doesn't seem to have been any point to it (none of the preceding sections of the book were required to reach that particular ending point - Knight was telling one story and then stuck the end from a different story on it). I disagree strongly with his comments on Courtship Rite; I think he missed some essential points - one of them being that ritual torture normally had nothing to do with mate-selection. The particular case in the book where that occurred was a unique case, where the man really didn't want to marry that particular woman into his group (he had been ordered to for political and other reasons) and was hoping she wouldn't survive the ritual torture game (the ritual having nothing to do with mate-selecion if I remember right; just a standard challenge that could be put to any opponent). -Rich Zellich <ZELLICH@OFFICE-3>