949ad430   
   From: trminlxGARBAGE@bitstreamnet.com   
      
   In article <6mjrvv0vtd9126b39ip518mbnssf90eohj@4ax.com>, 3ngine <>   
   wrote:   
      
   > ...and I'm not really sure what to make of it.  Shirley says at the   
   > beginning of the 1st that "This isn't a post-holocaust book, or a book   
   > about nuclear war," but what is that supposed to mean?  The Holocaust   
   > happened in WWII, which precedes the events in the trilogy, so   
   > technically any book that's written after '45 is post-holocaust - or   
   > am I thinking too hard about it?   
      
   wrong kind of holocaust. the one in WWII is "The Holocaust" when spoken   
   of regarding Real World Events(tm)... A 'holocaust' is any sufficiently   
   nasty event as to change world perspective.   
      
   'post holocaust' is a very popular genre, for an example of one watch   
   Mad Max and Roadwarrior (we shall forget Beyond Thunderdome exists...),   
   or Damnation Alley.   
      
   And even in real life there have been many events refered to as a   
   holocaust of one form or another.   
      
   Dictionary.com says:   
      
   hol?o?caust     P   Pronunciation Key  (hl-kost, hl-) n.   
      
   1.Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially   
   by fire.   
      
   2. (a) Holocaust The genocide of European Jews and others by the Nazis   
   during World War II: "Israel emerged from the Holocaust and is defined   
   in relation to that catastrophe" (Emanuel Litvinoff).   
      (b) A massive slaughter: "an important document in the so-far sketchy   
   annals of the Cambodian holocaust" (Rod Nordland).   
      
   3. A sacrificial offering that is consumed entirely by flames.   
      
   [Middle English, burnt offering, from Old French holocauste, from Latin   
   holocaustum, from Greek holokauston, from neuter ofholokaustos, burnt   
   whole  : holo-, holo- + kaustos, burnt (from kaiein, to burn).]   
      
      
   holo?caustal or holo?caustic adj.   
      
   Usage Note: Holocaust has a secure place in the language when it refers   
   to the massive destruction of humans by other humans. Ninety-nine   
   percent of the Usage Panel accepts the use of holocaust in the phrase   
   nuclear holocaust. Sixty percent of the Panel accepts the sentence As   
   many as two million people may have died in the holocaust that   
   followed the Khmer Rouge takeover in Cambodia. But because of its   
   associations with genocide, people may object to extended applications   
   of holocaust. When the word is used to refer to death brought about by   
   natural causes, the percentage of the Panel accepting drops sharply.   
   Only 31 percent of the Panel approves the sentence In East Africa five   
   years of drought have brought about a holocaust in which millions have   
   died. In a 1987 survey, just 11 percent approved the use of holocaust to   
   summarize the effects of the AIDS epidemic. This suggests that other   
   figurative usages such as the huge losses in the Savings and Loan   
   holocaust may be viewed as overblown or in poor taste. ?When capitalized   
   Holocaust refers specifically to the destruction of Jews and other   
   Europeans by the Nazis and may also encompass the Nazi persecution of   
   Jews that preceded the outbreak of the war.   
   ---   
      
   Hope that helps, though I haven't read the books, so can't offer much   
   commentary beyond the above. So I can't tell you what he might have   
   meant by it not being a post-holocaust book.   
      
      
   ghost   
   ~/~ Sometimes I forget to pray I'll make it through this fucking day ~/~   
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