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Jerry Friedman wrote: . ?My feeling is that the distinction has taken hold better than most This may differ a lot between languages. Terry Pratchett has a character, to whom some…
07 Jan 2011, 19:46
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He goes through what appears to be a public garden. I would take this to be the necropolis, which he does not recognise as such because there are not many graves yet. It may well h…
22 Dec 2010, 21:46
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OK, that explains his meeting with Ouen. It still seems to leave his speculation about Ouen and Catherine as a totally false trail. Yes indeed - another very striking one is Mucor…
21 Dec 2010, 23:52
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Well. I definitely agree not everything in Silk's dreams should be taken literally. He identifies Mint with Marble and Rose, Mucor with the prelate of his schola, etc. Part of this…
21 Dec 2010, 23:35
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James Wynn wrote: . (We know of Catherine only through Ouen; and Ouen only I'm feeling lost here. How does it connect Severian to Dorcas? It can do so only through Ouen, but what…
21 Dec 2010, 18:18
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I agree that Mamelta is quite likely to be Silk's mother. This is partly because of the mother references in the passage where he meets her, and partly because in the scene where h…
21 Dec 2010, 17:10
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I think Severian is the son of Ouen and Catherine (but that Catherine isn't a commoner). If he were not, Wolfe really would be leading us up a garden path. (We know of Catherine on…
21 Dec 2010, 16:45
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I agree that Auk is very likely to be an embryo. He has exceptional abilities, and the gods take an interest in him which can't obviously be explained by his situation in life. I …
21 Dec 2010, 15:51
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Lee Berman wrote: . Since I am not a Christian or religious, it didn't It depends, I think, what we mean by saying that it's not a Judaeo-Christian universe. A universe without a…
17 Dec 2010, 12:30
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That is the basis of the (in some circles) well-known Christmas hymn 'Every star shall sing a carol', by Sidney Carter. On the other hand it is firmly rejected by C.S. Lewis, who …
17 Dec 2010, 11:52
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Except that I now realise I misspoke. He (if he exists) is not wholly unknown - the scourging of the animal sellers appears to be a reference to him, and so, I take it, is the Theo…
17 Dec 2010, 11:31
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I think some people see this as part of Silk's vision (which may be why it worries them that the theology is not correct). I would agree that it's more likely to be from the C.W. …
16 Dec 2010, 22:56
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'They went about in sheepskins and goatskins' (Hebrews 11.37). I suspect this is a reference to something specific in the Old Testament, but I'm not sure what.…
16 Dec 2010, 22:45
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Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote: > Oh, I know. But we aren't actually doing theology here, but literary interpretation: can we be sure that, while Lewis is capable of heresy, Wolfe is no…
16 Dec 2010, 20:56
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Wow! How did that happen? Rather than trace my way through the discussion and reply to each bit separately, I'll just try to state my view as a whole. I think the Outsider is God,…
16 Dec 2010, 19:29
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Yes, weirdly. Severian reports that he says he was brought up by his parents in what he called the normal way 'though actually it is rather rare'. He may be lying, of course - unle…
14 Dec 2010, 19:25
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Jonas speaks of his childhood on Urth. He says that 'Kim Lee Soong' was a common name in his youth 'in lands now lost beneath the waves'. And his exclamation 'I know where we are -…
13 Dec 2010, 22:41
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I also see it as hard to doubt (though of course Wolfe had already spoken when I read it). There are quite a few clues - for instance, Mint running away from Silk lest the same thi…
13 Dec 2010, 22:23
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Of course! Why didn't I see that? I guess because people in Viron neglect the Outsider, it didn't occur to me Kypris would be thinking of him. but of course he was worshipped on Ur…
13 Dec 2010, 00:21
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Lee Berman wrote: Severian CAN be both a virgin and non-virgin. The reason is because Ah, OK. Well, then... I think that _in general_ the distinction I made still holds. A wor…
13 Dec 2010, 00:13
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No takers on this one? Actually, I misstated it slightly; Kypris doesn't 'someone', she says 'something', which may make a difference. I'll look out for any possible payoff as I go…
12 Dec 2010, 17:59
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Gerry Quinn wrote: Only gradually did it develop into a prison. So if Of one family of current occupants. (I've seen it said quite frequently that he is the ancestor of all the …
12 Dec 2010, 17:34
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James Wynn wrote: . Jonas certainly says that his ship crashed. because it could not find a port, so it can't have been Tzadkiel's ship. (Nor can it have been a tender from Tzadki…
11 Dec 2010, 21:41
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It seems to me, though, that this runs together two different things. There is the literal/symbolic distinction; these can exist together; a candle can both be just a light source …
11 Dec 2010, 19:57
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They are also related to the sun. Iubar Street is mentioned again near the end of _Urth_, when Eata says there was a party there to celebrate Valeria's second marriage. I would tak…
11 Dec 2010, 19:26
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Gerry Quinn wrote: If he had interstellar ships (which would have to If they were just nearly as fast as light, they would have taken four years to reach the nearest star. (Actua…
11 Dec 2010, 19:02
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As this thread is, as Jonas would say, flying off in all directions, I'm taking the liberty of renaming some bits. (I notice from the archives that in the early days of this list,i…
11 Dec 2010, 18:46
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Aha! This makes things a lot clearer to me,because it illuminates something I hadn't grasped earlier; you see Dionysus as a negative figure. (I take it this is so, if you put him i…
10 Dec 2010, 21:38
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It's fairly standard in Christian tradition to see 'Lucifer' and 'Devil/Satan' as different names for the same figure. I'd agree that in origin they are different (and other diabol…
10 Dec 2010, 21:23
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Gerry, I totlally agree with your general point that Tzadkiel's ship isn't the only means of interstellar transport, but I'm worried about some of the details. They resemble the s…
10 Dec 2010, 21:17
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Objections to what? I'm not objecting to the idea that inhumi are connected with Dionysus. I was only questioning your specific statement that 'we agree that he's is the god of the…
09 Dec 2010, 21:39
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Oh, of course. But the question here is not how he understands 'vine' in isolation, but how he understands 'Dionysus, god of the vine'. He presumably knows enough about the history…
09 Dec 2010, 20:04
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I find that most improbable. The title 'god of the vine' is a translation of Greek and Latin phrases which referred to the grape vine. Dionysus was the god of wine and of grapes an…
09 Dec 2010, 17:46
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OK, no problem, then. You seemed to be concerned about anyone who criticised your ideas without immediately producing better ideas - which I certainly haven't been doing, in genera…
09 Dec 2010, 17:26
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Jsmes Wynn wrote: . Dionysus is called the God of Vine, literally. I know of no Historically, 'vine' means grape vine. Its use to mean any climbing plant is quite recent. That is…
08 Dec 2010, 19:47
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Lee Berman wrote: . But once ideas have been put out in public, they are a legitimate subject of argument. You may not find criticism of your ideas helpful, if they efectively so…
08 Dec 2010, 19:43
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Sorry, I was too condensed; no, the cynocephalus doesn't speak. Jane said a dog-headed ape was more surprising than an ape that can speak (the catachrest), and that's what I was c…
07 Dec 2010, 22:24
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It isn't just that it can make human vocalisations; it clearly means what it says (as does Oreb). Both seem to have an intelligence which is sub-human but very real. There are a co…
07 Dec 2010, 15:18
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I am strongly reminded of the stork in _Little, Big_.…
07 Dec 2010, 15:06
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I'm in the middle of reading OBW now, and realise it's dangerous to comment before you have reached the end of a series, but a couple of things occur to me: 1. I'm not sure anyone…
07 Dec 2010, 15:00
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There's no doubt that literature from 'our' time has survived, in a disordered and fragmentary form, into Severian's. Indeed one of the passages used as an epigraph - the Fitzgera…
07 Dec 2010, 14:41
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It has been discussed, I think. That there is some connection - thus making little Severian a relation of Big Severian - is not at all improbable. There is some slight evidence tha…
06 Dec 2010, 18:31
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First I forgot to alter the title, and then I reposted the whole digest. Sorry. I am bad. I will try not to do it again.…
05 Dec 2010, 17:53
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But does this not undemine the idea of Inire keeping a constant watch on Severian, which I thought was one of the things motivated this theory? He clearly is keeping a watch on Se…
05 Dec 2010, 17:40
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Actually there is a St Hethor. Apparently he is one of the martyrs of Chertsey (sometimes spelt Ethor, which may be how you missed him). On the other hand, we are told that Hethor …
05 Dec 2010, 17:26
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Ouen _knows_ that Dorcas is his mother - or at least he has the means easily to work it out; he knows his mother's name, he has her picture, Severian sends him to her immediately a…
04 Dec 2010, 18:30
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Brilliant idea; it explains, what has always puzzled me, why Severian's mother is called Catherine. But I'm not sure it solves the problem of who is who at the mundane level. Does …
04 Dec 2010, 18:26
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Thanks for this, Lee. Let me see what I can make of it. Is Inire a shape-shifter? I'm inclined to say not, because in the scenes where it's most generally agreed we see him, he's…
04 Dec 2010, 18:21
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I agree that there's more to Agia than mees the eye. There are a couple of definite indicators of this: her use of the symbol of the Jurupari (if that's what it was); Agilus' ribb…
03 Dec 2010, 22:35
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It cerainly looks as if it means something. Can you tell me who these characters are and where they are described as monkeys, so i can check it out?…
03 Dec 2010, 22:03
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