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Ambiguous...but I took this simply to mean that in creating machines that are artificial intelligences and that therefore live and have personalities (and "hearts"), humanity cre…
11 Aug 2000, 22:01
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I agree with this to a certain extent; I always had the impression that Cyriaca was speaking of a modernist separation of "thought" and "feeling." Still, I wonder if perhaps the …
11 Aug 2000, 21:51
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I think it more likely that Jonas' crashed ship was one of the smaller, intrasystem ships--a ship such as the one that ferries Severian and Burgundofara to Urth, for example, or …
12 Jun 2000, 16:12
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Rather like cleaning out a dozen old file cabinets. This happens to most great writers, I think, sooner or later!…
29 May 2000, 05:01
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I'm interested in this, too. I have only a vague recollection of "Out of the Silent Planet," but didn't that novel end with the antagonists being sent back to earth so that they …
27 May 2000, 07:49
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That's interesting; I hadn't thought about connections between Wolfe and Blake. The most obvious link, I think, would be Blake's "desire of raising other men into perception of …
19 May 2000, 19:17
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"John of Patmos" is the name given to the unknown author of what Harold Bloom (and his insignificant follower, me) call a "rancid" book. OTOH, as a heathen, I do think that it ha…
19 Apr 2000, 15:36
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I wonder...would that be beats as in radishes, or beats as in poets?…
27 Mar 2000, 18:19
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It may be that the revolt took him by surprise. From the indications in The Book of the New Sun, he was left abandoned in his divan on the mountain, perhaps deserted there by his…
15 Mar 2000, 17:23
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Tony: That's interesting--I hadn't thought of that. However, it seems a little farfetched--connecting Erebus & Co. to Jonas' story. Still, an interesting theory. I think I like …
01 Dec 1999, 19:01
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Hello! Jim said... (snip) "Scylla and Arioch? Oh who cares. Let's face it - they just don't have the Q Rating the other two do. It was a bad career move on Arioch's part to leav…
01 Dec 1999, 06:13
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Regarding Question # 1: When Severian is talking with Rudesind in chapter V of TSOTT, they mention the theory that Vodalus might hiding "in the forests of Lune." That this sugge…
21 Nov 1999, 06:24
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(snip) Literary solipsism???? What do you mean? How is the manuscript a solipsist document? I assume you're referring to solipsism in the moral sense and not existential solips…
18 Nov 1999, 19:15
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(snip) "Daniel Fusch" writes: (Charles writes) Ah, but Severian changes during the course of TBOTNS. One of his first official acts as Autarch, in Chapter XXXIV of Citadel, is ju…
11 Nov 1999, 02:13
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Hi, Cliff! I just need to disagree with you about ONE more thing. I think you're reading Severian wrong. (snip) "I can't imagine Sev *not* judging the contest, had they lived. H…
09 Nov 1999, 21:50
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Well, argued, Cliff. But I disagree. (snip) "I have always thought that this story illustrates the fact that there is not always a happy ending, and in many cases, no 'ending' …
09 Nov 1999, 05:16
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Tim, I don't think The Urth of the New Sun is a mistake, but it is clearly not to be taken as a sequel to The Book of the New Sun. (Now I know somebody is going to say--But Seve…
06 Nov 1999, 19:09
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Also consider that Severian's "baptism" occurs during the ceremony in which he enters the guild. Master Palaemon sprinkles water upon his brow, if I remember aright. Later, in "T…
06 Nov 1999, 07:18
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Kieran, These are the snippets that really curdled me: (snip) "set inconceivably deep down the aisles of the future" (snip_ "a white hole which scalds and drowns and cleanses th…
05 Nov 1999, 19:16
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(snip) No kidding...when I read that excerpt, it sent linguistic chills up my grammatical/literary spine. It's just awful!…
05 Nov 1999, 19:12
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Jeremy: (snip) "I believe you are referring to "natural theology" or the argument from design, which is the belief that since the world was created by a supernatural being, we (…
04 Nov 1999, 23:57
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About the Claudius/Severian connection: This is very interesting! I had seen the connection before, but only vaguely. I haven't read Graves' work yet (now I will have to!), altho…
04 Nov 1999, 00:27
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Jeremy: (snip) Many years ago Tim Maroney brought all this up on sf-lovers, namely that TBoTNS was fantasy because "if Severian put his arm into a rainbow and pulled out a butte…
03 Nov 1999, 02:13
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C: "This is because the consideration of possible Sounds like we agree! So...let us not cease to discuss the technology. But also let us not miss the symbolism, metaphor, and m…
02 Nov 1999, 21:38
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Carlton: (snip) Instead, the idea that they are simultaneously Precisely. There is a technological level, a metaphorical level, a mythological level, and a spiritual level to al…
02 Nov 1999, 19:29
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alga and mantis, I concede the point. You're right--I hadn't looked that carefully at the sequence at Baldanders' castle. The connection to Faust is definitely there--with the H…
02 Nov 1999, 19:14
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Hello, Patrick! I also am enjoying this forum. About the covers...I couldn't agree more. When I read The Book of the New Sun in paperback, I kept thinking, "What horrible cover …
02 Nov 1999, 19:09
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Hi, Jim! Superior evidence can be a decided advantage! Actually, I was wondering exactly the same thing...are there any good scientists in The Book of the New Sun? That is--scie…
02 Nov 1999, 04:34
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Hello, Michael. (snip) "So it may be the case that some have gone "too far" in using a science fictional reading of Severian's Narrative, but it is within a context of earlier r…
02 Nov 1999, 02:06
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OK, Jim, I have to disagree with this: (snip) "The idea of verifying facts about the world through controlled repetition seems alien to just about everyone with the _possible_ ex…
02 Nov 1999, 01:53
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(snip) Well said! I agree. Daniel…
01 Nov 1999, 20:20
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Well, I'm glad I didn't just annoy everyone by bringing up modernism! Especially glad...I'm having a lot of fun with this discussion. The rest of you people are far more familiar…
28 Oct 1999, 02:14
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North or South--an interesting question. I've always pictured the Commonwealth existing in what is now South America--though I had wondered about the east/west problem. Still...i…
27 Oct 1999, 04:18
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Damien, "The reality of our reality"! Well said! I'd hoped that somebody had written something on the topic at some point. I'll look for those books you mentioned--or are they a…
27 Oct 1999, 04:12
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Shannon, (snip) My point is that good,and Good point! I also discovered many of my favorite books at an early age...Lord of the Rings at age 8, A Wrinkle in Time at age 7 or 8, …
26 Oct 1999, 23:32
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Alex, Thanks for clarifying that. You're right; "Ulysses" and "The Sound and the Fury" are the most frequently taught works of modernist fiction, although we should probably add…
26 Oct 1999, 23:26
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Alex, (snip) "I suspect, though, that the most important literary influences on Wolfe are not modernist--I don't particularly see Joyce, Faulkner, Eliot, or Woolf as key to unde…
26 Oct 1999, 20:59
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alga, Thanks for the reply! Sorry for rambling so much. You said something I was wondering about: (snip) "Bradbury and LeGuin will last as children's authors. Miller will last f…
26 Oct 1999, 20:24
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Jim, (snip) "I add this (depressing) thought: Wolfe's writing may be so complex, and so dependent on the tropes of SF, that he will never make it into a "canon." It is hard to i…
26 Oct 1999, 20:01
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Hello, William. I'm glad you're not offended. (snip) "I haven't dared reply to you myself. You have overwhelmed me with your knowledge of literature <g>." That's all right. You…
26 Oct 1999, 07:50
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OK, now that I've confused myself as to who has posted which messages, I'll address this reply to alga. alga, I agree with several things you said. I think Wolfe's work is like…
26 Oct 1999, 07:24
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Sorry, William Ansley! This message was written by Michael (Rostrum)...I thought I was replying to you! Many apologies!!! "We have some data to consider the question. Severian …
26 Oct 1999, 06:44
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William Ansley: snip: "We have some data to consider the question. Severian repeats several stories not of his own invention. Do they show any of the same idiosyncrasies as Seve…
26 Oct 1999, 00:55
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William Ansley: snip: "Whether Severian is a reliable narrator or not, he is certainly an unsatisfactory one by any of the usual standards of story telling." But what ARE the "us…
24 Oct 1999, 21:23
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Alex, An insightful commentary. I don't think I would argue that Severian is a liar; I don't think he is. I agree with you; Severian tries to tell the truth. However, I think Se…
18 Oct 1999, 18:10
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Hello! I also have a question about Ossipago, come to think of it. Can the reader intuit from reading The Book of the New Sun that Ossipago is a robot? If not, then it seems ver…
18 Oct 1999, 01:47
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Hello. This is my first post to this list. I first came across The Book of the New Sun two years ago, at the recommendation of a literary agent, and I have been hooked ever sinc…
17 Oct 1999, 20:43
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