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The other statement is not exactly a lie either. "An actress with no more vocal control than that? Perhaps I may tread the boards myself someday. I couldn't be worse" (p. 250). I…
06 Jan 2009, 12:13
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The gender of the Takanga Ha'i assassin is highly ambiguous. The doctor says it was once human and female, but that his opinion hardly matters. Chase may have been mistaken in thin…
05 Jan 2009, 23:52
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Chase told Cassie his best ideas on who shot him on pp. 203-204. 1) He was convinced it wasn't Reis, that Reis only wanted to get him medical help and enlist him. Chase must have …
05 Jan 2009, 11:21
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Mortals can kill other mortals in Fairyland; Hwan Lee shot Jose Balanco in "Castleview." Mortals can also kill monsters there; Able killed Grengarm in "The Knight." On the other…
04 Jan 2009, 12:38
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Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was her maiden name, and despite the French sound of that she was primarily of Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. Kennedy is a well-known Irish name. T…
02 Jan 2009, 14:06
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This is not the Fairyland of "happily ever after," but a land of dangerous adventures. Cassie is advised to go armed and not to talk to the fish. Wolfe's Fair Folk are never all …
02 Jan 2009, 14:04
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Corundum crystals are formed in nature under extreme heat and pressure, probably sufficient to burn up the thorn inside. I think the original idea of an artificial sapphire which…
01 Jan 2009, 18:29
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Yes. I thought that was so obvious it went without saying, but I've done a lot of cryptic crosswords.…
29 Dec 2008, 13:45
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My take is that Baldanders is only pretending to be talking in his sleep. He's playing his role as a dim-witted giant here, instead of the articulate genius he actually is.…
29 Dec 2008, 13:42
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I think Hanga is amoral and hungry, like a shark. He pledged friendship to Baden, but couldn't be made to understand that he shouldn't eat Baden's family. As King Kanoa says, he'…
29 Dec 2008, 01:07
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At the post"Red Spot" party, Wolfe includes some interactions between Norma and Vince. I'd like to look at them for clues to see if they were ever married. That may help clarify …
27 Dec 2008, 14:25
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It might be useful to compare Long Sun/Short Sun with Pirate Freedom, where God seems to take a direct hand (indeed, a divine miracle seems to be the only available explanation f…
26 Dec 2008, 21:45
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As you say, she has no audience here. I have to believe the love is real. Even if she does ultimately end up with Chase, it doesn't undercut the sincerity of her feelings. Bill is …
24 Dec 2008, 22:48
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Mo Holkar wrote: I must have missed something here. Why do we postulate any connection between Mme Pavlatos and Reis's first wife? Other than general suspicion of Wolfean reluctan…
24 Dec 2008, 18:47
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I'm glad that someone caught my point. In general, time-travelers would have to be very careful about changing the conception circumstances of anyone important. I don't think Se…
24 Dec 2008, 11:55
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I tend to see Kanoa as a spy for Cthulhu from the beginning. His phony, exaggerated British speech is meant to make people underestimate him (like Captain Bram Bert). What thing…
24 Dec 2008, 00:30
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Here is some additional evidence: there is a huge palace on Takanga Ha'i, "terrace after terrace... accented with palms" (247). How long would it take to build such a place with …
23 Dec 2008, 23:42
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You may have something here. The "comforted her like a mother" is very telling. It bothers me that Pavlatos seems like a Greek name and Rian is Irish/Gaelic, but the "Madame" sug…
23 Dec 2008, 23:13
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Not to mention Sir Able of the High Heart, healed and performance-enhanced with fey intervention.…
23 Dec 2008, 17:41
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The idea that it was a spiritual malady is interesting. Reis said "A defective heart valve is what they said, although I think it was really something else" (p. 277). Whatever it…
23 Dec 2008, 13:16
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Merlin's love interest was usually Viviane (aka Nimue), the Lady of the Lake, not Guinevere. Wolfe followed this line in "The Magic Animal." Viviane and Morgan le Fey are combine…
23 Dec 2008, 12:02
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I don't believe Wolfe does intractable time loops, whether in "Free Live Free" or in "The Book of the New Sun." (I don't think "Pirate Freedom" is intractable either, though I have…
22 Dec 2008, 18:43
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Let's try the other, then. Mistaken Reis: 1) T, 2) F, 3) T, 4) F. He simply forgot about the brown dress, or omitted it because it didn't fit his "green goddess" compliment. This…
22 Dec 2008, 12:16
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I brought it up a couple of months ago, along with some additional twists. Here is my reference: http://lists.urth.net/htdig.cgi/urth-urth.net/2008-October/010311.html In brief, …
21 Dec 2008, 23:33
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That may be true of Roy's original theory, but not of my revised version (that Reis saw her before the glamour, using Aaberg as his spy). Chase simply took her home -- no extra s…
21 Dec 2008, 12:27
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My theory is that Sharon ferreted out the information that Norma was the ex-wife of a famous rich former ambassador and approached Norma for an interview. Norma managed to get he…
20 Dec 2008, 14:15
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If Reis had come to see Cassie full of love from the beginning I would have to agree with you that he only saw her in glamorized form. He didn't: he came with murderous intent be…
20 Dec 2008, 14:05
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Good catch on the loden wool. I was just looking it up because I wanted to find other mentions of wool garments (besides Norma's black wool coat), but I missed the color clue in th…
19 Dec 2008, 23:51
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There may also be wheels within wheels as far as her motivations for getting close to Cassie. 1) Reis may have put her up to it initially, as part of a trap. 2) The ATF may have fo…
19 Dec 2008, 23:40
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Here's a page that appears to be about that castle, with a picture: http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/vianden.htm I looked on Google Maps for other interesting locations near Ba…
19 Dec 2008, 20:14
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I recently re-read "Castleview" and I put some references and comments about it on http://www.wolfewiki.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WolfeWiki.Castleview. References: - The song Wi…
19 Dec 2008, 17:54
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Reis had a lot of enemies, including the F.B.I., the A.T.F., and Cthulhu cultists. He would be sensible to take any number of precautions when going to a public place where someo…
19 Dec 2008, 12:34
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I like I suggestion I saw on the lists here recently that her power is extra-strong when she is performing on stage. It makes both the play and the audience more real to her, as …
19 Dec 2008, 05:11
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I don't think Cassie was infused with a different spirit. Chase speaks of energizing her innate star potential (p. 41). I pretty much gave up on the "Washer at the Ford" theory a…
19 Dec 2008, 04:51
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I don't know if it is relevant (Wolfe might have made a mistake), but there I wouldn't worry about the plural discrepancy. India probably gave him two tickets in case he chose to …
18 Dec 2008, 23:45
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I had the impression he wrote it for her (as part of a trap, initially). Reis seems to admit it here: "I'm financing the show you're in as a vehicle for you, Cassie." (p. 144). I b…
18 Dec 2008, 19:44
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I read and enjoyed it a long time ago (before reading much Wolfe), and also his "Demon Prince" series, which I liked for style and culture-building. From this list, I started r…
18 Dec 2008, 12:35
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I'm still unsure, but the idea is growing on me a little. There's the odd change of names at the end: "Oh Bill, my poor Bill. Why did you have to die?"..."Please, oh please Wally…
18 Dec 2008, 12:24
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The textual basis for giving Klauser a longer-than-normal term is the apparent age of Gideon Chase. An effective ambassador might be kept on, especially if a president was succee…
17 Dec 2008, 11:28
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// Here is an approximate timeline, based on 2066 = /Star Trek/+100 years ("One hundred years ago, men dreamed of it [space travel]. They thought there'd be a world government b…
16 Dec 2008, 22:36
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More candidates for the three most evil men in the world: 1) The man who set up the illusion-cult tomb in "Memorare" (his statue looks like Gene Wolfe). 2) King Kanoa, probably a…
16 Dec 2008, 22:12
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Cassie appears to be much more honest in reporting things to Chase than to any other person. You can always count on her to lie, at least by omission, to anyone else. That might …
15 Dec 2008, 08:19
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How much a person lies and why gives important insights into his or her character. Cassie lies compulsively, even in situations where the other person knows she is lying ("I won …
15 Dec 2008, 08:08
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If Bill was actually in the "empty" seat the whole time, then perhaps "You were wearing green the first time I saw you," is a lie and yet not a lie. During the play Cassie was pr…
15 Dec 2008, 00:27
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Reis admits to Cassie early on that he started out trying to entrap and destroy her (pp. 125, 145). He eventually admits that the gold bracelet was radioactive (p. 270). "(Reis) …
14 Dec 2008, 22:54
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I'm not too convinced of the Rian-clone theory, but another bit of evidence is his name. It means "Little King." Since Ries is the King, it seems like a "Mini-me" sort of name. …
14 Dec 2008, 12:26
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The idea that Yaweh (the Creator as shown in the Old Testament) is a different being than the God of the New Testament has been rejected as heresy by the Church from the time of …
12 Dec 2008, 20:49
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Jader's sister. Jader was a boy Severian healed in Thrax (in SotL). His sister's full name is never given.…
12 Dec 2008, 20:42
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I believe these assumptions about immortality of aquastors, and even Severian himself, to be unwarranted. Aquastors can age, be injured, or die. One of the B,F and O trio even sa…
12 Dec 2008, 20:36
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It could also be the spirit of Bill Reis, appearing as Vince Palma to avoid causing her too much grief. There are many connections between Reis and Palma; he seems almost like an…
12 Dec 2008, 20:19
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