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I'm confused---why then do I have the names for all the epigraphs? Perhaps I did some research; that rings a bell.... At any rate, the best argument against G.W. being the source o…
07 Dec 2010, 18:41
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Yes, Wolfe takes his books very seriously. That was something that immediately attracted me to him: he takes his literary in-jokes to the logical limit.…
07 Dec 2010, 02:13
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Possibly. My reading of Mist was that Wolfe was simply mimicking even more closely what editors of Greek and Latin, through the centuries, actually did and still do---since Latro…
07 Dec 2010, 01:59
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We can never be completely sure of anything, can we? ;) Look! is that the Conciliator behind you?…
07 Dec 2010, 01:46
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James, you are on a roll this past week.…
07 Dec 2010, 01:35
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Sorry---I wasn't clear. I'm just saying that's how it's done in translated editions of a work in another language. Wolfe would stick closely to the form he is aping (parodying? a…
07 Dec 2010, 01:33
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That's a deep one, Jeff! Alexander was often shown with horns, if that hasn't been pointed out already. And I forgot to mention his divinity was based on that of the Pharaohs, a…
07 Dec 2010, 01:21
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And another sci-fi trope, put to good use by Wolfe, clicks into place!…
07 Dec 2010, 01:18
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It had to be the translator---who usually functions as an editor---who introduced the titles and, obviously, the epigraphs. Not Severian. Some guy named G.W.…
07 Dec 2010, 01:15
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I missed this comment of James'. Yes, Typhon was definitely Alexander-like in his rapid conquests, whatever they were. That's a great point. And further, Alexander presents an e…
06 Dec 2010, 13:31
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I just saw Roy's calculation that Ouen would have been about 2 years old when Dorcas died, which means at least 1. That would rule out any "normal" childbirth fatality.…
06 Dec 2010, 12:57
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James, I think that's a very insightful observation. Not just relevant to BOTNS etc., but to all of Wolfe's work.…
06 Dec 2010, 12:47
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I have noticed this as well, but in a society in which quantification is not precise, and a mother can die several days after giving birth, this may be exactly correct as far as …
06 Dec 2010, 12:31
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I can't find it---it wasn't Stockton. The one I'm thinking of actually concerns how the Devil became Pope, or made a wizard Pope, simply by being a practicing necromancer and act…
03 Dec 2010, 17:44
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I think I may have read the story just a few months ago. Frank Stockton? --- On Thu, 12/2/10, Ant?nio Pedro Marques <entonio at gmail.com> wrote: From: Ant?nio Pedro Marques <ent…
02 Dec 2010, 17:41
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Actually, I'm not sure anyone has argued that Wright's atheism is the issue. In fact, some (myself included) have argued the opposite: that it is something else that caused right t…
02 Dec 2010, 17:32
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I agree that text #3 is more grounded in intuition than texts #1 and #2. It is certainly fair for a critic to leave it open, even if I personally see it (more or less as I have sai…
30 Nov 2010, 17:11
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I have wondered if the mere fact that Inire does not appear to be associated with any known factions (except the Autarchy itself, his creation [?]) suggests that his most likely …
30 Nov 2010, 13:52
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Certainly literary criticism allows way too much leeway to critics trying to make texts into something they are not, whether to establish themselves or just make a splash. But I …
30 Nov 2010, 03:24
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I'm confused. Whose argument? I don't think Antonio meant to say anything negative about Wright as a person, if in fact he meant Wright's atheism blinded him to certain interpre…
29 Nov 2010, 22:30
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Or, maybe Wright does not fully understand fantasy as a form of literature and believes it amounts to escapism. It's a common error. For Wolfe, fantasy is plainly the opposite of…
29 Nov 2010, 19:26
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I like the idea too. My only concern is that you can find words that match just about anything if you search them all. So, why Serbo-Croatian? Is there a strong pattern of (1) do…
29 Nov 2010, 19:09
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I suppose that's as good a guess as any, but I'm guessing that you are guessing, Antonio. Perhaps you think his atheism got in the way? I don't see why---my atheism doesn't get i…
29 Nov 2010, 19:01
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Why?…
29 Nov 2010, 18:14
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Well argued, Craig. Yes, I think Wolfe is deep enough as a Catholic and an author to be able to weave into his narratives all sorts of apparently contradictory principles. I cou…
29 Nov 2010, 16:13
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Well, it all depends on what mythology arises from the four. The Persians and Egyptians all faced this dilemma: that of many legendary powers of whom only one is True. Which one?…
29 Nov 2010, 16:03
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All good points, and I have no doubt that either Severian's universe or its mechanics or its "worship" of him, or all, are gnostic in pattern or design. But I don't see how anyon…
29 Nov 2010, 13:38
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Nice, James.…
24 Nov 2010, 00:08
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Even better.…
14 Nov 2010, 21:51
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You're right, thank you. Perhaps I should have said "Hieros," covering both.…
14 Nov 2010, 18:26
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Sounds plausible. There are lots of available "green" references, I'm sure. I recall an Andre Norton (I think) novel in which all life on a planet is plants, including the "anima…
14 Nov 2010, 13:38
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Never read that---can you describe it?…
14 Nov 2010, 03:53
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Gerry I don't entirely follow, perhaps because I abandoned the Hierodules-as-actual-angels idea long ago. Urth is obviously far from innocent (and so were the Marquesans and Ha…
14 Nov 2010, 03:52
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You may be right that Wolfe sees polytheism as naturally more tolerant of complexity than monotheism, and maybe even Catholicism more so than Protestantism---Protestantism is cer…
13 Nov 2010, 00:00
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Very nicely put. However, as far as I can tell this is a very Catholic view---God works in mysterious ways, etc. Wolfe only changes it by giving it a galactic scope and perhaps …
12 Nov 2010, 18:57
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Having recently finished Typee, by Herman Melville--- First, there is a character called the Old Leech. Second, near the close of the novel (Chapter 26), Melville clearly condem…
12 Nov 2010, 17:27
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Also, since the "underground place" choked with corpses was called a sewer in the text, there is a strong cloacal connection with the Stables.…
12 Nov 2010, 16:53
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Good catch!…
12 Nov 2010, 16:27
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And the flushing of the vinculum foreshadows the flooding of Urth.…
12 Nov 2010, 13:18
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I agree that concrete is a tough technology to lose. The Romans had it. If anything, modern improvements have only produced weaker, shorter-lived but quicker-setting concrete. I…
29 Oct 2010, 20:55
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I knew it. Brilliant!…
08 Oct 2010, 14:06
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I'll bet there's been an episode where Homer had 2 heads, at least briefly. If not, it's about time! --- On Thu, 10/7/10, Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> wrote: Me too…
07 Oct 2010, 19:59
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In other words, take Rigolio's statement that the gods walked on Urth at face value. For someone with his memories and in his condition, that would be a plain statement of fact, ho…
07 Oct 2010, 15:05
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Exactly! --- On Wed, 10/6/10, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote: From: James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> Subject: Re: (urth) Oldest altar To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth …
06 Oct 2010, 17:44
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Lacking no knowledge about how memory-wiping "works," I can only agree and observe that plainly there is tension between the Typhons' desire, on the one hand, to have their worst…
06 Oct 2010, 12:35
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Very little, I'm sure. But it fits, doesn't it? Severian is the New (White) Sun, also called the Conciliator, the Black Sun. Why not a hidden meaning for the Red Sun?…
01 Oct 2010, 16:45
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The Pope does. --- On Thu, 9/30/10, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com> wrote: From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com> Subject: Re: (urth) note Re: Short Sun blog To:…
30 Sep 2010, 20:52
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And some of them are the color that is more red than red. --- On Thu, 9/30/10, Gerry Quinn <gerryq at indigo.ie> wrote: From: Gerry Quinn <gerryq at indigo.ie> Subject: Re: (urth…
30 Sep 2010, 20:23
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But of course. If the Principle is in everything, then it is in all machines, aquastors, monsters, starships, timeships, hierodules, Yesod, and so on, without affecting whether t…
30 Sep 2010, 11:59
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Good!?I was going to ask ... I like the comparison of Horn to John Carter of Mars. But I only read the first book long ago and have forgotten it. Is there any direction the connect…
29 Sep 2010, 20:11
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