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I believe that the Orthodox Churches view Catholicism as a schismatic church, as Catholicism views the Orthodox Churches. Schism and heresy are distinct. There are very few theol…
24 Nov 2008, 19:48
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Pissing match avoided. I didn't mean to suggest that the New Sun meant "only" death. John 12:24, which Dostoevsky chose as the epigram for The Brothers Karamazov, gets right at it…
24 Nov 2008, 18:55
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That's...improbable?…
24 Nov 2008, 17:49
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Isn't it likely that the secret of the guild is associated somehow with the destruction Severian brings as the New Sun? I.e., the secret is that the Conciliator is a torturer, and…
22 Nov 2008, 20:39
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I think Silk's guilt was playing out in that scene. He'd already done enough to Horn's family, he couldn't let Jahlee do more. Doesn't make it ok, of course.…
22 Nov 2008, 02:01
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That's not my point at all. I really couldn't care less, as a reader, whether an author indulges in heterodox Christian, or non-Christian, thought. However, I think we err if we …
21 Nov 2008, 21:18
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I think what's being undersold here is the significance of Wolfe's own Catholicism. I think it's pretty unlikely that we're meant to understand Severian literally Jesus. In fact, …
21 Nov 2008, 20:29
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It seems that Wolfe is doing a bit of sleight of hand there. Most people would accept a distinction between Severian's facilitating Thecla's suicide and Severian's duties as a tor…
20 Nov 2008, 22:52
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There's something profound there. If God is, as Christians hold, Goodness and Wisdom and Love, then anyone who is good or wise or loving in some way acts as God. But only in a ve…
20 Nov 2008, 22:16
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Naturally it's applicable to Severian. Wolfe makes it pretty clear, I think, that he finds Severian's profession to be repugnant. Severian's journey, unlike the journey of Christ…
20 Nov 2008, 19:54
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That "act as if" stuff seems to be a huge part of all of Wolfe's books. Wolfe is always working with the idea that you are the thing you do, that we freely choose our actions and …
20 Nov 2008, 15:08
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No. I AM SPARTACUS!…
20 Nov 2008, 01:45
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Well, Christian theologians think they have a pretty good answer to this, but I'm not sure it's worth delving into now. Suffice it to say that Christians believe that the Logos wa…
19 Nov 2008, 20:39
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This is subtle. I'm not sure if I agree with you or disagree with you. I think that it's likely that Wolfe, who once called Severian "an aspect of the Increate," is thinking of i…
19 Nov 2008, 20:21
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"Hypostasis" is the wrong term for what I think you're trying to convey. In Christianity the term is used of Christ to refer to how He can be simultaneously God and Man. Other hu…
19 Nov 2008, 19:07
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Perhaps to head off the misunderstandings, we should say that Severian is the emblem or sign of the Logos, rather than the Logos itself. As for this: it's more or less correct. …
19 Nov 2008, 18:52
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I just figured Severian was sun-browned from his travels by the time he meets Cyriaca, but pale from his time in the Citadel back in Shadow.…
13 Nov 2008, 21:03
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Then, brunians, I think we're on the same page as to what the Republic is about.…
06 Nov 2008, 22:24
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Hey, brunians. I've got a yes or no question for you. I think this will clarify, to me, whether you and I are on the same page with regard to your point (B) above. In your opini…
06 Nov 2008, 20:36
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I wonder about those interviews. They certainly seem sillier than the political stuff at work in his novels, particularly Long Sun. I think he likes saying things for effect.…
05 Nov 2008, 15:57
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I was rooting, a little less than whole-heartedly, for the other guy. But certainly congratulations are in order for a historic night and a remarkable man. I wonder how that guy i…
05 Nov 2008, 14:34
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Gene Wolfe is 77. He does not have infinite additional books. I know he has two upcoming, stand-alone novels. That said, it will be a minor tragedy if he does not write a fourth L…
05 Nov 2008, 02:28
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The Rats in the Walls as well.…
04 Nov 2008, 18:21
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"Gideon of the Forest" recalls "Vodalus of the Wood," doesn't it? Could be another clue that Gid is on the side of the Squid God.…
29 Oct 2008, 04:48
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Do we have a unified devil theory in Wolfe's works yet? Someone out there must understand the relationships, both in symbol, and, where applicable, in plot, among the Squid God, t…
28 Oct 2008, 18:57
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Excellent reply. Thanks. I did in fact get the bit about Ba'al--in fact, I'd known that and forgotten it from long ago. Once you know that "Beelzebub" means "Lord of the Flies" …
20 Oct 2008, 15:36
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Of course--I'm not using Chesterton as gold-star history here. The question is whether we can infer that Wolfe had the sacrifices to Phoenician false gods in mind when he threw th…
20 Oct 2008, 12:13
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Phoenicia, Aethiopia--either way it's where Baal was worshipped, right? They had human sacrifices, at least according to the Bible. Chesterton has a whole bit on it in The Everlas…
20 Oct 2008, 11:16
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Oh, well-caught. It was Israel, wasn't it? Phoenician Aethiopia included the Levant.…
20 Oct 2008, 10:50
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Heh. I did too. I need to reread.…
16 Oct 2008, 16:05
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Two thoughts. However Severian's miracles work, he has a bit of a dry spell after giving up the Claw in Citadel. Maybe it's all in his head. Second, regardless of when Severian-t…
15 Oct 2008, 04:06
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It's my impression that the Severian and Thecla personalities and memories are far more prominent. Neither the old Autarch nor his predecessors had either the Claw, which made The…
14 Oct 2008, 21:33
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As for "how that works," you don't count as a Catholic because you haven't been confirmed and have no intent to be confirmed. You can't be "unbaptised" in the Church's eyes or any…
10 Oct 2008, 17:03
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On a related note, does anyone know if Wolfe will be attending any other conventions or otherwise travelling to promote An Evil Guest?…
30 Sep 2008, 14:11
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The eugenics connection is, I think correct. As for no one being "heartless" enough to kill a "defective" child post delivery, I direct you to noted ethicist Peter Singer. Money …
21 Sep 2008, 23:08
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Spoilers--I also finished this morning. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I can't answer all of that, but "Arthur Thomas Franklin" is a government agency--presumably slang …
21 Sep 2008, 22:23
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I'd add "Queen" and "Slow Children at Play." At least.…
21 Aug 2008, 20:54
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I took is as explicitly not a Eucharist. Cake contrasts with bread, water contrasts with wine, God only knows what the "milky fluid" was.…
23 Jul 2008, 13:08
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I'm not here to question your personal religious views. But your second-to-last sentence is not orthodox Catholic theology--we can't assume that Wolfe agrees with it on the basis …
21 Jul 2008, 01:25
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I'm not debating whether it sucks equally for the person dying; I'm debating whether the morality of the person doing the killing is the same. Another way to put it--the moral aut…
21 Jul 2008, 01:11
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You know what, I'll elaborate on that. When God kills people off in Revelations, He knows, with certainty, what's awaiting them in the afterlife. Death is a lot less significant …
20 Jul 2008, 23:57
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I didn't mean to be snarky. I'm simply saying that bringing about the end of the world is distinguishable from killing everyone as part of a breeding program.…
20 Jul 2008, 23:47
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Yes. Are you suggesting that Urth of the New Sun be read as a Catholic, sci-fi version of Left Behind?…
20 Jul 2008, 21:26
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It's interesting that you accuse me of arguing in bad faith. You seem to believe that I have an agenda--namely, to show that Gene Wolfe is some kind of "secular humanist." I can …
20 Jul 2008, 20:51
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At least one quibble--"Tzadkiel" is the name of an angel in the Jewish mystical tradition. That tradition, like the Kabbalah, is outside the Christian tradition. Catholics normal…
19 Jul 2008, 14:28
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Well, um, I'm an idiot. That's about as clear as it's going to get. I could quibble that Apheta might be lying, but I have no idea why she'd care to. I wish we knew the "why," h…
18 Jul 2008, 20:27
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I don't know about Paul, but I'd be more interested if we focus on the question of whether the Hierogrammates are intended to be (unfallen) angels by Gene Wolfe. Without my books …
18 Jul 2008, 20:18
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Could it just be Wolfe saying that if you're married to someone for long enough, their personality imprints onto your mind?…
18 Jul 2008, 03:42
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I'm aware of that, though the identity of the panther is problematic. Wolfe simply calls him the "All-Beast" in the chapter title. Qanju, the speaker in the passage I quoted may be…
18 Jul 2008, 02:51
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My wild theory as to the origin of the black hole in the sun is the panther from *Soldier of Sidon*. Of course, it's far from established that the Latro books take place in the sa…
17 Jul 2008, 23:55
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