-
The name of the story I think you are looking for is "The Cat". Toward the end of Citadel I think, Severian ponders that he seems to have revived Triskele before he received The…
29 Jan 2011, 04:18
-
I feel like mentioning that, with full admiration for Gene Wolfe, he was as we all are, a product of his times. It has been discussed previously how BotNS was probably influenced b…
28 Jan 2011, 20:27
-
I think so. I would say that there are three differences to be found in the text between Severian's fleshly ingestion of the autarch and others' ingestions. One is, as you ment…
28 Jan 2011, 20:11
-
Well, I certainly felt that was the spirit of the text for many years, but doubts always lurked. Master Ash says that in the Ragnarok future, most of humanity will be saved. With t…
28 Jan 2011, 03:29
-
Thanks Ryan. It's good to be reminded of that. Don't worry I am not upset. There was just a misunderstanding. I've know that some people are here to knock down the ideas of othe…
27 Jan 2011, 16:29
-
I have said that if the old person is seen as a woman some important things about this story are clarified for me. I also cited two specific collections of items from the text whic…
27 Jan 2011, 13:40
-
In one BotNS passage, Wolfe seems to tell his readers that everything can be interpreted at three levels, the plowman's, the soothsayer's and the transcendental. I take him at his …
27 Jan 2011, 06:10
-
Oh, should mention Severian using Terminus Est as a staff. But perhaps more relevant, Severian is using a staff when he returns to Urth as the Conciliator. Ceryx snaps that staff…
26 Jan 2011, 22:33
-
Okay I guess I must add, why Agia has a low voice, why Thecla has a masculine gait and enjoys wearing men's clothing, why the Autarch is rendered androgynous (when a simple vasecto…
26 Jan 2011, 22:10
-
It does seem he prefers an actively engaged reader. The gold and lead connection is a good one! But why the need for "pft!". Is each metaphor restricted to one meaning only to t…
26 Jan 2011, 21:15
-
Do you mean Silk and his vine? Good call! BTW, aside from grapes and vines and wine, Dionysus was known for carrying a staff. It was called a "thyrsus". Made of fennel, usually…
26 Jan 2011, 20:20
-
Argh, that would be a mean trick; especially if meant to target his most devoted fans. Still we have all these fishy family clues swimming around the text and, after 30 years, they…
26 Jan 2011, 16:54
-
Heh. If you must. I'm more comfortable with the "Father Inire theory". Despite the myriad possible connections to other characters, Inire remains the nexus point, his invisible fi…
26 Jan 2011, 03:59
-
Actually whale vs. fish fins are one of those classic examples of convergent evolution. Fish (ancient and modern) mostly have fins built on a fan-shaped pattern of spiny rays. Wha…
26 Jan 2011, 00:27
-
I understand what you are saying but it is a different question being addressed. The Wikipedia quote Gerry cited was: "a great deal of genetic variation is hidden in the form …
25 Jan 2011, 22:56
-
Argh! First it was Roy giving my ideas an Einsteinian label (Grand Unified Theory), now I have been von Danikenized! Sheesh. J/K but really my ideas are not meant to carry any scie…
25 Jan 2011, 21:37
-
Gerry we are a bit closer to understanding on these issues. I misunderstood what you were getting at with "natural country type". I thought you meant there could be no prevalent v…
25 Jan 2011, 20:24
-
I don't have an objection to this interpretation. My main point is that if the shadowy, jungle-dwelling, individualist sorcerers are against the coming of the New Sun, it may be th…
24 Jan 2011, 20:52
-
Thanks James. It is interesting and good to know that Wolfe's idea for the name Ascian had only to do with the equator-dwelling mistake and not with Asia or America. I would disa…
24 Jan 2011, 16:24
-
Yes, I agree. Good find!. And I think it goes beyond the memory thing. The term "dithyramb" is used. And this from the third paragraph: These are direct references to Nietzsche …
24 Jan 2011, 13:38
-
Gerry, I later realized I can answer two of my questions to you myself. When you mention "those who believe in race" you are referring to sort of a polarizing notion in anthropolog…
24 Jan 2011, 04:02
-
I think it makes intuitive sense. Mixing up gene combinations is essential for survival of a gene line allowing organismal adaptability. Sexual creatures do it, but even most asexu…
23 Jan 2011, 23:50
-
Okay, then I am willing to give it one last go-around. It occurred to me that is the trait of discussion were kidney shape or histone frequency or other non-visible items it would …
23 Jan 2011, 14:07
-
Gerry, I wasn't going to continue this thread but you seem so intensely interested in the subject, which is my field of speciality, I'm willing to give it one last try if the List…
23 Jan 2011, 04:16
-
Thanks Andrew. A very useful quote in trying to understand Wolfe's mind and intention with regard to humans from other planets vs. alien races or monsters.…
23 Jan 2011, 00:32
-
Gerry, I just can't maintain that tone you prefer to communicate in for paragraph after paragraph. So I'll just gently mention a few corrections of your last post for whomever mig…
22 Jan 2011, 13:11
-
LMAO, nah, something much worse. Anthropologist. But there is an anthro-linguistic principle called "code switching". Roughly means, "people understand you best when you speak in t…
22 Jan 2011, 04:34
-
I am married to a Chinese-American and know her family well. I can testify that this is a real phenomenon I have been aware of for some time. A traditional Chinese family is not …
22 Jan 2011, 01:34
-
Gerry Quinn wrote (21-01-2011 20:10): There is something to what Antonio says but not only because humans use cultural flexibility to adapt to our environments. It is also becau…
21 Jan 2011, 21:21
-
I still think a discussion of actual racial features is wrong-headed in a discussion of Ascians. I think the issue is diversity. North America, especially Wolfe's beloved USA has a…
21 Jan 2011, 20:41
-
Actually, Witz, I think you are on the right track with this. I went through much of the same thought processes you have, though a sticking point was always that I had an intuition…
21 Jan 2011, 13:01
-
Agreed. In fact I'll go so far as to say the sexual morals in most of Gene wolfe's work mirror that of the society Gene WOlfe actually lives in. I don't say this to mean that Gene…
21 Jan 2011, 03:16
-
No, that's okay. Feel free to single me out. Lightning rod is a part of my chosen role. So true. But perhaps control is not the goal. Well, actually that was Witz. But your p…
21 Jan 2011, 02:36
-
Wow, interesting re-interpretation. I wonder what Marc will think of it. I generally think that connections on the Whorl are more likely to be electronic where they are biological…
20 Jan 2011, 21:07
-
They would be. And I think (based on the descriptions) we can be secure in thinking this doesn't mean Native Americans. Moreover Agia is repulsed by the appearance of Ascians and s…
20 Jan 2011, 20:54
-
Liar. ;- )…
20 Jan 2011, 20:21
-
They do. But my continued point is that these are not people. They are creations with a purpose in everything they say and do. With all the praise that has been heaped upon Gene …
20 Jan 2011, 20:18
-
Marc Aramini: ."very frustrating" These are discouraging, frustrating words to hear. I understand the psychology. Criticizing theories provides much more adrenaline to thos…
20 Jan 2011, 19:57
-
Agreed on all accounts (except I think Son O' Witz also contributed good points). The only defense I'll raise for my Agia=assassin theory goes back to Fifth Head of Cerberus. As …
20 Jan 2011, 19:38
-
Heh. Would you be true to yourself if you always did? I suspect not. It is! This place would suck without any gatekeepers. But it can go too far. And I think it often has. That'…
20 Jan 2011, 18:23
-
I agree that Hethor babbles on too much about his poppet for it to be meaningless. And nobody else has come up with anything approaching a plausible theory about the subject. You a…
20 Jan 2011, 18:08
-
This makes both human psychological sense and Wolfean sense. If a woman finds herself revived and unaged after many years and encounters an adult son or other descendent who resemb…
20 Jan 2011, 16:42
-
I would say no. Because even at the end of CotA, we know Severian's true fulfillment is not as autarch but as something higher. As we see in UotNS that fulfillment is found on the …
20 Jan 2011, 16:04
-
I like a lot of Jeff's ideas, often very deep and insightful. But not this one. My feeling of his summation of Agia is: well, she's just some girl. Kind of emotional, has some unr…
20 Jan 2011, 06:10
-
Does dream travel count as a psychic ability? Does the ability to appear blond-haired count?…
19 Jan 2011, 21:53
-
Yes, my question pertained to practical reasons. Even if there is debate on the original appearance of this family (I tend to think Cilinia gave rise to great Scylla), the questio…
19 Jan 2011, 20:34
-
Ah yes. :-) This seems like a very congenial approach to discussion. Sorry I didn't see this before my previous post. I do that sort of thing too- take a theory I don't necessary…
19 Jan 2011, 20:05
-
Heh. Just because Silk is "the main character" for us readers does not mean he is the main character in every character's life. There were many unmentioned cities on the whorl. Who…
19 Jan 2011, 19:35
-
I think the mythological comparison gains relevance if it is clarified that the one who killed and dismembered Osiris was his brother, Typhon-Set. In a cognate Greek story, Typho…
19 Jan 2011, 15:35
-
I understand the arguments for why Silk might be derived from Typhon. I understand the arguments for why he might not be. I don't understand the arguments for why it is impossibl…
19 Jan 2011, 15:08
Urth Net