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Ryan, I think we are basically in agreement. I don't think we can always tells where Severian's unreliability is due to him being deliberately deceptive or just that he is a bit d…
13 Oct 2011, 15:12
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Andrew Mason: I can understand this parsimony. An obscured face seems to be one of the primary markers of an Inire appearance. Yes, the physical resemblance and the shaman/i…
13 Oct 2011, 14:50
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Good points, Andrew. But we must remember that Severian is writing his story after being both Thecla and becoming Autarch. He surely knows most if not all of the places where Fath…
13 Oct 2011, 14:16
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The Jungle Guide is the little guy in the mask, the shaman, who leads Vodalus' group through the jungle after leaving the ziggurat ("isangoma" is an African word for shaman). It ma…
13 Oct 2011, 13:40
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I think those are pretty good guesses for Inire appearances. The cowled servitor does appear in Father Inire's wing of the House Absolute. And the appearance of the Jungle Guide in…
12 Oct 2011, 21:01
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I think this is right. I think David Stockhoff came to a similar conclusion a year or two ago... Or perhaps that was a discussion of the Shadow Children from 5HoC. Doesn't matter…
12 Oct 2011, 20:40
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Yes. The pieces fit together. Heh, funny! Actually I agree with you that Borski's 20 pages of Solar Labyrinth "onomastics" where he connects every name in BotNS with every ot…
12 Oct 2011, 16:17
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Yes. I think this cuts to the crux of the debate. For some readers, Wolfe's work seems to be a collection of rippingly good yarns. Any perception of an overarching philosophy and …
12 Oct 2011, 15:33
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Sorry I missed your post Larry. Some interesting ideas! There are a few Latin words for stones and rocks. "Calculus" is most specifically for "pebble" which became associated with …
12 Oct 2011, 15:09
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I'm thinking James' question might have had a whimsical tone rather than being meant as a strict, literal query but I do think you are right Marc. Thus the "secret of the inhumi".…
12 Oct 2011, 12:44
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I don't think so. Again, I will invoke Typhon's namesake, the Mandragora. For me the connection between these characters is nearly undeniable and I find the prospect of Severian…
12 Oct 2011, 01:50
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Welcome Larry! I generally agree with most of your conclusions posted so far. The question of alien vs. human origins is not so clear cut for me. My interpretation of the Sun …
11 Oct 2011, 15:13
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Antonio Pedro Marques: Well, I don't know a lot about architecture but I remember the Arc de Triomphe in Paris being quadrifronic http://middlezonemusings.com/wp-content/uploads…
22 Aug 2011, 13:10
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Thanks Jeff. I think the left hand is clearly shown to be complete. Unfortunately, like every other photo I've found, the right hand shot may leave room for the ring finger to be…
20 Jun 2011, 14:42
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Nice to see you again, James! BTW, I still consider your 1996 interview with Gene Wolfe to be a watershed moment in understanding his work. I quote from it often. Who are you an…
17 Jun 2011, 12:17
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I've wondered about this question for years. I hadn't heard the polio story but Wolfe does mention having a serious leg injury as a child from a bike accident. As you say, he cou…
16 Jun 2011, 19:28
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This sentiment claws to the heart of the Sun Series for me, especially BotNS. It may be that Wolfe considers the problem of which world to consider "superior" and "True" to be …
14 Jun 2011, 12:16
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Some good ideas are being tossed around. David mention of the "darker than black" concept made me consider the (unlikely) possibility that Wolfe had anticipated dark matter. Could…
09 Jun 2011, 12:27
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Well, I think we have four examples of mirrors: Father Inire's, the Old Autarch's book, Hethor's and the ship sails. I am inclined to think all four are meant to be essentially the…
08 Jun 2011, 17:08
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Agree. Factory on Urth. Parts can be stored on the Whorl but not manufactured, hence their scarcity. I think something like that. She has been programmed to clean up black specks…
02 Jun 2011, 14:53
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I agree. I think this is a great way to look at Wolfe's work. My own leaning is to attribute the Campbellian monomyth as a function of human psychology, culture and society. While…
31 May 2011, 14:46
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Thanks, James, for these Silk and Quetzel quotes. They do support my view of the immortality of Sun Series gods- they can be eliminated or destroyed in some manner but they always …
31 May 2011, 03:25
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I can imagine. Still I'm glad you made the attempt. If I can't match you for your scholarship on the subject, I can at least say I agree with your approach. It may be a minority o…
30 May 2011, 03:56
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Andrew Mason: "..Great Erebus, who has established his kingdom there, will soon be driven before them, with all his fierce, pale warriors. He will unite his strength with Abaia's…
29 May 2011, 23:13
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Oh, you meant Thecla. Got it. In UotNS she has all but faded, so in my broad concept of Severian, I don't consider her as important a part of him as the middle three books of BotN…
28 May 2011, 07:18
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Yes, I would agree. Not only was the Cold War on in full force in the 70's, Gene Wolfe can be fairly labelled as having a history of a Cold Warrior. Not to suggest he was a blinder…
27 May 2011, 12:11
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I certainly don't like a "multi-verse" explanation for inconsistencies either. But given the Ymar-Typhon inconsistencies and some other stuff, I'm guessing Wolfe was willing to put…
26 May 2011, 13:08
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Severian is a known bisexual. Surely we don't. Though I think there are suggestions he is a closeted bisexual. Perhaps with some pedophilic tendencies also. In context, I wonde…
26 May 2011, 12:32
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I agree with this approach for many of WOlfe's mysteries. We have a story with many gaps left unexplained but we are provided with multiple source materials. Where one source does…
25 May 2011, 23:35
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Perhaps I should have said "mock your intelligence". I am not by nature a mocking or sarcastic sort of person. My guess is that any disparaging remark made by me toward Gerry has …
25 May 2011, 18:59
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Hm. Isn't the Antichrist supposed to be the son of Satan and some mortal woman? Or have I been watching too many errant movies?…
25 May 2011, 18:45
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This is a very personal objection to my view, Sergei and I respect it. I wouldn't try to diminish your enjoyment of Wolfe's work by insisting my view is in any way superior to yo…
25 May 2011, 18:43
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Don't be a butthole , Gerry. Whom does your sarcasm benefit? The book Gene Wolfe wrote contains characters such as Vodalus, Hildegren, The Cumaean and the Old Leech and Ceryx who a…
25 May 2011, 17:44
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I don't see how the Biblical parallels undermine my view of the connection between Ceryx and Typhon. I would say they bolster them. We have a Severian-Typhon encounter which echoe…
25 May 2011, 12:43
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That is exactly what my original point was, and why speakers of other languages might see through the Cas/Dorcas disguise better than native speakers. Jeff kinda steered the conve…
25 May 2011, 00:05
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I consider the whole episode with Zama and his resurrection to be a part of Severian's encounter with Ceryx. Severian's power of healing, life and death is proven. You are right…
24 May 2011, 20:15
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I have no trouble saying "smoke" because the "s" is not in the middle of the word. I can say "Cass does" easily IF I say it as two separate words. If I say it quickly, as one word,…
24 May 2011, 20:02
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Me too when it works for me. Sometimes (like today) it doesn't. And I face Jerry's problem with random excerpting also.…
24 May 2011, 19:57
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Oh yeah! I forgot Jason duplicated Cadmus' actions with the dragon teeth soldiers. Sheesh! Somebody has to have the text handy to report on whether this activity occurs in the Fr…
24 May 2011, 17:52
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Well, regional and individual dialects differ. But "Z" is the voiced analog of the unvoiced "S" sound. "D" is voiced. It is a general linguistic rule in AmE (thanks to Antonio fo…
24 May 2011, 17:41
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Nice response, Gerry! I would agree with most of it. I agree that if Ymar is meant to be Frog it was a contrivance made for UotNS only. It would involve Wolfe saying, "okay, I've i…
24 May 2011, 17:20
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On first reading James' hypothesis that Frog=Ymar it had the immediate ring of truth for me, sort of along the lines of his Typhon-Alexander connection. The Typhon-Spring Wind (ad…
24 May 2011, 13:22
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Antonio Pedro Marques: my instictive reading of Dorcas was Yes, that is to my point. An AmE speaker seeing the name "Cas" even if he/she knows it to be a nickname, will not be …
24 May 2011, 12:48
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Antonio Pedro Marques: my instictive reading of Dorcas was Yes, that is to my point. An AmE speaker seeing the name "Cas" even if he/she knows it to be a nickname, will not be …
24 May 2011, 12:48
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As usual, I feel you are ten steps ahead of me James. Is there more to the conenction that I've missed? You mention being raised by wolves/torturers...also, we can assume that Ymar…
23 May 2011, 19:07
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Ah well, at the risk of being repetitive, I think there is a volume of evidence which points to a watery, fishy origin for the gods/demons of Urth, references including Abaia, Fom…
23 May 2011, 18:12
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There are. In The Jungle Book, a human baby is adopted and raised by wolves. He is called Mowgli, meaning Frog (in wolf speech) due to his lack of fur. There is a council of wolve…
23 May 2011, 17:43
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Well, it isn't only Dr. Talos' play in which a flood is alluded to. I know of a couple others and Andre-Driussi asserts there are seven. So, I stand corrected and the conclusion …
23 May 2011, 17:18
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A good response I think, James. Andre-Driussi is certainly a Wolfe authority as much as anyone can be. There may be some who will dispute his solutions for the highly veiled myste…
23 May 2011, 16:36
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I like David's theory about 17 being a nice counterpart to 12 in a gnostic parody of Earth (which I roundly think Urth is meant to be). Still, I don't feel the need to leave it a…
23 May 2011, 13:25
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