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Ooh! have I communicated my ideas so poorly? My view is that there is an endless succession of universes. Briah happens to be between a nicer one, Yesod, and a meaner one, Abaddon …
12 Aug 2010, 21:00
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Tony, my comment was not sanctimony but meant purely as sarcasm though prompted by the perception of sanctimony and condescension on your part. Perhaps I misread you and you were…
12 Aug 2010, 20:33
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Perhaps I am not enough of an SF fan to know the what subspace is.(Like, "We've got some subspace interference Mr. Chekov" ?). But given that Yesod is a higher universe, would…
12 Aug 2010, 18:10
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Lee Berman- Ryan Dunn- I'll take up the mantle for a moment... I believe a better hybrid would be Dale Stockman. Either that or Liev Bermoff. ...ryan LMAO! Thanks Ryan. You …
12 Aug 2010, 17:57
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Tony, crystal clear understanding of the speech of Hierogrammates is surely a skill to be admired. I did promise in my last post that it was a last shot so I'll leave it at that. T…
12 Aug 2010, 17:19
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Erm, yes. Typhon very strangely gets an erection and "nurses" it while talking to Severian. He also says that when he re-establishes his multi-planet empire, he will be sent trib…
12 Aug 2010, 17:06
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Roy C. Lackey- I remember responding to that because I remember my mental head scratching at the suggestion it was a Paradise Lost knock-off (to my shame, I haven't read that).…
12 Aug 2010, 16:06
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Antonio P. Marques- This article may be helpful in explaining what I am getting at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuus Considering the events in Long Sun, anything to do with…
12 Aug 2010, 14:40
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Interestingly, I just made a very similar comment responding to a different poster: We must be careful or risk being accused of being the same person. Stockberm? David Lee Hoff? …
12 Aug 2010, 14:35
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Uakarki and margays could have climbed the ladder from the garden but oreodonts.. nope. I agree that this and some other objections have called my theory of the Jungle Hut as a Las…
12 Aug 2010, 12:14
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Jeff Wilson: Malrubius doesn't disagree with Tzadkiel. He thinks severian's humanity might be the race that created Hierogrammates but he isn't sure. After Tzadkiel tells Sever…
12 Aug 2010, 11:52
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Tony I'll give it one more shot. I've been looking through the text and found evidence which supports both your and my views. I think most agree that Malrubius' story is our f…
12 Aug 2010, 03:44
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Interesting idea. It is a bit weird that Vodalus can suspect the wounded old guy in the ziggurat is the Autarch, have the guy's androgynous face on one of his own coins but not …
11 Aug 2010, 18:05
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Well, in my view, certainly it is in the Hierogrammates' look back in which they discover humanity. Like studying their history, they learn that in their Briatic origins the humans…
11 Aug 2010, 17:52
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Thanks Ryan Dunn and Jeff Wilson. Interesting considerations regarding the Jungle Hut and Robert's view and the Sand Garden. Will look into these issues! :- )…
11 Aug 2010, 17:37
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In Yesod, Severian speaks to Tzadkiel who tells him, Later Severian wonders why Tzadkiel disguised himself so he could hang out with Severian on the ship. Tzadkiel explains that …
11 Aug 2010, 17:29
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James your previous post left me despairing that we could ever communicate our ideas clearly to each other. This part was especially confusing: James Wynn: But your next post…
11 Aug 2010, 17:13
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James, I went back and re-read your post and again I couldn't find anything that makes Yesod as successor to Briah as untenable. Perhaps you can explain? For, example the bit abo…
11 Aug 2010, 14:33
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Sounds very Kabballic. Based on the Sephiroth? Given the names Wolfe used for his universes it is difficult to dismiss a strict Kabballic interpretation out of hand. Still, the Wol…
11 Aug 2010, 13:57
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Once again Roy, I am flummoxed by your post. To my way of thinking your citations apppear to undercut your own assertions and support mine. If Brook Madregot flows "downhill" fr…
11 Aug 2010, 12:53
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I posted this theory a few years in the past but, at Dan'l's request I'm trotting it out again now. It seems like an appropriate time. We get a very nice tour of the Last House a…
11 Aug 2010, 12:27
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Well, this has been an even more surreal discussion than normal here. I think there may be something of an old guard, keepers of the flames of truth from the earlier years of this …
11 Aug 2010, 03:48
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Now, let's not be too hasty..I do think Tony's point is a good one to bring up. But we still have Tzadkiel's words to Severian to consider; can't ignore them- How could Sev…
10 Aug 2010, 19:19
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Yes! :- ) (p.s. sorry about duplicate post above. Server problems)…
10 Aug 2010, 17:30
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This is my view of the story also. It allows for the echoes of the past and future to influence each other. My twist would be to suggest a spiral shape rather than branches. It jib…
10 Aug 2010, 17:17
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This is my view of the story also. It allows for the echoes of the past and future to influence each other. My twist would be to suggest a spiral shape rather than branches. It jib…
10 Aug 2010, 17:15
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I find the text confusing and contradictory in places, regarding cosmology especially. My interpretation has been clarified by this exchange in the James Jordan interview: For …
10 Aug 2010, 16:59
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My understanding is that the definition of a "universe" is that it has no physical, spatial boundaries or ends. This has been called into question recently but I think it was a ver…
10 Aug 2010, 12:20
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I've wondered the same thing, especially regarding the coin and most especially because it is a false coin. I don't know if Vodalus himself is the counterfeiter but whichever of hi…
10 Aug 2010, 11:33
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I did suspect that literal interpretation of Kabballah terms might be behind some of what I think is confusion regarding Yesod and Briah, but I didn't want to bring it up. Normal…
10 Aug 2010, 00:31
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Preliminary note- I think it is important to consider that if you are attempting to be forcefully domineering and authoritative in discussing a work of fiction which relies on an …
09 Aug 2010, 21:28
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You miss my point. I would guess that, as a participant, Gene Wolfe would care very deeply about who won the Korean and Cold Wars. The question is, who did God want to win? Sure…
09 Aug 2010, 14:11
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John Watkins- > I think you have this wrong. Very wrong, in fact. Briah is not the lower So be it. We will have to disagree. I hope this is not an intentional misunderstand…
09 Aug 2010, 13:43
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I think it is a good idea. Quetzal bears some resemblance to Inire. Moreover using the bird-name Quetzal can't help but invoke the Mayan god Quezalcoatl. For me, this is yet anot…
09 Aug 2010, 13:12
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I guess I am reaching beyond your interpretation of the text but I don't see anything wrong with that. Why should there be an end to expansion of current modes of thought when I, a…
09 Aug 2010, 12:26
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There has been some rather lively discussion, originating with Robert Borski (Solar Labyrinth) and elaborated in here, that Father Inire, called monkey- like in his first descripti…
09 Aug 2010, 04:21
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I certainly agree with the autobiographical nature of the Korean/Ascian war. And I certainly agree that Wolfe thinks wars are very significant to the people who are fighting in the…
09 Aug 2010, 04:09
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It is a good point to bring up. I must say that I do not share your assumption that when Father Inire refers to his "cousins" that this must mean Hierogrammates. We see F, B and O…
09 Aug 2010, 03:49
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Do you have someone in mind? My best thought would be Agia. She also was a female companion who betrayed Severian. But they seem so different. Burgundofora meant well but she…
09 Aug 2010, 03:31
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Not sure if I've posted on it in the past. I know some others have alluded to similar ideas. The reason for thinking it, in small part, is because Father Inire, the old Autarch …
08 Aug 2010, 13:28
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This is a plausible explanation and it surely could be what Gene Wolfe had in mind with regard to "severa". Among the most popular alternate explanations I've seen are that Sever…
08 Aug 2010, 10:27
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I can whiff that funky cuisine bro. Zak does go through a primate phase, doesn't he. We see a character who resembles Hethor on the ship also, in the weird part where Severian is …
08 Aug 2010, 10:09
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Roy, I think you've hit the nail on the head! (hammer pun, intended, heh, heh) Perhaps before I've suggested that solving the puzzle(s) of BotNS feels like solving a jigsaw puzzle…
08 Aug 2010, 03:14
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Quick additional thought. The Cumaean is shown to be a shapeshifter about as explicitly as anything we'll get from Wolfe. Inire and The Cumaean are lumped together as similar bein…
07 Aug 2010, 11:41
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John, aside from the "Dammit, Lee" that was my favorite part of your last post. It has happened for me quite a number of times. Suggestions from people with theories I don't agree …
07 Aug 2010, 11:35
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Ah, Roy, I despair. How could you hurt me, once again, by implying I have some belief in "Lupine gospel". I don't even believe in any sort of gospel regarding the real world. How c…
07 Aug 2010, 11:04
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Jeff Wilson's comment about Dorcas and the boatman brought this topic to mind. Rudesind as Inire has been discussed lately, but not the boatman I think. It is recognized that a wea…
06 Aug 2010, 14:32
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I generally agree with Jeff Wilson. Severian is least forthcoming with us in regard to his problems with incest. We are given enough information to fairly easily deduce that Dorcas…
06 Aug 2010, 14:06
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Yeah, that is my impression of what happened also. A bit of temporal inertia. I guess Jason Walker is wondering why he had to stop at that point in history on Urth. If he was ou…
04 Aug 2010, 15:03
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I think that is interesting. Some other parallels between Serverian and St. Ignatius.. - he was in the hospital due to a leg injury incurred serving as a soldier -he had a spir…
03 Aug 2010, 11:31
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