-
I was checking on this and found that Melek Taus is specifically associated with Azezel the fallen peacock angel. Similar name but distinct from the non-fallen Tzadkiel. It looks l…
09 Jul 2010, 14:22
-
I agree. Antonio's posts seem truly sincere and heartfelt and thus are appreciated for those rare qualities. I don't know if it helps to say I understand his feelings and sympathi…
08 Jul 2010, 05:19
-
I can agree with this. I'll further suggest that in reading this work of science fiction, we have a spectrum of preferences ranging from the more scientific to the more fiction/a…
08 Jul 2010, 04:18
-
Thank you for that correction Mo. I re-did the research and I was in error. Rosemary and sweet/dead nettle are separate genuses (genii?) within the mint family and I got them conf…
08 Jul 2010, 03:53
-
"claimed" is such a harsh word, Roy. So final and legalistic. I prefer "suggested" or "offered possibility". Anyway I don't think you have the right mind set for how such a thing…
07 Jul 2010, 20:27
-
Well, the archetypes for hierodules would be Barbatus and Famulimus, (not sure about Ossipago, I think he is different). They are very tall outer space people who are supernatural…
07 Jul 2010, 19:49
-
Antonio, I feel your pain. For the longest time I could see all these clues and hints of clues but I had no idea what Wolfe was really trying to get at. Perhaps I still don't, but…
07 Jul 2010, 17:37
-
Yeah, Borski was on this list, before my time, in the early 2000's I think it was. I think there is sort of a concensus that he took some of his ideas and ran with them so far and …
07 Jul 2010, 13:04
-
D.S.>Is there anything monkeylike about noses touching chins? I did previously post this pic of a proboscis monkey http://smackamack.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/proboscis-monkey-…
07 Jul 2010, 02:27
-
JW- Where does Inire display carnal interest in young girls? Well, this is where my discussion of comfort level comes in. If you are comfortable not understanding Father Inire, no…
06 Jul 2010, 14:43
-
Ryan, some have been on this list for a LONG time. Many are content with their reading of BotNS and there is no new theory strong enough to meddle with that contentment. As it shou…
06 Jul 2010, 02:47
-
My guess is that they are a bit higher in status than journeyman but (of course) below masters. They go by the title of "Brother". Journeymen seem to call each other by first name.…
04 Jul 2010, 04:33
-
Those are reasonable arguments. I have nothing against them. It just appears to me that the purpose of the Second Amendment was to allow regulated militias to function. This has li…
04 Jul 2010, 03:55
-
Well, we could try to count the mentioned Great Beasts, see if they add up to 17. Abaia, Erebus, Arioch, Scylla, Ouroboros, Kraken,... can we come up with 11 more? Not without deb…
04 Jul 2010, 03:36
-
I think Wolfe cannot be too specific in regard to this as being too explicit would negate a necessary mythological essence of their nature. But I think we can piece together a n…
02 Jul 2010, 20:05
-
There is a classic A.E. Van Vogt story called The Weapon Shop which addresses this issue using that interpretation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weapon_Shop Great pulp SF story…
02 Jul 2010, 17:38
-
Roy- That is your value Roy! Even in sarcasm and skepticism you are very helpful as a sounding board. Your comment did force me to consider the gender aspect of shape changing a…
30 Jun 2010, 12:37
-
Yes, Ultan is a curator. And like some other candidates, Ultan's eyes are obscured. I think the dark haired woman in the grave is some version of Catherine. Why does Severian see …
29 Jun 2010, 13:13
-
Woo hoo! Well, Borski has also considered Ossipago and Palaemon as versions of Father Inire. I'm not sure about them. But I thought I was alone in considering the picture clean…
28 Jun 2010, 18:28
-
An interesting perspective! I had tended to think of Mr. Million as a kindly great grandfather with a true soft spot for his boys (David too, yes?) who perhaps regretted the proce…
25 Jun 2010, 13:48
-
I read the ending very differently. I think Phaedria has long moved on and that is recognized by #5. My understanding is that Mr. Million and his successors are exceedingly nar…
24 Jun 2010, 14:39
-
Very nice post Son O'Witz! I think Baldanders also calls it a "monument of superstition" or something like that. While the symbolism is poignant, I (too?) think the sapphire enc…
23 Jun 2010, 11:38
-
I find Gene Wolfe's work to often be veiled but detectably autobiographical. I must guess references to violet-eyed beauties were inspired by Elizabeth Taylor, famous for that col…
21 Jun 2010, 02:48
-
My intent was to suggest the Wall of Nessus was needed to defend from enemies on all sides. I take the story of tall pale warriors riding in a ship with a deep voice coming from …
14 Jun 2010, 15:32
-
As the theater troupe passes thorugh the wall, they meet Jonah who offers to join their conversation and enlighten them further about the Wall. He tells a story about how Urth's an…
14 Jun 2010, 02:07
-
I think Wolfe has confirmed that his geographic model for the Commonwealth was South America and I think Nessus as Buenos Aires. But I think he also has said that his inspiration f…
08 Jun 2010, 15:53
-
If people have suggested that the eagles represent the United States, that's just Jerry Friedman Well, I am a Tolkein lover and was only being tongue-in-cheek critical. Still, he…
07 Jun 2010, 18:28
-
Jeff Wilson posts: I'm not clear on how this passage contradicts the idea of universal collapse of Briah leading to a Big Bang creation of Yesod. In describing travel from one un…
07 Jun 2010, 17:40
-
Hmph, then he shouldn't have had created all those bad guys as dark-skinned guys from south and east riding elephants. Nor should he have allowed "eagles" to save the day at the en…
07 Jun 2010, 17:28
-
Or forward, in universal time, heh heh. Actually I think the Jungle Hut works as does its counterpart, The Lost House, a labyrinthine path leading to a vertical, time spanning stru…
07 Jun 2010, 17:21
-
And let's not forget the Sweet Science as this exchange in the gym demonstrates Mickey: " Listen, kid, you! You lay off that pet shop dame. Women weaken legs." Rocky: "Yeah,…
05 Jun 2010, 19:05
-
I tend to agree with Brunians on this. If the process of creation and destruction and creation of sequential universes can be imagined as taking an ascending spiral shape then the…
04 Jun 2010, 21:15
-
That's not really the interpretatation I am presenting. Urth becomes Ushas not Earth. Urth is part of an entire universe, named Briah, which Big Bangs into existence, runs its cour…
04 Jun 2010, 17:25
-
I like the idea of the presence of Baldanders/Talos rippling through time and space to affect the dreams of Mary Shelley on Lake Geneva (or vice versa). Still there are other Ear…
04 Jun 2010, 14:53
-
It is not crystal clear in the text, but Wolfe has explicitly stated in some interviews that Urth is not meant to be Earth but rather a version of Earth in a previous universal ite…
03 Jun 2010, 00:42
-
My vague interpretation of that scene is that it relates to the secret world of khaibits. My theory is that a khaibit's name is derived from the name of her clone mistress, but th…
02 Jun 2010, 16:19
-
I agree with Jane D. (and perhaps Jack Smith?) that Jolenta is a prime candidate for Severian's twin sister, Severa. There is just too much veiled mystery about her to dismiss her…
02 Jun 2010, 14:59
-
Perhaps this well-known quote is relevant here. Toward the end is, maybe, a statement regarding gnosticicm.…
20 May 2010, 04:06
-
Well, I did a quick search and didn't find mention of "monolatrism" elsewhere on this list. Can't remember it in any other analysis so it looks like David Stockhoff might be elevat…
19 May 2010, 18:28
-
In my fairly extensive review of Gene Wolfe interviews I've found him to be generally cautious and circumspect with regard to revealing the mysteries behind his literary work. But …
19 May 2010, 14:00
-
In regard to Gene Wolfe as heretic, I'm not sure he'd reject that label. Perhaps he'd embrace it. From the Larry McCaffery interview: Moving beyond established religious dogma se…
18 May 2010, 12:36
-
he mean it to be God (probably) or is he speaking more of the Hierogrammates My interpretation of the subtext of the Sun series is this- There is not a vast, empty gap between hum…
17 May 2010, 18:16
-
Reformatted- Frank Herbert's mystical Atreides guys, SF authors have struggled to convey the difficulty for a being who can simultaneously perceive multiple points in time to com…
13 May 2010, 18:50
-
I think Severian's dealings with Tzadkiel and various Hiero-dudes are Gene Wolfe's attempt to tackle the problem God has in accurately and understandably conveying His message to h…
13 May 2010, 18:32
Urth Net