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Hey there, raster! You remembered two of the water clock passages I'd forgotten--the one I'm vaguely thinking of is the one used to explain how the master of the house's clock man…
14 Jun 1998, 19:45
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It is good to step back and recall that the reason why we continue to turn this one over (and why alga waxes huffy against Wolfe, showing that he is both extra special and unique <…
14 Jun 1998, 17:54
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alga, Well okay, so you don't like the "Aunt Jemima" <ouch> theory. Still, beneath the grosser elements, the loops and twists I listed before, that presumably ninety-five percent…
14 Jun 1998, 17:54
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The First Big Twist Goes like this: We read "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" and say, wow, great story. We start the next one, "`A Story,' by John V. Marsch." We think, oh, wasn't h…
14 Jun 1998, 05:14
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I know you're all dying to know, but too shy to ask, "What about the abo Constellation `Fighting Lizard' with regards to this tentative designation of Wolf 294 as the star system o…
13 Jun 1998, 23:29
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The water-clock is called a clepsydra in the text, I believe. The well-to-do seem to have them. The dingus in the autarch's bedroom has been seen by nobody talking. There are al…
13 Jun 1998, 02:36
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Spectacled Bear, Ah, so magic mirrors are "machines"? I hadn't really thought of them in that sense. A sort of clockwork? Mechanical? But not the Botanical Gardens, surely, no…
13 Jun 1998, 01:09
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Spectacled Bear, Father Inire's machine? Really! I didn't know he had any. So this tower stomping around underground does not pre-date the Autarchy, since Inire serves the Auta…
12 Jun 1998, 17:54
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Spectacled Bear, That's funny, I thought Severian was afraid he would brain himself in his passage through the tunnel from the dripping mouth entrance to that point where it audib…
12 Jun 1998, 16:44
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Spectacled Bear, FWIW I too identified the walking tower at the battle front as a look-alike for Wellsean Martian war machine heat ray poison gas projecting tripod. But for one r…
12 Jun 1998, 15:05
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Spectacled Bear, Did alga get huffy with you? Well then you are extra special--if not unique! <g> Re: the sack of the Claw. Hmm, yes, "leather" is "manskin"; or rather, "manski…
12 Jun 1998, 04:03
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Robert, Right, the smoking, weight, barber at R--I meant to include that! Appendix the timeline(s), that's what I think. Dividing the dictionary/concordance from the essays--Ter…
06 Jun 1998, 03:21
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Journal of Marsch--first revision cut pages--first three (p. 152) Presumably Covering: splashdown on Sainte Anne (p. 219) military police interrogation…
05 Jun 1998, 21:11
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Rough and Ready. SECTION SCRIB. PAGE ACE PAGE MAGIC NUMBER I 4 2 -2 60 66 +6 II 79 83 …
05 Jun 1998, 20:33
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Furthermore! I openly admit I don't quite grasp the junior officer's conspiracy with the slave at the end of "V.R.T." The slave understands it, whatever it is, and the officer se…
05 Jun 1998, 20:06
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Thesis (official colonial): there are no abos (never were or they were killed by the French) Antithesis (from behind the mask of "Veil," i.e., mystery, hidden, occult): the French…
05 Jun 1998, 18:38
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(sorry these citations are for Ace--we need a conversion table asap) Journal of Marsch cut pages--first three (p. 152) Observations on Frenchman's Landing (p. 153) "There was …
04 Jun 1998, 21:52
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Re: entry for M. d'F (wait a sec, stop right there--"d'F" sure looks a lot like "d'If," which makes me think of Vance's "Chateau d'If" and what I presume to be its inspiration, the…
04 Jun 1998, 20:38
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Robert, Yay! Looks great. More, more! "Tell us the one about Puss-in-Boots!" =mantis=…
04 Jun 1998, 14:17
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The star has been located (until somebody finds one better): =Wolf 294= Location: RA: 6 hr 51m 35s. Dec.: 33, 20. Constellation Location: Gemini Distance from Sol: 19.4 light yea…
03 Jun 1998, 23:24
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Robert, Frisky, frisky Robert! At first I thought this was like Jack and the Beanstalk (re growing things from magic beans), with you rocketing up into the clouds, but then when …
03 Jun 1998, 20:28
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PEOPLE ABO Bloody finger Cedar Branches Waving Cinderwalker John Eastwind Flying Feet Foxfire Hatcher Hunter Lastvoice Leaves-you-can-eat Mary Pink Butterflies John Sandwalker Sev…
03 Jun 1998, 00:21
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Robert, I'm happy that you are on the fairy tale level (I was getting scared that you were ignoring it). I must have missed the opening parts, but your Cinderella and warning abo…
02 Jun 1998, 23:16
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Robert, Vienne is the capital of Sainte Croix, right? And how far away from Port-Mimizon--more than a stone's throw, don't you sense? So how extra weird for the junior officer t…
02 Jun 1998, 22:28
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My sense of the Shadow Children and why a last one ("call me Ishi") produces a Group Norm of Self/Other confusion: Please correct me. I think the name sets change entirely for ea…
02 Jun 1998, 16:16
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Robert, I was asking if you'd figured it because we thought it was connected with the bronze dingus that Marsch/V.R.T. sees at Sainte Croix. You divine that it is M.Million's org…
02 Jun 1998, 14:37
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Robert, Okay, the Marsch is homosexual angle rings up big points for everything you mention =and= because of the lurking presence of homosexuality in Proust's work. Certainly goe…
02 Jun 1998, 06:12
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There could be more than one wave of ancient colonists to Sainte Anne. Arbitrarily: Gondwanaland: the Shadow Children (goblins) Etruscan Italy: the Wetlanders (trolls) Homeric Gr…
02 Jun 1998, 04:21
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I'm supposed to make some stab at the notebook mystery outlined in CAVE CANEM: that is, regarding the missing first three pages of Marsch's notebook, cut with a very sharp knife. …
02 Jun 1998, 04:07
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Adam, FWIW I agree with you that the initial reason for the officer to suddenly stop reading the "Marsch Journal" and look back at the beginning of "V.R.T. Schoolbook" is that he …
01 Jun 1998, 21:21
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Robert, Re: the French/English war aftermath. I'm guessing: (1) The French (or pseudo-French) initially colonized St. Croix because St. Anne already had people on it (abos). (2…
01 Jun 1998, 15:01
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Robert, Wait a second--just because Mrs. B's mom =wants= to go doesn't mean that she wasn't a prisoner. A prisoner could be chosing between a cell and a homestead on the frontier…
31 May 1998, 22:46
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Robert, Pardon the repetition. The short form: I think that a warship was sent one year ahead of the semi-military colony ship. Maybe they were meant to go together--didn't Mrs.…
31 May 1998, 22:36
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A Revised Timeline (all circa) ------------------------------ 300 meg Godwanaland (possible early colonists). 1250 B.C. Etruscans/Homeric Greeks (ditto). 1250 A.D. Poictsme…
31 May 1998, 21:20
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Last night I finished reading THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS. I think it was the third or fourth time, the previous time being some years ago. What a great book. This time I am stru…
31 May 1998, 17:36
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<ring, ring> "Numerology Department, can you please hold?" "Yeah, su--" <muzak plays for a few seconds> "Numerology Department, how can I be of service." "Gotta number, colony…
31 May 1998, 00:22
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There's also Arioch (IV, ch. 1). =mantis=…
27 May 1998, 04:32
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Tania Ruiz, Thanks for your comments on my notes re the constellations of THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS. Re: the pinkness of light from the star. Right, there is no such thing (in …
26 May 1998, 05:14
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J. Schultz, Why I guessed that Sev1 might have killed a prostitute. (1) He would have been sent to the brothel even if Thecla wasn't in the tower--he is of an age. (And the thou…
26 May 1998, 05:14
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Robert Borski, You =better= write something! To help you in that direction, I'd like to be the first to remind you that the mysterious, maybe-prostitute "lady in pink" is a =very…
26 May 1998, 05:13
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Robert Borski, Hey, fwiw =I= like it. Gee, all this twinning has got me to thinking that 5HC has a lot of Gilgamesh to it, which I'd never thought of before. (Okay, this is prob…
20 May 1998, 23:38
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Craig Christensen, Re: little banished Tzadiel at Brookside the Madregot. Why was she banished? For being naughty, somehow. It seems that after she has proven herself reformed …
20 May 1998, 19:15
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Robert Borski, Re: quote about VRT as 16 local years old, but looking older. Great! Okay, so a 30 hour day might be a tad long, but good enough for the moment. Re: the "R" of VR…
20 May 1998, 05:31
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Robert Borski, Okay, so far here's what I've got: Assuming a 30 hour day and given the 402 day year, we have a local year 1.37577 times as long as a Terran year. (Any recollecti…
19 May 1998, 21:42
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Robert Borski, Re: Newtonian vs. biological. Right, I didn't mention the biological time dilation because it is a bit ambiguous and doesn't directly address the distance issue. …
19 May 1998, 14:15
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Hey, Cerberus-heads! Let's find the star of Saint Anne/Saint Croix! Let's work out the other planets in the system! The clues I have at hand are few: 1. We are told that Marsh…
18 May 1998, 20:33
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Spectacled bear, "Pure keg" as "un-doctored beer" sounds pretty convincing. Thanks! (If anybody can find it in a dictionary, that would be even better.) =mantis=…
17 May 1998, 22:51
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alga, I've always taken the covert support by the Phoenix Throne of Vodalus/Agia as a "1984-ish" trick--Big Brother (gov't) controls the Brotherhood (anti-gov't underground). Wit…
17 May 1998, 17:21
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"Many will seek to flee by that road if the pelagic argosy sights land" is said by the old autarch at the last line of (II, ch. 20). Responding to Severian's "Then you can show me…
16 May 1998, 22:51
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alga, Even more disturbing is the thought that Severian as the Sleeper has taken the throne of Abaia as his own. "Yesterday's Hero becomes Tomorrow's Tyrant" deal. Especially if…
16 May 1998, 20:38
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