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In a previous post I mentioned how I thought "The HORARS of War" and "All the Hues of Hell" were part of the same story cycle. Time now to examine what I think each means and how t…
14 Jul 1998, 14:34
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A couple of people have suggested that "All the Hues of Hell" is somehow related to "Silhouette," but I'd like to suggest it's the fugue sequel to still another story--"The HORARS …
11 Jul 1998, 20:10
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"To the Dark Tower Came" seems interpretable in several different ways, so I'm hoping others will post their interpretations. mantis has already linked it to "At the Point of Capri…
08 Jul 1998, 21:34
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William Ansley, with NaCl on his tongue, has recently written: "(By the way, could you please favor us with all the dirt on how you "almost certainly" work out that "the name of '…
06 Jul 1998, 21:35
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While I think William Ansley's rebuttal of my tv-as-labyrinth theory was well argued, and I enjoyed prion's alternate intrepretation, I still feel compelled to quote the following …
05 Jul 1998, 22:04
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Jason V. having asked: "One question though: what do you suppose is the "sinister element" that Wolfe claims to have "kept so far in the background that few readers notice it at a…
04 Jul 1998, 17:47
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With his head well above water, about 666 posts ago (+/-100), Welshian sawn prion wrote: "First, about the original Jeannine in the photo. Aunt Jeannine tells No. 5 that she will…
04 Jul 1998, 17:25
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One of my all-time favorite short-shorts by Gene Wolfe is "A Solar Labyrinth." And yet no one I've ever shared the story with has ever been to figure it out, to solve the maze, if …
03 Jul 1998, 20:39
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To the newly emerged prion: Boy, when you lurker virus types come out of the cyberplasm, you do so with vengence! Welcome to the Cerberus wing of urth. And thanks for the extremel…
02 Jul 1998, 14:04
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Some late thoughts on "Three Fingers." The Harley who picks up Michael on his motorcycle is almost certainly meant to be sf writer Harlan Ellison, who has a house filled with coll…
01 Jul 1998, 23:14
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Have any Star Trek friends you'd like to introduce to Gene Wolfe? How about giving them "Alien Stones" to read? I see it basically as Gene Wolfe's take on the original tv series. …
01 Jul 1998, 15:09
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Over the years I've recommended quite a few of Gene Wolfe's short stories to my stauncher Catholic acquaintances, citing New Testament readings as collateral gloss. "The Detective …
29 Jun 1998, 23:25
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Just got done reading SUZANNE DELANGE for the first time and thought I would post my thoughts. To me it seems a rather straightforward retelling of Snow White. Note how Suzanne's…
28 Jun 1998, 18:12
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alga having recently written: < I have another theory that our Cumaean may turn out to be an inhumus! But I'm sort <of kidding there. (Not entirely.)> Ohmygosh. Are we about to e…
28 Jun 1998, 02:39
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CAVE CANEM--my guide to THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS--has now been uploaded and can be accessed at http://www.coredcs.com/~rborski/ It features a concordance, 13 essays (2 new, the …
25 Jun 1998, 21:43
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I have news from Gene Wolfe and I'm simply going to quote it direct. Says Gene: "You asked how Short Sun was shining. Pretty brightly at this point, particularly if David Hartwell…
22 Jun 1998, 23:16
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Recently, Adam-Louis Stephanides, among others, has wondered: "But even if V.R.T. had somehow inherited Marsch's knowledge, how would that tell him #5's a clone? He hasn't seen #…
19 Jun 1998, 00:03
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Still in her balloon-puncturing mode, the chlorophyllic alga has written: "Robert Borski is fond of his theory that Aunt Jeanine is actually an abo, and to that end has "'hung fif…
15 Jun 1998, 14:11
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To Tony Ellis: I found out some more information about eoliths and it is possible they have the sharper, fresher edge Marsch describes. According to the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARCHAEOLOG…
10 Jun 1998, 23:20
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I'm now willing to conceed you the wisdom of your arguments here, Tony. But then where do these artifiacts come from if at the same time I wish to hold true to my Roy-is-an-abo the…
10 Jun 1998, 14:48
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Prologue: those of you who have not read my post entitled NOTES FROM CLIFF might consider doing so now because it lays the groundwork as to how I approach FIFTH HEAD on an interpre…
09 Jun 1998, 00:13
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Thanks alga and John Bishop for the beard info. It vastly helps to support my notion that the Victorized version of John V. Marsch is a latent homosexual, in addition to playing o…
08 Jun 1998, 15:18
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Fellow Lupines: I've been thinking some about various critical analyses as they've been applied to the list. Too often I feel theories or suppositions are advanced, but are not ev…
08 Jun 1998, 14:57
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From my ever growing CAVE CANEM, I now submit its tentative Forward, "Notes From Cliff: An Introductory Approach to THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS:" Published in 1973, THE FIFTH HEAD …
06 Jun 1998, 17:09
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Oh brother mantis across the great aetheric divide: The Marsch timeline needs to include the I-took-up-smoking-got-fat-and-found-a-decent-pogonocure- detail. Much to my dismay, ho…
05 Jun 1998, 21:36
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To Mark Millman: Thank you for presenting the Lamarkian position, and nicely so at that--now I don't have to do it. I do think however some discussion of Dollo's Law needs to ta…
05 Jun 1998, 17:34
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To my esteemed colleague from across the Pond, re our latest 5H debate: All right, Tony, you win. Millions of years ago, pre-Flintstones spacecraft traveled to Sainte Anne, where…
05 Jun 1998, 14:52
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Lawyer Dupont, for the defense, your honor. According to state prosecutor, the Honorable Tony Ellis: You ever see any old style frontier dress buttons or even a pea coat? They're…
04 Jun 1998, 22:37
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Now that I've had my bit of fun, it's time I finished the last of my major essays about FIFTH HEAD. This one will attempt to prove that Roy Trenchard, the beggar huckster father o…
04 Jun 1998, 01:10
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I can't believe nobody's mentioned this before, and even I was a little slow to catch on, though I thought something was funny in the way that both Robert Borski and mantis almost …
03 Jun 1998, 14:40
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[I found the enclosed document in my son's e-mail outbox and assumed he wanted it sent. It seems a little nonsensical--when Bob stops taking his medicine he's not exactly the most …
03 Jun 1998, 12:54
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2 June, 19_ _--- Fear I may have picked up a bit of distemper here--so feverish that when I look in the mirror I appear to have three heads. But it might also have been the frogle…
02 Jun 1998, 20:20
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Recently my good friend mantis--who grew *me* from a bean--recently posed these questions about Pluto, the cemetary cat (no doubt influenced by his enormous Siegfield & Roy poster …
02 Jun 1998, 20:00
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"Cinderella's glass slipper had mouse turds in it." "Caution all Passengers: Do not wave, especially from boats or trains--you could lose a limb." Got it yet, mantis? 2-15-2 <gr…
02 Jun 1998, 16:14
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mantis, my bug-eyed friend: I see an E, then everything else is bleary. Damn it, these contacts make me feel like I'm double-pupiled. Guess that's why I forget to include the fo…
02 Jun 1998, 15:00
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Somewhat earlier the more than astute mantis, amaneunsis to M. Vladimir, The cat is lifted nearly wholecloth from "The Black Cat," from monocularity to its name, Pluto. As the off…
02 Jun 1998, 13:51
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Recently my esteemed colleague from across the Isles Tony Ellis wrote: <"those little French girls... weren't they the cutest things? ..one of <those Frenchies would come in, just…
02 Jun 1998, 08:58
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For those of you into etymology (and many Wolfeans are), 'mantis' means 'prophet.' And since there is an ancient art known as haruspicy practiced by fortune-tellers and sages, I is…
02 Jun 1998, 08:45
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My dear mantis, re your NRA-type questions about the ballistics table and Marsch not needing it: Yes, he is a good shot. Once he makes adjustments--as Dr. Deadeye notes, in talkin…
02 Jun 1998, 02:09
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Senility marches on. Of course I meant the late Tony *Perkins* of PSYCHO fame. Sorry. Brain fart. RB…
02 Jun 1998, 00:28
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To Adam Louis Stephanides (who is probably still squirmish about the notion of aliens doing it with humans, Stephen Spielberg's wet-dreams notwithstanding): You forgot one reason …
01 Jun 1998, 23:41
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To Adam Louis Stephanides, who's joined the head counting debate: I'm now arguing there are two multiples of five because *everything* in FIFTH HEAD is paired. The vertical confi…
01 Jun 1998, 23:31
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Nice to finally see some more discussion on FIFTH HEAD. For a while there I thought I was going to have to do a reverse-Herakles and drag you all back down, kicking and screaming, …
01 Jun 1998, 23:13
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What I meant to say was *postbellum*--not "antebellum--meaning 'after the war,' not 'before.' See why I never got better than C+'s in Latin? Robertus Borskii, Stupidus…
01 Jun 1998, 01:08
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Question to General (Five Star) mantis: You seem to have given much consideration to the war which has taken place on the sisterworlds of Sainte Croix-Saint Anne. I still say the …
01 Jun 1998, 00:19
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My Dear Students of Exobiology 101: Here are my thoughts on the taxonomy of the soi-disant abos of Sainte Anne. There are basically three types of Annese, all clearly humanoid in…
31 May 1998, 23:42
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Yet another mystery I detail in my CAVE CANEM involves the account of Mrs. Blount in VRT of FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS. Mrs. Blount is an 80 year old woman Dr. Marsch interviews for h…
31 May 1998, 16:39
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One of the scenes I've puzzled over most in FIFTH HEAD I call the Shrike Engima and it begins the final novella of the book, VRT. In it the officer assigned to review Marsh's cas…
30 May 1998, 18:14
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To Tony Ellis, re VRT's Mom: Hey, I now think you're dead on about the woman in the cell next to VRT--she almost certainly must be his mother! Congratulations. Any chance you thin…
29 May 1998, 15:59
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Fellow Lycophiles: I'm happy to announce the availability of CAVE CANEM: A Guide to the Characters and Placenames of Gene Wolfe's THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS. It consists of 115 e…
28 May 1998, 14:49
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