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To be even more pointed, I think the inclusion of stage plays and puppeteering and books within books is a huge clue that Severian's entire existence is something of a stage play, …
03 Dec 2010, 15:08
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But we do know that Inire appears in disguise at least once, right? Why not more than once? I know you seek evidence, but because some evidence isn't 100% spelled out, does that me…
03 Dec 2010, 04:45
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Forgive my ignorance, but was the actual act of restoring the sun an act between Severian and the Increate? Or were the Hiero's responsible for this? There is the passage which de…
02 Dec 2010, 17:47
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I've read most of the essays in Attending Daedalus, and yes, he can criticize whatever he wants, based on whatever he wants, and we as readers can agree with him, disagree with him…
02 Dec 2010, 16:38
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The least heartening thing about this whole conversation is that Wright has been deemed wrong or (worse) incapable of comprehending certain spiritual motivations of Wolfe's text st…
02 Dec 2010, 15:34
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As someone who was fortunate enough to have spoken with Gene about AEG on more than one occasion, I can deduce with some confidence that Cassie reminds Gene of his wife Rosemary. …
02 Dec 2010, 14:48
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Dang, I used to live five minutes from Palatine, in Barrington, five doors down from Gene. Alas, I am not a New Yorker (or rather, a Connectican who commutes to Manhattan). Sigh.…
11 Nov 2010, 19:30
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Arrrgh. I mean, as you may suspect, that Severian is being watched BY Inire. And probably Severian too, is watching over himself from the corridors of time, and possible inadverten…
07 Nov 2010, 14:00
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Jeff, You are correct, I should have been more clear. I am a participant in the theory that INIRE is being watched throughout BotNS as well, and I believe the monkeys are a key cl…
07 Nov 2010, 13:55
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Yes and no. The connective tissue I used as part of the inquiry had to do with monkey descriptions. Hence the correlation. It wasn't non sequitur, anyways. I, however, am a partic…
07 Nov 2010, 03:42
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My original post to the group was asking what to make of the reoccurance of primates in BotNS, as well as attributes to various characters resembling apes, and whether or not they …
05 Nov 2010, 20:58
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I'd assumed the same thing. It is when we learn Hildegrin is the badger after all, right? Was he there to get Dorcas? Also, the old boatman seems to imply Hildegrin may be a regu…
28 Sep 2010, 14:14
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See, I took this more on its face value, like when Harry Potter reads the sign next to the Burmese Python exhibit that says "Bred in captivity," and Harry says, "That's me as well.…
27 Sep 2010, 04:58
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Resubscribe. ...ryan…
23 Sep 2010, 18:12
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Would the nickname be 'Cas, which the boatman uses for his lost wife? ...ryan…
07 Sep 2010, 18:13
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Thanks to all for clearing this up. I definitely "get it" now. This makes sense, as the lochage is basically describing how there are too many people to even tax, and the idea of c…
31 Aug 2010, 18:41
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I meant that most readers (imo) will pronounce TYPHON as rhymes-with TYSON. My "Tay" should have been like your "Tie", not like rhymes-with the letter K. Sorry. But no, I don't p…
25 Aug 2010, 16:31
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Is there any question about the following: 1. Typhon from BotNS is a name borrowed from Typhon of Greek myth, king of all monsters? 2. Most modern readers will instinctively prono…
25 Aug 2010, 16:16
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Then how do we justify the fact that Wolfe spends more than a couple pages explaining in clues how Dorcas is Severian's grandmother. What bigger ramifications does this have to the…
24 Aug 2010, 21:06
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Can I ask a silly question? Why is Lee writing directly to you, James, and you're replying-all to the list? Is only seeing one side of the debate supposed to build some sort of s…
23 Aug 2010, 15:19
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I'm still interested in Gene Wolfe. ...ryan…
22 Aug 2010, 12:27
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Furthermore, Severian himself becomes something of a Divine Year subject, in the same way that a universe when it births a new version of itself, is done so in a more idealized ima…
19 Aug 2010, 19:23
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I just can't help but look at the mandragora near the end of Citadel as a parallel to Severian. I think there is more experimentation and controlled variables than you might. I wan…
19 Aug 2010, 19:18
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Has this question been asked... If Wolfe never intended to write UotNS, did he intend for his reader to deduce that Severian would go on to marry Valeria? If so, what "tells" were…
19 Aug 2010, 04:03
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There's an irony here, and I'm feeding it, but replies like the one you gave below, Ant?nio, while I agree with them, are just as easily accomplished by replying to dstockhoff at v…
19 Aug 2010, 03:17
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I guess if you're trying to make it fit your theory, then sure those could be clues (albeit vague at best). Does Severian feel dizzy during other resurrections? I think that is im…
17 Aug 2010, 14:59
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I don't delete any of the Urth messages I receive, they are all in their separate mailbox stored locally on my computer. This gives me the ability to do some simple analytics. Here…
17 Aug 2010, 03:39
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The censure of activity coupled with the censoring of debate is a bit unfortunate. I am partially to blame for the recent resurgence of activity, and for that I apologize. But the…
17 Aug 2010, 03:15
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Besides calling the blade batten with an old hilt, where does he go to "pains to describe the blade of the sword as light"? Wolfe says that from the moment the sword is picked up,…
16 Aug 2010, 21:01
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Of course he is an unreliable narrator, is that in question? I still don't think anyone is beheaded during the Feast of Holy Katharine, regardless. ...ryan…
16 Aug 2010, 20:56
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Ha! - Or Severian was tipsy himself, and the hilt was indeed heavy. - So two khaibits, one of them killed behind closed doors to provide blood for the event? Why not pig's blood?…
16 Aug 2010, 19:58
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There is no mention of mahogany in any of the five volumes of BotNS. I have provided (as best as I can tell) all of the citations relating to the false sword in the post before thi…
16 Aug 2010, 19:25
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About that sword. Here is what I have found relating to it... "The sword - though it seemed a true headsman's blade from a pace or two away - was no more than a wooden batten prov…
16 Aug 2010, 19:15
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Lee, this is the passage which implies part of the ritual is that Holy Katharine is resurrected and then "knight's thee" torturer... "She took the wax head from Master Gurloes and…
16 Aug 2010, 19:07
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You're the best. Simply. ...ryan…
16 Aug 2010, 18:47
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Yes, but what about the use of Jesus in Hispanic cultures? Jes’s is quite common in countries like Venezuela, Colombia, etc. ...ryan…
16 Aug 2010, 16:32
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Fair enough, but even if these are the last space shuttles ever flown with the "propulsion chambers" we've come to associate with the current technology (as described by Severian i…
16 Aug 2010, 16:30
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- You don't think a man walking the Earth performing miracles would be perceived as Christlike? And you honestly think that in this future, Christ is completely forgotten? I find i…
16 Aug 2010, 15:39
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- The torturers exist under the Autarch's rule. They obey faithfully. You know, the Autarch whose every breath blows tides against the sea in the form of perfect waves. That one. A…
16 Aug 2010, 15:26
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See below. He performs miracles due to the power of something cosmic in the heavens. He saves the world. See above. Don't ask a Pantheistic that question. We agree though that E…
16 Aug 2010, 14:33
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The torturers are described as Seekers for Truth and Penitence. I don't see bloodlust or psychopathy as parts of their guild. They know the cost of holding their station. They are…
16 Aug 2010, 14:16
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Jesus in the Briah with Urth makes Severian something of a false figure. He is Christlike and yet nearly the opposite in Wolfe's embodiment of him. He saves the world from dying …
16 Aug 2010, 14:03
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What if, in the fiction of BotNS, Wolfe made his own history, mythology, etc. Where we have analogies to things like Christianity, but there never actually was a Jesus per se. Tha…
16 Aug 2010, 13:31
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True, however, I was raised Catholic, and Pantheism has become my belief of choice. It handles the science as well as the "why do we dream" aspect of our life (as well as "what is …
15 Aug 2010, 00:42
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If you are Pantheist, then you believe the Universe is equivalent to God. If you are Panenthiest, you believe the Universe is connected to God, and that God is above the substantiv…
14 Aug 2010, 21:54
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What do you make of Little Severian? ...ryan…
14 Aug 2010, 14:39
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Thanks for the clarification. ...ryan…
14 Aug 2010, 13:19
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No, the positive ID was that Dorcas was Ouen's mother, if I recall. The ID that Severian was their grandson was based on Ouen's profile, based on a comment by the Innkeep off-hande…
14 Aug 2010, 13:07
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Nicholas, You can quote from your iPhone. Just select the text in the original message you want quoted, then when you go to hit Reply, it will only excerpt the selection. I do thi…
14 Aug 2010, 02:37
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Damn you, Lackey. You're absolutely right about the coin. And motivations do fall apart regarding Severian at the play on stage and in the crowd rather quickly under your scrutiniz…
13 Aug 2010, 19:51
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