Subject: _Urth of the New Sun_ query

From: Emmet O'Brien <eaobrien at ebi.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 10:36:20 +0000

I was recently rereading Wolfe's _Urth of the New Sun_, and for some
reason the names he uses for the higher and lower universes in the story,
Yesod and Briah, seem familiar. My first thought was that they sounded
vaguely Cabbalistic, but I don't have research material to hand. Can
anyone enlighten me ?

Emmet

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From: Mark Andersen <manderse at nmsu.edu>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 1995 10:20:29 +0000

eaobrien at ebi.ac.uk (Emmet O'Brien) writes:
>vaguely Cabbalistic.

So I've been told. He also apparently has the names inverted for some
reason of his own. (i.e., higher universe: lower name and vice versa). 

Dr. Mark Andersen
Department of Fishery and Wildlife Sciences
New Mexico State University

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From: Jon Evans <jemevans at electrical.watstar.uwaterloo.ca>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 1995 19:43:10 +0000

>vaguely Cabbalistic, but I don't have research material to hand. Can

Yesod at least is indeed, uh, (ducking a surefire spelling error) what you
said.  My limited knowledge of the sefirah is from Umberto Eco's FOUCAULT'S
PENDULUM, which explains all ten of them; I suggest you read it a) because
it answers your question and b) because it is a work of magnificence
comparable to THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN.

Mind you, it's not SF.

Jon

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From: Charles Dye <raster at terra.com>
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1995 01:27:13 +0000

Changing the topic somewhat (well, okay, completely):

Reading "Castle of the Otter" for the first time, a few weeks back, I
discovered Mr. Wolfe's unfortunate taste for name puns.  ("Carrol of
another kind", crimony....)  I got to wondering if he buried any name puns
in "New Sun", and then it hit me:

Chapter One of "Shadow of the Torturer" revolves around GRAVE ROBBERS.

Is my sick mind inventing a joke that Wolfe really didn't intend to put in
there?  It's been bothering me for some reason.  And I haven't been helped
by the fact that "Long Sun" features a "Dr. Crane" ....

What do you think?

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From: CANTY DANIEL <m320270 at er.si.uqam.ca>
Date: Sun, 06 Aug 1995 00:41:20 +0000

> Chapter One of "Shadow of the Torturer" revolves around GRAVE ROBBERS.

The opening of _Shadow of the Torturer_, and the narrative stance which the
appendices suggest refer, I think, to ROBERT GRAVES'S _I, Claudius_.  Was
that what you were referring to in suggesting the existence of a pun?

Daniel