Subject: Re: Discussion Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

From: Matthew Malthouse <matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk>
Date: Sat, 17 May 1997 16:53:08 +0000

jmc at netcom.com (Jill M Charette) wrote:
>I have started to read The Shadow of the Torturer for the second time and
>I am as lost as I was the first time I read this book. I bought the book
>originally because of praise I had read on this newsgroup and because I
>had read some of the essays about the books in Castle of Days.  Upon
>reading Shadow and Claw, I wondered what people were talking about.  These
>books are very well written, but hard to understand.  It seems like these
>books are like onions with many fine layers of skin that you have to peel
>to get to the next one. I, however, can only peel the top few. 
[...]
>Some questions I have on the top of my head are:
> 
>What is going on when Severian goes to the Atrium of Time? 
>
>What is going on when Severian is in the Botanic Gardens, especially the
>jungle? 

The Atrium of Time scenes appear to have at least two purposes.  One is the
forshadowing of events later in the quartet wich would be unfair to detail
if you have not read them.

A second is the contrast between the various women Severian comes in
contact.  Valeria, a couple of the Pelerines and a woman Sev. meets much
later are the only examples I can bring to mind of the 'gentry' or lesser
nobility class.  At the time the direct contrasts is with the Chatelaine
Thecla.

Actually I've thought of a third idea, one of the pre-occupations of the
books is the unimaginable ancientness of the Earth at the time the story
takes place - the sun has faded, continental drift has changed the shape of
the world etc.  The Atrium, and its current condition, reinforce these
themes.

Someone else has suggested that you might find it better to have read all
four books, greater insight may be had then or on a subsequent re-read.
Certainly the quartet forms a single entity and despite the symmetry
attempted between the beginning and end of each volume there really isn't a
place where the story can be broken off.

In my view 'The Book of the New Sun', being The Shadow of the Torturer, The
Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor and The Citadel of the
Autarch, is one of the best books in the genre that I have ever read.  I
was captivated by it at 18 and and a re-read every couple of years since
hasn't dimmed my delight one whit.

Matthew
matthew.malthouse at guardian.co.uk