Subject: Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun

From: Chris Henrich <cjh at petsd.uucp>
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 1984 19:09:01 +0000

Ian Kaplan writes:

                 In these books Wolfe has woven an incredibly
complex plot whose central point I hoped would be revealed in the
last book.  For me at least, this did not happen and the books
remain enigmatic.  In the last few pages of the last New Sun book,
"The Citadel of the Autarch", the new Autarch, whose previous career
we have followed, states that he is leaving the Book of the New Sun
behind on earth and going to meet the extra-terrestrials.  While on
this flight he will rewrite the book a second time.  Since he has
perfect memory, he can reproduce the book exactly.  He says that if
you don't understand the book, read it a second time, just as he is
writing it a second time.

     I found that repeated readings of these books were needed, not
only to refresh my memory of them (they came out at intervals of 8
to 12 months) but also to understand them at all. Wolfe apparently
wants the reader to work hard (as witness his use of obscure words,
not explained), and in many places a "throw-away line" clarifies
something that appeared hundreds of pages back, or even in a
previous volume.

     What does it all mean?
     I don't know that it *has* to mean anything. If a book engages
the reader's attention and gives enjoyment, then it is satisfactory.
If it survives several attentive rereadings, and still gives
enjoyment, it is excellent. I think _The_New_Sun_ qualifies.
     One reservation: Severian's promotion to the position of
Autarch seems unmotivated; i.e. it does not make sense in the
context of the book. (Even the characters in the book seem to feel
their world is pretty weird.) This is a defect, and is not repaired
by having the previous Autarch suggest that indeed it was
unmotivated.  But maybe, the next time around, I'll see why Severian
was the obvious choice, and this was the obvious thing to happen to
him.

Regards,
Chris

Full-Name:  Christopher J. Henrich

---

From: Donn Seeley <donn at utah-gr.uucp>
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 1984 13:27:52 +0000

I've been out of town and just recently managed to get caught up
with everything -- otherwise I would have attended to this earlier.
(Perhaps not coincidentally, my trip was to recover my library from
storage, including THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN!) Beware: some spoilers
may lurk in the following discussion...

In the last chapter of THE CITADEL OF THE AUTARCH, Severian says:

        Have I told you all I promised?  I am aware that at various
        places in my narrative I have pledged that this or that
        should be made clear in the knitting up of the story.  I
        remember them all, I am sure, but then I remember so much
        else.  Before you assume that I have cheated you, read
        again, as I will write again.

Wolfe is something of a fan of detective fiction (as you might guess
from his story 'The Rubber Bend'), and the last several chapters
consist of the summation which the great detective always makes at
the end of the story.  Of course Wolfe doesn't want to spoil the fun
of finding the answers, so he answers things obliquely, and you have
to read carefully to guess at what particular puzzle is being
explained.

I don't like to spoil the fun either, but I will mention some points
to direct your re-reading that stem from things I've noticed or read
elsewhere.

 +      Easy one: Can you draw Severian's family tree?  There are a
        number of red herrings which appear in the course of the
        books but the answer to this is fairly clear by the end of
        CITADEL.

 +      What is the connection between the gold coin which Vodalus
        gave to Severian, and Dr. Talos?  What relates it to the Sun
        and to the old mausoleum in the necropolis of the Citadel?
        Bonus question, unrelated: What was the original function of
        the Citadel?

 +      What generates the apparitions of Master Malrubius and the
        dog, Triskele?  This should be easy to answer, perhaps more
        so because of the recent Asimov novel.  (There does seem to
        be a curious parallel between Asimov's universe and
        Wolfe's...)

 +      What really happened in the climactic event of THE CLAW OF
        THE CONCILIATOR?  I don't believe this is stated directly
        but it is relatively straightforward to guess.

 +      What is the basis of the Urthian religion?  Analogies with
        at least two of our religions come to mind.

 +      Who is the Conciliator?  What is Severian's connection to
        him, and to the New Sun?  Who is responsible for this
        connection?

 +      Finally, why is a rose's thorn as efficacious as the Claw?
        If you understand this, you understand the core of the
        books.

You have 30 minutes.  Put your pencil down to indicate when you have
finished.  Start now.

There are lots of fun things to look for besides plot events, of
course.  One is tracing the origins of the stories and legends which
the people of Urth tell.  Another is catching references to Jorge
Luis Borges' works; two places to look are the story of Domnina's
encounter with Father Inire, and 'The Tale of the Student and His
Son'.  (There are others, too...) Another is looking for little
clevernesses -- for example, what book in the set of four which
Severian fetches for Thecla does he NOT describe?  (I wouldn't have
noticed this if Wolfe hadn't mentioned it in an article.)  If you
fancy this sort of thing, it helps to have a copy of THE CASTLE OF
THE OTTER and to read 'The Books in THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN' in
PLAN[E]T ENGINEERING (which also has a map of the continent on which
Nessus is located).

Wolfe started working on THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN in 1975 and the
last volume wasn't published until 1983.  Think of all the effort
that went into it -- it shouldn't be surprising that Wolfe wants the
reader to do some work too.

If all else fails, you can see if the answers are in THE URTH OF THE
NEW SUN when it comes out,