Subject: Gene Wolfe - some spoilers

From: Laurence C. Roberts <robertsl at stolaf.uucp>
Date: Sat, 08 Dec 1984 05:09:29 +0000

I've enjoyed the recent discussions of Gene Wolfe's
_Book_of_the_New_Sun_.  I've read ( and re-read) this and a fair
ammount of Wolfe's other work.  Has anyone out there read
_The_Fifth_Head_of_Cerberus_?  Has anyone read both that book and
Silverberg's _Lord_Valentine's_Castle_?  Did it seem to you as if
LVC lifted certain concepts from Fifth Head - note the similarity of
the Annese to Silverberg's Metamorphs, and the underlying theme in
both books of metamorphasis - in Fifth Head from generation to
generation of clones (#5) and from VRT to Marsch , and in LVC from
the old Valentine to the new.  And, although I'm no Heinlein fan,
what about Michael Valentine Smith's Castle?  Well, perhaps I'm
paranoid.

     Is it possible that there never was a Marsch in the first
place, that VRT made him up?  I haven't re-read the book since I
heard this hypothesis, but even if there aren't any contradictions
to it, it sounds kind of shaky.  Of course, you've probably noticed
the marsch-men pun in "A Story" .  Then again, how about March's
green eyes?  Was there a handwriting change in the journals in part
3?

     One analysis I read mentions that scenery in "A Story" also
appears in "VRT" (part 3).  I never noticed this before - I'll have
to watch next time.

     Now a few New Sun things... What about the second time the
Green Man was supposed to save Severian's life?  Has anyone heard
when _The_Urth_of_the_New_ _Sun_ is coming out?  What is
_The_Wolfe_Archipeligo_?

      Does anyone out there read Thomas Disch or Somtow Sucharitkul?
They are both marvelously literate authors.  What's your opinion of
Wolfe and Disch (among others) publishing unaffordable collectors
editions that you'd be afraid to read for fear of damaging them,
even if you could afford them... I'm not even talking about $18
hardbacks ( although those are bad enough ) .  I'm complaining about
$100 books, and somewhat about Disch's booklets like _Ringtime_ for
Toothpaste Press...  Opinions?

       Laurence Roberts
       ihnp4!stolaf!robertsl

"Ifrit first you don't succeed, fly, fly a djinn!"