Subject: (urth) Introduction and Questions

From: Che Monro <flirt at technologist.com>
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2003 03:48:54 +0000

1. Introduction

I am new here. My name is Che Monro, you can find a picture and some 
details about me at http:\\www.chemonro.com .

In order to communicate successfully, it seems to me that it is necessary 
for the question and answers and statements of a dialogue to be understood 
and to mean the same thing to both parties. Although I will admit that 
while unintentional mistakes in meaning can be funny and enjoyable, usually 
they are a pain.

To this end I intend to give you some information about me so that you can 
formulate your responses in a way which you feel will be easy and simple 
for me to understand, and which, I hope, will give me enjoyment and 
interest. Alternatively you can use the information to formulate answers 
which will be deliberately incomprehensible and painful, I can't stop you 
from doing this, but I tend to ignore messages that I don't understand 
because I'm not receiving any advantage or enjoyment from them. My 
apologies in advance if your conversation proves impossible for me, I 
promise to do my best.

Therefore:

I'm male, 32 from Australia, where I have lived all my life. I am neither a 
crypto-mormon, a Chem or a being from either or any dimension. My 
personality is quiet, respectful and peace seeking, with a wicked sense of 
humor. I am mentally ill - I suffer from depression and anxiety, brought on 
by stress. My tendency both conscious and unconscious is to avoid stress 
and conflict at all costs. Peace, happiness and calm, and dark melancholia, 
these are the air I breathe. Plus gently satirical humor.

My mother was raised Catholic, and I'm familiar with Christian philosophy. 
I've made some informal studies of Eastern religions. I don't know much 
about the Aztec or South American cultures.

As a reader I'm both lazy and thoughtful. Lazy in that I don't put a great 
deal of effort into unravelling details and puzzles, and thoughtful in that 
I obsess over connections and spiritual/symbolic links and unities. I 
prefer to read more for feeling than for "pointless" detail.

Thus, I'm not interested in the color of the ships of the Pelagic Argosy, 
or whether they were powered by rockets, light sails, or oars. I don't 
really care how many alternate Severians were are in TBOTNS, or who's faces 
are seen where or in what mirror. Cunning little paradoxes and puzzles are 
pretty, but I'm interested in the shades and feelings of the deep dankness 
behind and between the pages of the book.

Ferinstance: I love Dorcas for her purity and innocence, and I love 
Severian's love of her feel the pain of his faithfulness and faithlessness 
of his relationship to her. The way he saved her and was unable to save 
her, this moved me. As such I am interested in her. Was she Severian's 
mother? Did Silk and Co Materialize near her house in RTTW? Why? Is she 
related to Silk too?

Such questions interest me much more than the details of the particular 
circular time-path used by the Claw of the Conciliator to reach the moment 
of her resurrection, although it's movements are arguably more fantastic 
than her character. However I'm interested in even the trival details of 
Dorcas's existance because of all the women in TBOTNS I love her the most.

I guess that my obsessions/interests in Wolfe's work are perhaps unique and 
individual, that's why I chose to talk about myself here, to give you a 
guide to my feelings so that you could slant your answers in that 
direction. More about feelings and relationships, less about details and 
parallel universes and Big Questions, please.

2. Questions:

Two things have puzzled me greatly about Wolfe's work.

2a. The Fifth Head of Cerebus. I never understood this story at all. Who's 
a clone of who? What service does the house provide, just what's going on 
here? Lovely story, but I can't make head or tale of it. Classic Wolfe, that.

2b. I read somewhere recently that the lies Severian tells are critical to 
understanding some of the mystery of TBOTNS. I've tried searching for lies 
on the list without notable success. There is a lies listing somewhere? I 
would like to read this.

I'd like to find out what important lies Severian tells. I'm not interested 
in cute or trivial lies - whether he went to a whorehouse once or many 
times, whether he ever went back to a river or not, they don't seem very 
important unless I'm mistaken. But, Severian doesn't feel like a liar to 
me, So, there must be reasons or feelings behind his lies. It's said he 
lied about how he came to power, yet, why? Did he do something terrible? 
He's told us honestly about many terrible things that he's done, so what's 
he so ashamed of that he would lie to us? I'd like to know what Severian 
lie about, and why.

Thank You,

Che

Ché Franz Joseph Monro -- http://www.chemonro.com
che at chemonro.com    --     flirt at technologist.com

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