Subject: (urth) Greetings!

From: Oren Douek <orend at axelero.hu>
Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2003 19:10:28 +0000

Greetings!

I'm new to this list. I actually stumbled upon it while googling for John
Crowley a few months ago. I was reading Little, Big back then (great book!)
and was looking for answers to some questions I had about it (I still have
some actually, and might post them here a bit later, if it's alright;
haven't read the FAQ yet I must admit). I was surprised I found such a
lively discussion about Crowley on this board, and answers to some of my
questions!

Anyhow, I've just started reading my first Gene Wolfe novel, Shadow of the
Torturer. And I have a question about something on the first page actually
<g>

Who were the characters who said the following two phrases:

    "And try to get through the barbican without a safe-conduct? They'd send
to
    Master Gurloes."
    "But why would the guard leave?"

I guess that when I get used to Wolfe's style I wouldn't have to ask such
trivial questions! But until then...

Cheerio,

Oren

P.S. I also had a chance to read The Best Introduction to the Mountains last
week. I really liked it!

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From: Alice K. Turner <aturner6 at nyc.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 02:00:16 +0000

>From Oren:

> lively discussion about Crowley on this board, and answers to some of my

Hi Oren,
Nice to have someone who falls upon a list by accident feel so curious that
he (a) signs up and (b) starts right in reading a new author--do you realize
that you have committed to a huge number of books in this Wolfe sequence?!
One of the reasons there's a lot about Crowley here is that Michael
Andre-Driussi (mantis) and I, drawing on the help of four other members of
the list (and many outsiders) put together a big, pretty serious book about
him. But if you want a small *cheap!!* prototype of that book, write to
Michael directly at mantis at sirius.fiction.com. $5 plus, probably, some
shipping, will make you a wise man.

>     "But why would the guard leave?"

This happens to be a very intelligent question. It has been asked before,
and I was never one who answered it, so I will leave it to the
others--perhaps it shouldn't be answered.

-alga

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From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 00:34:31 +0000

Welcome, Oren.

>trivial questions! But until then...

The characters at this point are: Roche (Drotte's lieutenant), Drotte (the
captain of the apprentices), Eata (the littlest one), and Severian.

The sequence goes like this:

1. Roche talks to Drotte.
2. Eata suggests going around instead of through.

Because of this, it seems natural to me that Drotte is the one speaking the
line "And try to get . . . ?"

Since there is no identifier for the response, I assume that it is the
other speaker previously named: Roche.  So it is

1. Roche talks to Drotte.
2. Eata suggests.
3. Drotte scoffs.
4. Roche questions.

It is a conversation between the captain and his lieutenant, with the
interruption of communication from an underling -- a communication
summarized rather than given verbatim (perhaps it was mainly contained in
the gesture).

I hope this is of some help!

=mantis=

Sirius Fiction
booklets on Gene Wolfe, John Crowley
http://www.siriusfiction.com/

eBay Auctions
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=mr.sirius

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From: Oren Douek <orend at axelero.hu>
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 21:02:24 +0000

Alice K. Turner <aturner6 at nyc.rr.com> wrote:

> From Oren:
>
> > I'm new to this list. I actually stumbled upon it while googling for

Hello Alice! Well actually I had started collecting the Fantasy Masterworks
series from Gollancz, so I got The Book of the New Sun and Little, Big at
the same time, and would have come eventually to anyhow :-)I had never heard
of Gene Wolfe before I started collecting the Fantasy Masterworks to tell
the truth. Oh, god, I guess it's like heresy to say something like that
here! But then again, another friend of mine, who is a real bookworm and had
read tons of sf and fantasy books hadn't heard about him either until I told
him about his existence! Oh, well. It's like that, unfortunately, with a lot
of excellent writers and musicians. I have some British friends who had
never heard about Michael Moorcock. I have friends from Toronto who had
never heard about Rush (probably greatest band in the galaxy, located in...
Toronto!). So I had stopped trying to find any logic concerning these
things!

I do realize what a commitment I took by starting reading Wolfe. I believe I
can hold up to it! Thinking about it, the longest sequence of books I've
read is probably Zelazny's Amber series or (although more loosely connected)
Moorcock's Eternal Champion cycle.

> shipping, will make you a wise man.

Is there a description of the contents of the book somewhere?

> > to Master Gurloes."

Thanks. I feel better now. I thought it might be a dumb one! :-)
> -alga

Cheerio, Oren

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From: Oren Douek <orend at axelero.hu>
Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 22:43:22 +0000

> I hope this is of some help!

Yes, it helps a lot; a very logical and detailed explanation. Thanks!

I'm finishing now the new Michael Moorcock book concerning Elric et al., The
Skrayling Tree (recommended!), and will plunge back into Wolfe very soon!

Cheerio, Oren

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From: Oren Douek <orend at axelero.hu>
Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 23:11:09 +0000

> line "And try to get . . . ?"

You are surely right here:
In the explanation for the word "barbican" in Castle of the Otter, Wolfe
says:

"'And try to get through the barbican without a safe-conduct?' Drotte
objects when Eata suggests they circle the necropolis."

Cheerio, Oren

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