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 carear we have followed,
states that he is leaving the Book of the New Sun behind on earth and
going to meet the extra-terestrials.  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

---

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,

---

From: mcdonald <mcdonald at smu.uucp>
Date: Sat, 24 Nov 1984 17:12:00 +0000

that not enough was made clear.  According to Wolfe, the manuscript is
about 200 pages through the second draft and has been waiting for several
months for him to finish other obligations.

                                          Mc