Subject: (whorl) the mystery of Q

From: CoxRathvon <coxrathvon at aol.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 18:53:24 +0000

[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

Patrick wrote: "Anyone else get the feeling that there are fathoms of mystery
yet unplumbed in these books? Every time I reread I'm stunned by how Wolfe
can couch the most startling revelations in a throwaway bit of dialogue."

I concur heartily on both points.  One of the deepest mysteries in the whole
four-book series is the blood-drinking Quetzal.  I wince to admit it now, but
on my first reading of the books, I completely missed a number of what
Patrick calls "throwaway" revelations about this inhuman.   For example,
Mucor refers more than once to "the man who isn't there," and Wolfe casually
has Silk misunderstand her; Silk thinks she's referring to Pas (the god who
no longer exists).  But of course, Mucor must have tried to possess Quetzal
and evidently found that instead of a human consciousness for her to inhabit,
there was "nothing there"--nothing, at any rate, that she could penetrate.
 For another example, the wonderful bird Oreb (who eats eyeballs and who sees
more clearly than anyone, as Patrick coyly observes),  refers to Quetzal as
"Bad thing."  But again Wolfe has Silk misunderstand; Silk thinks Oreb is
referring to a walking stick, or a hole, or whatever else nearby might be a
"thing."  

As someone else in this communal letter has asked, how the hell did Quetzal
get aboard the Whorl?  How old is he really?  What are his deepest motives?
 Does he befriend Silk only because Silk will bring about the "plan of Pas"
and thereby deliver a supply of human food to Blue and Green?  Even my third
rereading of these books is not helping me answer all these questions.
 Speculations from other readers are warmly welcomed!

By the way, I love the name "Quetzal."  Not only does it evoke Quetzalcoatl,
a rather fearsome serpent god of the Aztecs, but the real-life quetzal of
Central America belongs to the "trogon" family--and I have discovered in my
handy dictionary that "trogon" comes from a Greek word meaning "gnaw."  Very
funny, Mr. Wolfe!  In addition to all that, there is the alphabetical appeal
of the letter Q, the chief letter of question, query, quest, Quixotic, and
quiz, among other queer things.  It's nice when a name in a story resonates
this way.

And finally, I agree with everyone who's cited the line "Then I walked in" as
a major shocker.  It exploded off the page at me!  I wanted to ask myself
whether it was a cheap shot, but my mind was too busy reeling, trying to see
everything in this new light--which itself answers any question about the
line's effectiveness.  In short, it just about killed me.

Boy, this is fun!

--Henry Rathvon  

Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com

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From: James Stewart <james.stewart at worldnet.att.net>
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 19:13:25 +0000

>line's effectiveness.  In short, it just about killed me.

I feel like an idiot, where was this line and what was its significance?

By the way, I am new here. Having read the Book of the New Sun and Book of
the Long Sun, I was a Wolfe fan.

_____________________________________________
James A. Stewart

james.stewart at worldnet.att.net 
or
jstewart at cougar.colstate.cc.oh.us

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From: CoxRathvon <coxrathvon at aol.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 19:25:53 +0000

To James Stewart:  The line in question is actually "At that moment I burst
into the room."  It occurs on page 282 (the last page of chapter 13) of
"Exodus from the Long Sun."  Until that moment, the entire story has seemed
to have a third-person omniscient narrator.  But with this sudden intrusion
of an "I," the focus of the narration is jarred.  One realizes a couple lines
later that the "I" is the boy Horn, and one then sees everything from a new
perspective.   Some readers, I wager, will consider this sudden narrative
shift too gimmicky.  As for me, I've always loved surprises.

--Henry Rathvon

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From: James Stewart <james.stewart at worldnet.att.net>
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 1997 20:23:46 +0000

>shift too gimmicky.  As for me, I've always loved surprises.

Well, I feel a lot less stupid now. I haven't even seen that book yet.

So, does one need to reread the first three to get into the fourth?

By the way, who was Severin's mother--oops, wrong series!

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From: Doug Eigsti <douge at nti.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:01:55 +0000

> referring to a walking stick, or a hole, or whatever else nearby might be a

 Quetzal is first mentioned in LAKE on page 81.2 (2nd paragraph). On page
86.1 Remora notes that he is fond of beef tea. Remora says "A man can't
live on beef tea and air", we now know that he was supplementing his diet
with blood. 

>  Speculations from other readers are warmly welcomed!

On page 310.1 (I think, I don't have the book on me, only my notes) of
NIGHTSIDE Silk remembers that Pike believed that devils entered the Whorl
against Pas' will. Silk comes to a different conclusion, to mislead us. I
think this is our clue. Quetzal is a Vampire/Pirate that boarded the whorl
enroute to some other, closer, planet (everything seems to be in service
past its' engineered lifespan) and commenced to corrupt its' original
mission and change its' course and destination.