Subject: (whorl) Nessus; Bones; Chapbook

From: David_Lebling <david_lebling at avid.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 09:36:14 +0000

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

Nessus: (Off-topic for Whorl)

There's far more to the Commonwealth and Nessus being in South America
than just mate.

1) It's in the southern hemisphere.
2) It's near extensive grasslands.
3) It's near a huge mountain range.
4) It's near a jungle.
5) The people drink mate.
6) The character of Apu Punchau is a "real" Inca legend.
7) The story of the woman and her three suitors is set in South America,
and told by a Commonwealth citizen.
8) The tribe of Magicians is clearly made up of Amazonian Indians.

and so on.  This is just off the top of my head.

On the other hand, there is clearly a (hmph) Gnostic overlay of
Alexandria or perhaps Byzantium on Nessus in particular.  If you've ever
seen a picture of modern-day Istanbul, Hagia Sofia specifically, you've
seen the Old Spaceport (grin only slightly in jest here!).

Did you know there are legends about secret, lost tunnel systems in
Alexandria?  Supposedly Alexander's sarcophagus is in one of them,
probably somewhere near the Atrium of Time.

I think Wolfe is perfectly capable of layering Constantinople over
Alexandria over Buenos Aires (Santiago's present-day geography makes it
an unlikely candidate, _pace_ the map in _Lexicon Urthus_, and the time
scale).

Bones (on-topic!);

Silk's knife, Silk's razor, indeed.  Don't forget the bone (human bone,
at that) weapons that the tunnel dwellers make and carry.  Silk uses his
knife to send victims to Mainframe.  The tunnel dwellers use their
weapons to send their victims to Mainframe (in the Viron colloquial
sense).  The dwellers live in a kind of hell (dark, underground,
tormented by demon-gods) but live off the leavings of the gods
(unconsumed sacrifices) and the flesh of condemned criminals.  Silk
lives in a kind of hell (the Whorl, a milder hell to be sure) and lives
off unconsumed sacrifices, is tormented by demon-gods, etc.

     -vizcacha
     (david_lebling at avid.com)

ps: A plug for mantis's chapbook -- Just got my copy, get yours while
you can.  It's worth every penny (and more).

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