Wolfe, "Book of the New Sun"

Donald Lindsay · 11 Aug 1992, 03:51 · from sf-lovers.1992.mbox

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From: lindsay+ at cs.cmu.edu (Donald Lindsay)
Subject: Re: Wolfe, "Book of the New Sun"
Date: 11 Aug 92 03:51:02 GMT
Message-ID: <sflovers-v17-416-1 at digest.sf-lovers>
X-Digest-Issue: SF-LOVERS Digest V17 #416
X-Urthmirror-Source: https://archive.org/details/sf-lovers-digest-vol-17b

xtifr at netcom.com (Chris Waters) writes:
>>The language: all words *are used correctly* if your idea of "correct"
>>allows obsolete words and obsolete usages. There are no made-up words.
>>Period.
>
>My impression was that there *were* made-up words, but that all such words
>(as above) were derived from common Greek or Latin roots, and presented in
>a way that made their meaning obvious from context.

Wolfe has stated that "all the words are real" and that "everything is just
what it says it is". Loyal To The Group Of Seventeen is the only person not
given a human name. There is, for example, a Dorcas in "The Great Muppet
Caper" [the wife of John Cleese's character].  The monsters are named after
monsters, although Wolfe admits that Borges may have made up the historical
reference that Wolfe used for "Baldanders". The Heirodules have the names
of minor Roman gods.  Ascians are people without shadows [their enemies
calling them that on the assumption that they are from the equatorial
zone].

Urth is the eldest of the Norns, who represents the past.

Don C. Lindsay
Carnegie Mellon Computer Science

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