Excessive Exegesis and Forlesen

Alex David Groce · 16 Oct 1998, 12:30 · from urth-v0020.mbox · original

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From: "Alex David Groce" <adgroce at eos.ncsu.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Excessive Exegesis and Forlesen
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 12:30:17
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In substance, I think that rather than being a puzzle piece where we have to
determine "what's really going on,"  Forlesen is just what Clute calls it in
the Wolfe article in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction--a superb Kafkaesq=
ue
PARABLE.  The hell hints are there, but they don't mean "he's in Hell!  Tha=
t's
what's really happening!"  Ditto the computer hints.  It's not as if in The
Penal Colony you should be trying to figure out where the colony is.

On Oct 16, 12:07am, Peter T. Cash wrote:
> Subject: (urth) Excessive Exegesis and Forlesen
> Rostrum said:
>=20
> >I thought Mr. Borski's lists of hell and computer imagery interesting, b=
ut
> >they didn't go anywhere.  They seemed like evidence in search of an
> >argument.  Is Forlesen in hell?  Is he a computer program?  If so, what's
> >the point?  How does that make more sense of the story or give it greater
> >meaning?  Can you go any farther down any of these trails?
>=20
>=20
> >My own thought (and maybe this is all you were saying and I missed it) is
> >that these details are merely allusive.  Wolfe is trying to make us think
> >of a hellish, mechanized, inhuman society (and to make us consider to wh=
at
> >extent our own society is influenced by these forces).  I don't think
> >we're supposed to decode that Forlesen is "actually" damned or imprisoned
> >in a computer (except to the extent that we are meant to ask ourselves,
> >Are we damned?  Are we trapped in a computer?  Is there a meaning to all
> >this?)
>=20
>=20
> I couldn't agree more. I think that the search for "hidden meanings" must
> have a stopping point, or it distracts you from the life of the story. It=
's
> regrettable that Wolfe himself has made comments that encourage this kind=
 of
> overly exhaustive exegesis, that encourage approaching his work as though=
 it
> were a code that must be broken. When I read Wolfe, I let the story flow
> over me. He makes me almost-remember things, makes me see things I almost
> recognize, makes me see the outlines of ideas and references I almost
> understand. I _like_ this ambiguity. I know I'm missing stuff that others
> enjoy finding...but I really don't care. (Of course, I must confess that
> often when I'm done reading, I wonder, "Now what the hell was that really
> about?". I never figure it out...but it doesn't bother me...much.)
>=20
> I think that there _are_ some Wolfe works that not only contain puzzles, =
but
> where the puzzle is the point. For example, one is bound to wonder how ma=
ny
> nights are _really_ contained in "Seven American Nights". That's a questi=
on
> central to the story. Paradoxically, I don't think there's a right answer=
 to
> this question (despite the fact that I once argued vociferously with alga
> about precisely this). I think that what's important about this kind of
> literary puzzle isn't finding the "right" answer, but looking at it from
> different aspects, and seeing how many _different_ good answers you can
> find. I guess I think that this story is more like a kaleidoscope (a litt=
le
> psychedelic allusion here) than a puzzle. You look through the tube, and =
the
> pattern fascinates you; you are convinced it is _the_ pattern, the truth.
> Then the pattern shifts, and you see a new one--and fall in love with it.
>=20
> As for Forlesen, I think that the theme of memory (or forgetfulness) is an
> important one in this story. Like Latro, Forlesen can't remember the day
> before; he can't remember if there _was_ a day before this one, and he ca=
n't
> remember who he is. (We are told that Forlesen remembers his name, but not
> even what a human looks like.) I would say that the name "Emanuel" is
> indicative of divinity, and that it may be that Wolfe wants to remind us
> that we are divine creatures who are at risk of losing their link to God =
if
> we forget ourselves. Then we are truly in Hell.
>=20
> Sgt. Rock
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> *More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/
>=20
>-- End of excerpt from Peter T. Cash



--=20
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." - John 8:32
--
Alex David Groce (adgroce at eos.ncsu.edu)
Senior (Computer Science/Multidisciplinary Studies in Technology & Fiction)
'98-99 NCSU AITP Student Chapter President
608 Charleston Road, Apt. 1E (919)-233-7366
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~adgroce

*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/

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