FIFTH HEAD

Roy C. Lackey · 15 Feb 1999, 00:28 · from urth-v0023.mbox · original

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From: "Roy C. Lackey" <rclackey at stic.net>
Subject: (urth) FIFTH HEAD
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 00:28:14
Message-ID: <urth-v0023-0064 at digest.urth.net>
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Greetings,
    My name is Roy C. Lackey. I only recently stumbled upon this list,
downloaded the archives and spent nearly two weeks reading them. About 4.5
megs. I was delighted to find such a group, although I confess that the two
SUN series are not my favorites among Wolfe's work. I have been impressed by
the depth of some insights, amazed and sometimes amused by others and, taken
all together, generally enlightened. That said, a couple of points:
    The consensus seems to be that the name of the narrator of _Fifth_Head_
is "Gene Wolfe". I understand how this conclusion is arrived at, with
regards to the surname. What I don't understand is how the given name can be
reconciled with the "roll call" scene two pages after the definitive library
shelf scene among the Ws. The impromptu class is begun by calling roll. The
unnamed narrator is called first, then David. It's been a long time since I
was in school, but I distinctly remember "D" coming before "G". Have you
ever known of a roll call that wasn't alphabetical? The scene is silly,
anachronistic and irrelevant to the progress of the plot. Yet it is there.
Why? It must serve some purpose, in the Wolfean scheme of things.
    Secondly, the name of Lafferty has only come up four times in the
archives, three of those just in passing, and none in any depth. I find that
strange, given Wolfe's affinity for the man and his works, not to mention
their similar Weltanschauung. Is there a reason for this? Are those on the
list unfamiliar with Lafferty, or is his influence deemed irrelevant?
    Enough for now, but why so little activity of late? And where's Mr.
Borski?

Roy


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