Hierogrammates, Briah and Yesod

António Pedro Marques · 11 Aug 2010, 16:30 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: entonio at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?QW50w7NuaW8gUGVkcm8gTWFycXVlcw==?=)
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 17:30:50 +0100
Subject: (urth) Hierogrammates, Briah and Yesod
In-Reply-To: <922070.75966.qm at web37608.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
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	<922070.75966.qm at web37608.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
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Craig Brewer wrote (11-08-2010 16:32):
>>> I want to believe that Mr. Wolfe himself would like to claim that the answer to
>>> every single riddle ever posited on this mailing list since it began is
>>> answerable, and>answerable in the text we're pondering.
>
>>>
>>> Do you think he would agree? Do you agree?
>
> Coming late to this discussion, but I have to say that I disagree to both. As
> much as his hard core fans (i.e., us) adore the puzzle side of his writings, I
> get the sense that Wolfe feels himself primarily to be a story teller rather
> than a maker of difficult narrative puzzles. (That image of himself as a
> fireside yarn-spinner at the beginning of Endangered Species has always stuck in
> my mind.) Even when there are puzzles, it seems that he wants them to serve the
> purpose of the larger narrative than to be there for their own sake. Too often,
> our own obsessions, mine included, seem to remove us from the story, making us
> focus on speculations more than the stories as he's told them. Other times, the
> focus on the hidden details makes us start to evaluate his stories as if the
> theology or philosophy or world-building is more important than the story
> itself. I wonder if Wolfe ever feels disappointed by our focus on what's implied
> rather than what he's written explicitly.
>
> There have been plenty of examples where the puzzles *are* the story, of course.
> Fifth Head and Peace come to mind, obviously. But I don't necessarily think that
> they are the definitive way of reading Wolfe.

Bravo.

Doubtlessly someone will now completely miss your point and say that you are 
free to read the stories 'just as stories' but please don't try to handicuff 
Those Who See Higher.

Istr that Wolfe said in an interview that Severian has a sister, alright, 
and she appears in the cast, but he (Wolfe) didn't know for certain who she 
is. I may be misremembering, but the gist was that.

Again, why not Merryn? My understanding is that she's a mysandriac and 
Witches (what could those really be?) are not supposed to have casual sex.

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