Standard Wolfean riddle

Lee Berman · 12 Aug 2010, 14:35 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:35:25 -0400
Subject: (urth) Standard Wolfean  riddle
Message-ID: <SNT123-W9F5A8E2FFA34663F2BE25CF970 at phx.gbl>

>David Stockhoff- On the use of the word "cognates":
>I think this is a standard low-grade Wolfean riddle. If a Wolfe 
>character says to a narrator, "I once met a man very like you, who had 
>the same look and carried himself the same way, and held his cigarette 
>just like that, but he called himself by a different name then," how 
>would you interpret that?

>"Once upon a time, there was a race of beings with two arms and two legs 
>who called themselves Men. They were very like you, with the same hopes 
>and dreams, but they lived far away from here, both in space and in 
>time." How would you interpret that?

>I read both as strong hints of the obvious, with a dash of doubt.

Interestingly, I just made a very similar comment responding to a different
poster:

>Lee Berman- Wolfe could have made it crystal clear that it was Severian's race in 
>Briah which  created the Hierogrammates and it is Severian that he reveres, but at 
>every turn he doesn't, using language which simultaneously provides us a conclusion 
>and casts doubt upon it. It could be said that he does this in all his work. 
>We are meant to be kept off balance.

We must be careful or risk being accused of being the same person. Stockberm?
David Lee Hoff?  ;- ) nevermind. brunians is gone.

Speaking of SilkHorn, isn't that a prime example of what we are speaking of? We
have a guy who keeps insisting he is Horn, searching for Silk, while everyone 
around him keeps saying, "Uh, dude, you are a tall, slender guy with white hair 
and a black bird named Oreb on your shoulder".

In that case (like the Dorcas riddle), I think most readers figure it out.
Other Wolfean riddles are more difficult to solve, as we've seen.

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