Hierogrammates, Briah and Yesod

Gerry Quinn · 13 Aug 2010, 11:03 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:03:18 +0100
Subject: (urth) Hierogrammates, Briah and Yesod
References: <SNT123-W4BFF8A8C22DA6E636465ACF970 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <2502DF56FEAA4DDC9EDA495782A1E837@jill>

From: "Lee Berman" <severiansola at hotmail.com>

> That's the flipside of naivete- trust. And I suspect that you, David, like 
> me, don't trust Gene
> Wolfe further than we can throw him. This is an important difference which 
> creates different
> interpretations. I detect that Gene wolfe (interviews answers to the 
> contrary aside) has a real
> streak of disdain for his readers. I actually think there is a conflict 
> set up between reader and
> writer and, unlike some authors, Gene wolfe really doesn't want us ever to 
> fully win.
>
> I say disdain because we are treated like dogs. That's what people do with 
> dogs and a ball. They
> say, "here's the ball, doggie" then misdirect the poor creature, "over 
> here, no here, no, here" and
> the poor dog's nose gets distracted in the feinted new direction over and 
> over again. Perhaps
> Wolfe is trying to tell his readers to not get distracted like a dog. The 
> bastard.

But that's what dogs LIKE!

> I think Wolfe slips up once. There is an interview where he seems to 
> inadvertantly blurt out
> that yes, in VRT, Dr Marsch was killed and replaced by a Ste. Anne abo. 
> (BTW, is there any hint that
> the abos eat their duplicated victims? I remember Shadow Children having 
> sharp teeth... It would fit
> nicely with Inhumi and other similar themes).
>
> Anyway, we are given hints that Dr. Marsch is replaced then given a dozen 
> reasons to doubt it. If wolfe's
> interview slip-up was on purpose then I appreciate it. One tiny bone of 
> fairness, thrown to his readers.

Or one tiny error, spoiling the carefully constructed ambiguity?

(Although without Wolfe's remark, I myself would fall down anyway on the 
side that he was replaced, although he may well have died in an accident.)

> With it, I think we can use David's ghost story principle to figure out 
> the mysteries of many of Wolfe's
> other stories. The secret is identifying repetition. Not only within 
> stories but across his work. The
> mystery of Shadow Children helps us understand the mystery of Inhumi. The 
> mystery of Latro's world helps
> us understand the mythological subplots of BotNS. Etc.

I think that is true as regards identifying themes, but one should be wary 
of turning such correspondences into specific hypotheses about the 
underlying 'facts' of a given fiction.

- Gerry Quinn

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