Wolfe's Attitude toward his Readers

David Stockhoff · 15 Aug 2010, 22:28 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:28:15 -0400
Subject: (urth) Wolfe's Attitude toward his Readers
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W4850CAA5969E603A6F8EF5CF990 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W4850CAA5969E603A6F8EF5CF990 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4C6869FF.10201 at verizon.net>

I tend to agree with this conclusion, granting that numbers are not 
words and may be deployed for different reasons. However, digging up and 
putting to work an ancient word is not analogous to creating a code out 
of numbers. In fact, one could argue that making up a code itself 
parallels making up a language, and therefore could be said to be 
something Wolfe does not do.

If the analogy holds up, this set of numbers already has a meaning 
outside the text.

Not much of a clue, I know.

Lee Berman wrote:
>   
>> Gerry Quinn- 
>> I posted on this before: I suggested that the apparent low entropy of the 
>> numbers may be in order to add verisimilitude without inplying any specific 
>> meaning assigned in the text.  
>>     
>  
> I'm sorry Gerry, I don't understand what you mean by "low entropy of the 
> numbers. Could you explan?
>  
>  
>   
>> "Ora faltig teru dres, ent oru klen rebalen tafru."  That looks like a 
>> sentence in a foreign language (either originating in or transcribed into 
>> the Latin alphabet).  It is not entirely random: I made it to seem 
>> pronouncable.and have a plausible distribution of word lengths etc., even an 
>> echo between 'ora' and 'oru'.  But it means nothing!  
>>     
>  
> I must confess that I am one who becomes quickly annoyed by authors who invent
> alien languages for their text (yes, even you, J.R.R., though you are redeemed 
> a bit by basing Elvish on Suomi (Finnish)). One of my true pleasures in reading
> Gene Wolfe is that he instead takes pains to use extant words (albeit sometimes 
> nearly extinct words). 
>  
> If Wolfe wants to depict an undecipherable word he does not tend use our alphabet
> to do so. He finds a way to describe the undecipherable symbol with color and/or
> shape and/or descriptors like "gnostic" or "terratoid".
>  
> As an engineer, I assume Gene Wolfe finds numbers to be almost as important,
> symbolically, as letters. I would be unpleasantly surprised to learn he has invented
> a fake paragraph of numbers when he is so averse to doing that same thing to words. 		 	   		  
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