Ouen and Dorcas and ??

Lee Berman · 06 Dec 2010, 15:52 · from 2010-December.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 10:52:54 -0500
Subject: (urth) Ouen and Dorcas and ??
Message-ID: <SNT123-W34D5B9E10436F04D03A47ECF2B0 at phx.gbl>

>Ryan Dunn: I recently asked Gene whether BotNS could be interpreted/read as a Pinnochio story, 
>were Pinnochio to have been told from the puppet's POV. Gene said he hadn't thought of it that way, 
>but that it probably could. He also confessed he had never actually read Pinnochio, only viewed the 
>Disney film.

This is a bizarrely coincidental post given James' recent entry. Had you seen the post below, Ryan?

>James Wynn: Significantly, there are puppet references associated with Horn. Shortly 
>after leaving home, he is attacked by a leatherskin, a creature with three jaws. It is Pinocchio's 
>"dog fish" ("Monstro" the whale in the Disney movie) that has three jaws. Earlier he relates a story 
>from Horn's  childhood about a puppet he had.

I'm starting to feel like a puppet myself. 

How are you guys able to correspond with Gene Wolfe? I've never tried and I wonder if I'd have the nerve 
if I had the means. But I'm curious how it is done. Is paper mail preferred, perhaps?

I especially like one bit of information from your post Ryan. I've long suspected Gene Wolfe occasionally 
draws from popular culture and not only from classic mythology and literature. I hesitate to confess that 
I think a certain character from silly TV is the inspiration for Jolenta more than Marilyn Monroe, as Mantis 
and (I think) Borski have proposed. The red hair, the big green eyes, the buxom figure, the bored, languorous 
demeanor, her effect on the men, these all remind me of Tina Louise, aka Ginger, from Gilligan's Island. Of 
course, for men in the audience there is a near-unanimous preference for the other girl on the island, 
sweet, natural Mary Ann. Dr. Talos admires Severian for preferring the other woman in the troupe, Dorcas.

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