Quotations

Lee Berman · 01 Jan 2011, 21:07 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2011 16:07:18 -0500
Subject: (urth) Quotations
Message-ID: <SNT123-W60B415189678DBD55C5C54CF050 at phx.gbl>

>Matthew Wisby: I've just joined the list and hope to be an active participant in
>discussions. Please forgive me if the following question has already been
>addressed, I haven't had time to work my way through the archives .

Welcome Matthew! Six years ago I joined the List and did my best to peruse the archives
first. It was really difficult then.  Now I think it is just too damn big to try anything more
than cursory perusal.  We rehash questions here all the time. No problem. Most of the time I find 
new insights with re-discussion. 

>Son O' Witz: There seem to be a lot of "Matthews" around here...Something about this quasi-religious 
>stuff atracts Matthews.

Would you prefer Matthew's name was John or Joshua? heh. (We've had a lot of JW's here too)

>When Severian meets Ultan in the library, the Master Librarian quotes the
>following lines to him:

>'Of the trail of ink there is no end.'
>'A man will give his life to the turning over of a collection of books.'

Jose Luis Borges wrote a story called "Mirror Of Ink".  It was set in ancient times, involved a ruler and 
his wizard advisor, and an execution, a beheading. Maybe an indirect inspiration for BotNS? Perhaps the quote 
was Wolfe acknowledging Borges as his direct predecessor.

Borges also wrote about the "Library Of Babel".  "Many of Borges's signature themes are featured in the story, 
including infinity, reality, cabalistic reasoning, and labyrinths". Some quotes:

>1."The universe (which others call the Library)...."

>2.The mystics claim that their ecstasy reveals to them a circular chamber containing a great circular book, 
>whose spine is continuous and which follows the complete circle of the walls; but their testimony is suspect; 
>their words, obscure. This cyclical book is God.) 

>3.We also know of another superstition of that time: that of the Man of the Book....there must exist a book 
>which is the formula and perfect compendium of all the rest: some librarian has gone through it and he is 
>analogous to a god.

>4.If honor and wisdom and happiness are not for me, let them be for others. Let heaven exist, though my place 
>be in hell.

>5.I venture to suggest this solution to the ancient problem: The Library is unlimited and cyclical. If an eternal 
>traveler were to cross it in any direction, after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated 
>in the same disorder (which, thus repeated, would be an order: the Order). My solitude is gladdened by this 
>elegant hope.

There is a lot more. I think WOlfe owes much to Borges.  David (stockhoff), per our previous discussion and my 
observations of possible devil/demiurge associations with Ultan (Borges), it may be that Wolfe does this inspired 
by Borges' own self-assessment (if there is more in his work like #4).

Here is an interesting list of books:
http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/grtborges.html

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