5HC a good introduction to wolfe? (was Washington

James Jordan · 16 Apr 2002, 15:10 · from urth-v0204.mbox · original
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From: James Jordan <jbjordan4 at cox.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) 5HC a good introduction to wolfe? (was Washington
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 10:10:58 -0500
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At 12:28 PM 4/15/2002, John Holbrook Vance Barach wrote:

>But I note with interest that (according to "'A Story,' by John V.
>Marsch") on Sainte Anne, all boys are named "John."
>
>    ... his mother called him John (which only signifies "a man,"
>    all boy children being named *John*) Eastwind (Ace, p. 84).
>
>If Number Five's name is the French male equivalent of Jeanette, then
>he's called Jean, the English of which is John -- the standard name for
>any boy on the neighbouring planet, and also the name of John V. Marsch.
>Interesting, I said to myself, but significant...?

         Could all these "Johns" have come from "Buckaroo Banzai"? Well, I 
guess not, given the dates of writing and of the movie. But a John is a 
user of prostitutes, so the names fit with the larger "antichrist" theme in 
the book. It may be another truly dark hint, that the shapeshifters are 
imitating the wrong kind of people, "Johns" who frequent the "harlots" at 
666 rue de Saltimbanque. Does this remind us of the Book of the Short Sun? 
Yes, it does. What kind people will the shapeshifter/inhumi imitate? Kudos 
again to Gever for making the thematic connexions!
A comment on Borski's Je m'appelle Jean Loup
from his website. He writeth:

Although the title novella of THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS is narrated in the 
first person, and there are countless interactions between the narrator and 
the other characters of the novella, the only name ever attached to him is 
Number Five, which comes from Maitre, his father, and refers to his clonal 
nature. And yet it is possible to work out Number Five's real name from 
certain clues within the novella.

Our first clue comes early in the text, when at the public library, Number 
Five attempts to locate books written by his father, the authorship of 
which he has found out about from the mysterious lady in pink. Where does 
he begin his search? In the "W" holdings, where he finds books by Kate 
Wilhelm, Bernard Wolfe, Virginia Woolf, and Vernor Vinge (the VV of V.Vinge 
having apparently been misread as "Winge" by some errant librarian). Number 
Five concludes his search by saying he never found any books by his father, 
but it now seems reasonable to assume his last name begins with W.

Later then, just before Number Five is first given his numerical nickname, 
he says, in response to his father's telling him he may pick his own name, 
"It seemed to me quite impossible that I should have any name other than 
the two words which were, in some mystic sense I only respected without 
understanding, my name."

         Me: I would add that the "mystic sense" has to do with genetics 
(gene) and the lupine (man is a wolf to man) character of the family. 
Borski adds:

So now we know Number Five's name consists of two words, the latter of 
which begins with W.

Enter into Number Five's life Maitre's sister, who introduces herself as 
Aunt Jeannine. Later, however, we learn that Aunt Jeannine is a female 
variant of Number Five's father (and since Number Five himself is cloned 
from the same source), so inferentially this allows us to assume Number 
Five's name is the male equivalent of Jeannine or Jean/Gene.

As for the "W" patronym, besides the library reference, Number Five remarks 
that his house is sometimes referred to as Maison du Chien (because of its 
statue of Cerberus) and that this "may have been a reference to our surname 
as well." Chien usually means dog in French, but it can also mean wolf.

Ergo, our narrator's name, is Gene Wolf(e), although given the prevalence 
of French in Port-Mimizon, it might just as easily be Jean Loup.

         Me: But it's interesting that it's not. It's "Gene" and "Wolfe." 
(Thank goodness Wolfe did not have No. 5 looking under "L" for his father's 
writings, or else probably even Borski would not have figured it out!) So, 
we have the American Gene Wolfe living in the New Orleans French society. 
(And Wolfe did live in Nawlns in his childhood, right?)

Nutria



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At 12:28 PM 4/15/2002, John Holbrook Vance Barach
wrote:
But I note with interest that
(according to "'A Story,' by John V.
Marsch") on Sainte Anne, all boys are named
"John."
   ... his mother called him John (which only signifies "a
man,"
   all boy children being named *John*) Eastwind (Ace, p.
84).
If Number Five's name is the French male equivalent of Jeanette,
then
he's called Jean, the English of which is John -- the standard name
for
any boy on the neighbouring planet, and also the name of John V.
Marsch.
Interesting, I said to myself, but significant...?

<x-tab>        </x-tab>Could all
these "Johns" have come from "Buckaroo Banzai"? Well,
I guess not, given the dates of writing and of the movie. But a John is a
user of prostitutes, so the names fit with the larger
"antichrist" theme in the book. It may be another truly dark
hint, that the shapeshifters are imitating the wrong kind of people,
"Johns" who frequent the "harlots" at 666 rue de
Saltimbanque. Does this remind us of the Book of the Short Sun? Yes, it
does. What kind people will the shapeshifter/inhumi imitate? Kudos again
to Gever for making the thematic connexions!
A comment on Borski's Je m'appelle Jean
Loup 
from his website. He writeth: 
Although the title novella of THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS is narrated in
the first person, and there are countless interactions between the
narrator and the other characters of the novella, the only name ever
attached to him is Number Five, which comes from Maitre, his father, and
refers to his clonal nature. And yet it is possible to work out Number
Five's real name from certain clues within the novella. 
Our first clue comes early in the text, when at the public library,
Number Five attempts to locate books written by his father, the
authorship of which he has found out about from the mysterious lady in
pink. Where does he begin his search? In the "W" holdings,
where he finds books by Kate Wilhelm, Bernard Wolfe, Virginia Woolf, and
Vernor Vinge (the VV of V.Vinge having apparently been misread as
"Winge" by some errant librarian). Number Five concludes his
search by saying he never found any books by his father, but it now seems
reasonable to assume his last name begins with W. 
Later then, just before Number Five is first given his numerical
nickname, he says, in response to his father's telling him he may pick
his own name, "It seemed to me quite impossible that I should have
any name other than the two words which were, in some mystic sense I only
respected without understanding, my name." 
<x-tab>        </x-tab>Me: I
would add that the "mystic sense" has to do with genetics
(gene) and the lupine (man is a wolf to man) character of the family.
Borski adds:
So now we know Number Five's name consists of two words, the latter of
which begins with W. 
Enter into Number Five's life Maitre's sister, who introduces herself as
Aunt Jeannine. Later, however, we learn that Aunt Jeannine is a female
variant of Number Five's father (and since Number Five himself is cloned
from the same source), so inferentially this allows us to assume Number
Five's name is the male equivalent of Jeannine or Jean/Gene. 
As for the "W" patronym, besides the library reference, Number
Five remarks that his house is sometimes referred to as Maison du Chien
(because of its statue of Cerberus) and that this "may have been a
reference to our surname as well." Chien usually means dog in
French, but it can also mean wolf. 
Ergo, our narrator's name, is Gene Wolf(e), although given the prevalence
of French in Port-Mimizon, it might just as easily be Jean 
Loup.
<x-tab>        </x-tab>Me: But
it's interesting that it's not. It's "Gene" and
"Wolfe." (Thank goodness Wolfe did not have No. 5 looking under
"L" for his father's writings, or else probably even Borski
would not have figured it out!) So, we have the American Gene Wolfe
living in the New Orleans French society. (And Wolfe did live in Nawlns
in his childhood, right?)
Nutria

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