Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun

Chris Henrich · 14 Nov 1984, 19:09 · from net.sf-lovers.1984.mbox

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From: cjh at petsd.UUCP (Chris Henrich)
Subject: Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun
Date: Wed, 14-Nov-84 14:09:01 EST
Message-ID: <380 at petsd.UUCP>
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers

[]
     Ian Kaplan writes:

                 In these books Wolfe has woven an incredibly complex
plot whose central point I hoped would be revealed in the last book.  
For me at least, this did not happen and the books remain enigmatic.  
In the last few pages of the last New Sun book, "The Citadel of the 
Autarch", the new Autarch, whose previous carear we have followed,
states that he is leaving the Book of the New Sun behind on earth and
going to meet the extra-terestrials.  While on this flight he will
rewrite the book a second time.  Since he has perfect memory, he can
reproduce the book exactly.  He says that if you don't understand the
book, read it a second time, just as he is writing it a second time. 

     I found that repeated readings of these books were
needed, not only to refresh my memory of them (they came out
at intervals of 8 to 12 months) but also to understand them at
all. Wolfe apparently wants the reader to work hard (as
witness his use of obscure words, not explained), and in many
places a "throw-away line" clarifies something that appeared
hundreds of pages back, or even in a previous volume.

     What does it all mean?
     I don't know that it *has* to mean anything. If a book
engages the reader's attention and gives enjoyment, then it is
satisfactory. If it survives several attentive rereadings, and still
gives enjoyment, it is excellent. I think _The_New_Sun_
qualifies.
     One reservation: Severian's promotion to the position of
Autarch seems unmotivated; i.e. it does not make sense in the
context of the book. (Even the characters in the book seem
to feel their world is pretty weird.) This is a defect, and is
not repaired by having the previous Autarch suggest that
indeed it was unmotivated.  But maybe, the next time around, 
I'll see why Severian was the obvious choice, and this was the
obvious thing to happen to him.

Regards,
Chris

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