trivia question
In The Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe, the Ascian named 'Loyal to the Group of Seventeen' manages to tell an inventive story using a language in which every sentence is an government approved aphorism of propaganda. Rendered in the aphorisms of our own culture, which of the following might be considered the moral of Ascian's 'Tale of the Just Man'?
a. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
b. Be content with what you have.
c. Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy.
d. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
more »
a. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
b. Be content with what you have.
c. Hear no ill of a friend, nor speak any of an enemy.
d. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
more »
Gene Wolfe
author profile
born
May 07, 1931
gender
male
place of birth
New York, New York, United States
genre
Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy
about this author
Gene Wolfe is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith, to which he converted after marrying a Catholic. He is a prolific short story writer and a novelist, and has won many awards in the field.
While attending Texas A&M University Wolfe published his first speculative fiction in The Commentator, a student literary journal. Wolfe dropped out during his junior year, and was drafted to fight in the Korean War. After returning to the United States he earned a degree from the University of Houston and became an industrial engineer. He edited the journal Plant Engineering for many years before retiring to write full-time, but his most fa...more
books by Gene Wolfe
combine editionsavg rating: 4.13 | 4990 ratings | 68 distinct works see all books by Gene Wolfe »
quotes by Gene Wolfe
"My definition of good literature is that which can be read by an educated reader, and reread with increased pleasure."
— Gene Wolfe
— Gene Wolfe
tags:
literature
7 people liked it
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges. When soldiers take their oath they are given a coin, an asimi stamped with the profile of the Autarch. Their acceptance of that coin is their acceptance of the special duties and burdens of military life--they are soldiers from that moment, though they may know nothing of the management of arms. I did not know that then, but it is a profound mistake to believe that we must know of such things to be influenced by them, and in fact to believe so is to believe in the most debased and superstitious kind of magic. The would-be sorcerer alone has faith in the efficacy of pure knowledge; rational people know that things act of themselves or not at all.
"
— Gene Wolfe (Shadow & Claw (Book of the New Sun, Books 1 and 2))
"
— Gene Wolfe (Shadow & Claw (Book of the New Sun, Books 1 and 2))
"Certain mystes aver that the real world has been constructed by the human mind, since our ways are governed by the artificial categories into which we place essentially undifferentiated things, things weaker than our words for them.
[...:]
We believe we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges.
"
— Gene Wolfe (Shadow & Claw (Book of the New Sun, Books 1 and 2))
[...:]
We believe we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges.
"
— Gene Wolfe (Shadow & Claw (Book of the New Sun, Books 1 and 2))
topics mentioning this author
| topics | replies | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SciFi and Fantasy...: * Master Fantasy Book List | 9 | 329 | 10 days ago, 12:53PM |
