Status Updates From The Urth of the New Sun (Th...

What is yesod

“My true name is Severian. By my friends, of whom there were never very many, I was called Severian the Lame. By my soldiers, of whom I once commanded a great many, though never enough, Severian the Great. By my foes, who bred like flies, and like flies were spawned from the corpses that strewed my battlefields, Severian the Torturer.”

i’m back

What a weird book

In space now wild

"The tongues of men are older than our drowned land; and it seems strange that in so great a time no words have been found for the pauses in speech, which have each their own quality, as well as a certain length."

"Most do not know it, but it is difficult to learn to strike another human being with all one's force; some ancient instinct makes even the most brutal soften the blow."

"[…] I have read that a region of mist separates the living from the dead, and that the forms we
call ghosts are nothing more than the remnants of this barrier of mist clinging to their faces and their garments."

"Yours is a race of pawns. […] You move forward only, unless we move you back to begin the game again. But not all the pieces on the board are pawns."

"So do future things make themselves known in the past. A child who will someday be wise is a wise child; and many who will be doomed carry their dooms in their faces, so that those who can see even a short way into the future find it there and turn away their eyes."

A Death in the Light is a particularly good chapter.

"Those who have never fought suppose that the deserter who flies the field is consumed by shame. He is not, or he would not desert; with only trifling exceptions, battles are fought by cowards afraid to run. And it was just so with me."

"Pain brought me to myself. Perhaps that is what pain is for, or perhaps it is only the chain forged to bind us to the eternal present, forged in a smithy we can but guess at, by a smith we do not know."

I love space Jesus

Too horny, too religious, too weird, but we're rolling with it.

Urth ch30-34 complete, so far I am enjoying it. Definitely more chilled, I think in almost any period in BotNS. It’s where certain theme of the novel is probably the most explicit regarding Sev. Prediction I should be able to finish this in 2-3 days fingers crossed

I read chapter 21-29 today, so yes I made some DAMN good progress. What can i say beyond this is botns now. The beginning half is weakest for sure. But here it's a good reminder of why I love Gene Wolfe BOTNS. Severians growth has been fantastic to witness. certain mysteries and revelations have been fantastic.

I read chapters 17-20 ... man this is why I love BOTNS. Love the explicit character growth from Severian here. His reflections of his past relationships was just brilliant and certain monologues was gold.

Read 16 chapters altogether and read I think about 9-16 today so I made some great progress so far. So Far I am enjoying it a lot, it being BOTNS and Gene Wolfe it's beautiful to read even when you do not understand what's happening at times. Cons well I think BOTNS, so far is more interesting. Though 1/3 in they something introduced in the last couple chapters which probably be more interesting.

Me: I've connected the dots!
Wolfe: You haven't connected shit.
Me: I've connected the dots...?

Really digging how esoteric this volume is - for a devout Catholic, Wolfe certainly had a strong understanding of some gnostic and kabbalistic ideas.

Well, while I find The Urth of the New Sun much easier to read, it just doesn't feel as fascinating as the previous books. It is quite different than the original Book of the New Sun, but not in a good way.

Don’t want it to end to be honest!

I absolutely love Gene Wolfe’s work in this series. I sense a deep dive down his catalogue once this is finished.

What was that, a crossover episode?

I think Wolfe just did a reverse on me.
In the pervious books, clues were hidden in plain sight for us to find and deduce facts for ourselves. Without no help from Wolfe.
Now, we get no clues and lead straight to the answer. What are you up to, Gene :-?

Cant explain how excited I am to be back reading this world.

Fu allora che mi parve di capire cosa provasse l'Increato verso la sua creazione, e seppi quale dovesse essere la sua tristezza nel vedere come si consumavano e perivano le cose da lui create. Credo che forse c'è una legge da cui è legato perfino lui, o meglio una necessità logica: niente può essere eterno nel futuro se non è radicato nell'eternità del passato, come lo è lui stesso.

Nel sentire il suo ansito la guardai, e vidi il guasto che il tempo aveva fatto al suo volto bagnato di lacrime. Noi amiamo di più una persona quando sappiamo che non ha niente fuorché il nostro amore, e io non credo di aver amato Valeria più di quanto l'amai in quel momento. Le poggiai una mano sulla spalla, e benché non fosse l'occasione adatta a una scena intima fui lieto di quel gesto...

E tuttavia quant'era strano che Gunnie fosse rimasta a navigare nei vuoti mari del tempo per tornare a essere di nuovo Burgundofara. Un poeta direbbe che era andata alla ricerca dell'amore, ma io avevo il sospetto che lei cercasse l'illusione che l'amore è più di quello che sembra, anche se a tutti noi piacerebbe credere che sia davvero così, in modo da poter dire che l'amore è sempre premiato.

Tu sei il Nuovo Sole. Tu sarai rimandato sulla tua Urth, e la Fontana Bianca verrà con te. L'agonia mortale del mondo da te conosciuto sarà offerta all'Increato. E tale agonia sarà indescrivibile...i continenti cadranno nel profondo, com'è stato detto. La maggior parte di ciò che è bello perirà, e perirà la maggior parte della tua razza; ma la vostra casa sarà ricostruita.