We haven't discussed Gene Wolfe in a while

The book of the long sun edition, where they condense it down into just two volumes, have an outer cover that feels very very nice in my hands. Pic related is the one I'm talking about.

is that the same publisher that did 2 in 1 books like shadow and claw etc?

then go away from here you fucking idiot and don't read anything about it on lit until you've actually read them

fat chance

What's so cool about this 'Gene Wolfe' fellow?

...

>tfw you've tried multiple times to write to him and let him know how much you appreciate his books

I've sent letters to two different addresses, one of which was supplied by his literary agencies. It's been months and I've heard no reply. I guess maybe he's just very old and sort of slow. I hope he got at least one of my letters.

I think it's definitely genius. Every time I reread it I figure out new shit. Knowing about Catholicism is helpful as well

What address? I looked up where he lives, in Peoria.

Where should I start with Wolfe?

I was raised Catholic (although I only know superficial stuff as I wasn't forced to practice and I don't really practice today although I retain interest in Christian and Catholic thought and want to learn more on Christian theology) and I get some of the relations between Severian and Christ and the general relationships between the characters and their Biblical analogues. I may be presenting it too harshly, it's pretty damn good, I hope the last two books really send the entire series home. I agree that there's a lot of mystery and some stuff that I just passed over without thinking about it and some things that Severian says that make me question who he really is, and by that I mean actually and in relation to everyone else knowing that he is the Autarch at the point of writing the book. We'll see.

The main Catholic stuff is about sacraments.
If it's Orb books, then yes.
Fifth Head of Cerberus probably.

We'll I've done all of the holy sacraments. I'll keep an eye out though, I already see the parallels of baptism with Severian and the Undine in the first chapter and the Eucharist with the Alzabo and Thecla'a body.

Yeah...don't expect the last two books to clear much up. For that you have to read the FIFTH book.

They clear things up just fine if you pay a lot of attention. There's nothing in Urth that wasn't in the first four.

Right, but he comes out and states plainly some of the more knotty time-travel stuff. It's basically his way of saying "You made it this far. Have you had your break today?"

It's more like fuck you editors, I didn't want to write this.
Tho I'm glad he did, because it's great.

Thanks for ruining the last few books...

It's a book that's meant to be reread, knowing a piece of info makes no difference.

I guess. I feel like that would have made the story more potent having not known that fact.

That spoiled nothing but the fact that time travel is a topic covered, which (if I'm remembering correctly) is something revealed in the first volume.

Correct, it is implied fairly early on.

Strange, I don't really recall that at all. Except maybe the scene with Triskele in the Atrium of Time and the Botanical Gardens with the French colonialists and the bi-plane. Jonas and Hethor definitely don't seem to be from the time Severian is from.

....that spoiled nothing. Put on your big boy pants, son.

Good shit.

I've read the new sun mostly because I kept seeing his name thrown around here and because Gene Wolfe Croat Meme Man lobbied for him. I enjoyed the books and I can definitely see the beauty of what he is trying to do with the three layers composing the book: the theological one (the metaphysical part of the world of the new sun), the sci-fi one (the reality of the world Severian lives in) and the fantasy one (sort of what we get because of Severian is unreliable in recognising the world he lives in). The way they interact leads to some very cool scenes, but I always found that they don't go much deeper than that, they do not relate to each other or unify in a coherent point or message or vision.

Yes, Gene Wolfe does represent Catholic theology and draws deep parallels to it, but even these episodes seem like isolated instances of thematic similarity rather than parts of a whole. It's like Wolfe keeps showing us how Severian resembles Christ, how the purpose of Christ is manifested in his world (which is cool, it seems to me that Wolfe tries to make a world where the spiritual reality of Christianity is manifested explicitly through physical aspects), but for me, it never really comes together in a coherent story.

>Gene Wolfe Croat Meme Man
I like it Bill.

I ain't Bill.

>I ain't bill
Wow Matthew, really?

wtf how did you know my name

Catholic meme powers

This is another guy.

But Catholic meme powers don't fail.