(urth) Rudesind/Inire/Lunar Picture

[Ryan Dunn]

Doesn't the cumaen shed her face at some point to show the reptilian mask beneath? Isn't the Cumaen a cacogens also? Severian compares Inire to her if I recall.

Also, the way Wolfe wrote the description of Agia's head hitting the stone definitely suggested "subtle clue" more than "bejeweled similie" when I read it. But that's just my opinion.

...ryan

On Jul 29, 2010, at 2:57 PM, Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com> wrote:

> On 7/29/2010 1:22 PM, David Stockhoff wrote:
>> I forget where Wolfe discusses it. I thought 2 of them spoke in blank
>> verse.
>> 
>> Either way, Wolfe puts much thought into his dialog: diction,
>> vocabulary, rhythm, colloquialisms. His characters, as Shakespeare put
>> it somewhere, "unfold themselves" through speech. By their speech ye may
>> know them, every time. Except when they fake another's.
>> 
>> We disagree on the meaning of
>> 
>> "he is one of those few who have chosen to cast their lots entirely with
>> humanity, remaining on Urth as a human being."
>> 
>> This is like reading a metaphor comparing a woman's head to a mason's
>> hammer as implying that her head is made of metal. Such a person has
>> merely given up all his rights and powers as a cacogen; he has not
>> actually chosen a new form. However, since the analogy seems to be to
>> fallen angels, I guess the loss of wings meets both criteria without
>> contradiction.
> 
> How does that work? I don't see losing the wings would be equivalent to gaining mortal flesh.
> 
> -- 
> Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
> IEEE Student Chapter Blog at
> < http://ieeetamut.org >
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