(urth) Inhumi eyes and names

[Lee Berman]

>David Stockhoff: i should note that the reason I associate Krait-vision 
>with spaceflight is that any creature with sensitive eyes would be blinded 
>in near-stellar space, so there would need to be some mechanism to prevent 
>that.

Actually, Horn himself (though I guess he has died and is now SilkHorn) 
associates Krait's vision with inhumi space flight. I think such casual
assumptions of their space flight is what makes this impossible thing so
believeable.

I consider the spaceflight thing to be part of the real secret of the inhumi
so perhaps the assumption is helping to disguise something about the inhumi.
I'm thinking of their snake-(serpent-?) like nature that Marc has noted for
them in the text, especially for Jahlee. Though a krait isn't a pit viper, 
that type of snake is often described as having infrared vision through their
pits.

>Jerry Friedman: Aren't the stars visible during the day on Urth, because the 
>sun is faint and reddish?  Perhaps gthis implies a symbolic, or for some, a 
>coded link?

This is a very interesting thought. Afterall, inhumi are from Green and "Green
is Urth!" Moreover, Severian is at least once compared to a vampire by Dorcas
Plus he is also bitten by a vampire bat.

>nate jarvis: wolfe wiki says Jahlee = fake, counterfeit. I run 'fake' and
>'counterfeit' through Hindi>English on google translate and get जाली /
>Jālī for 'counterfeit'.

This is helpful. I did encounter the word "jali" in my searches, as the name for
those intricately carves screens so prevalent in Indian architecture. Not sure
how that connects to counterfeit. I still wonder a little why Wolfe chose to 
make Jahlee the one of five exception to Vironese naming convention. I still 
think maybe the necessary connection to Jahi is part of it.

>Marc Aramini: but Krait is one of the few characters I don't like mapping that 
>ignorant duplicitousness towards, for some reason.

Oh I find Krait to be an absolutely fascinating character. He admits he considers
humans to be a food crop, like cattle. And Horn says he knows that cattle must be
tamed and that he recognizes Krait, (with his superior intelligence), tamed him in
the pit.

Then there is Krait's connection to Sinew. A true father-son dynamic is established.
And there is the clear (to me) connection of both Krait and Sinew to Gene Wolfe's
own son with whom he had (published) difficulties. When I consider the love and 
disrespect, the lies and bloodsucking and manipulation depicted between Horn and 
these characters, I feel a real sense of empathy for what this family must have
gone through.