Book of the New Sun

[telophase]

Anyone else here read Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun? I've been slowly (for me) rereading it for, I think, the fifth time, this time following along with the chapter-by-chapter (just about) podcast Alzabo Soup. I've just finished Book 3 and will be heading into Book 4, Citadel of the Autarch pretty soon.

Every time I read it, it's a new book (probably helped by my inability to retain details as I read). The first time I was a teenager and I read it completely on the surface level as a charming but weird fantasy-ish adventure and each time I unpick a little bit more. I rather like a Reddit comment I came across a week or so back, in which someone pointed out that BotNS is a work that you can spoil to someone who's already read it.

Comments

[yhlee]

I've read it but don't own it anymore--I had to downsize my book collection moving after college and passed it on to a friend, as I was pretty sure I'd be able to find it again. And yeah, I'm pretty sure it would be a whole new experience if I reread it due to the sheer density of detail. :D

[telophase]

There's so many references and allusions I miss because I can't keep track of details from page to page, much less chapter to chapter and book to book. Sometimes Wolfe uses the chapter name to put a spin on something in the chapter, but of course if I even looked at the chapter name, I totally forgot it. XD

Sevarian's character is different to me every time I read it, because each time I realize a bit more of what he's holding back on, mistaken on, trying to convince the reader of but failing, etc.

[yhlee]

Yes, I remember only slowly realizing (possibly when someone on some book discussion newsgroup or whatever) pointed out that Severian is the opposite of a reliable narrator! Hee.

I still remember the day I realized that naviscaput is literally "ship head" in Latin, too. XD

[telophase]

This is the reread in which I'm noticing, with the help of the podcast, that Sevarian, with his self-claimed perfect memory, gets lost every single chance he gets. Even when he took to a high spot in the city of Thrax and studies the street layout, he immediately gets lost again!

There could be something symbolic of his larger journey in that, or it could be a sign of his narrative unreliability, or it could be both, or neither, or it could be just a joke, or Severian-the-author could be using it to convince his expected reader of something, or all of that could be true simultaneously.

[yhlee]

I'm trying to remember who it was that pointed out that either Sevarian is lying about having a perfect memory, or is constantly lying about the things he remembers, or something else entirely...

[telophase]

Yeah, that's brought up constantly in the podcast commentary because it's never quite obvious exactly what's going on that way, so the hosts have a fun time arguing about it.

re: naviscaput--with this reread I have now FINALLY understood the terrible puns in that story--the scholar in his city being an allegory or whatnot of grad school and having to buckle down and study/produce work at the last minutes, and his thesis being Theseus, and the minotaur=the Monitor.

[yhlee]

I want to reread...what was it..."The Third Head of Cerberus" or whatever that Wolfe short story was? It was twisty and satisfying and I'm still sure I don't fully understand it and never will. Also "The Island of Dr. Death" and "The Death of Dr. Island."

I read The Knight and found it similarly twisty and extremely disturbing in some sections, but failed to read its sequel (they're a duology, I think) The Wizard when it came out so I'm still in suspense over what exactly was going on.

[rachelmanija]

I have! Thank you SO MUCH for the podcast link, I had no idea there was one!

BotNS is a work that you can spoil to someone who's already read it.

Ha! So true.

I remember being completely boggled the first time I re-read it and realized that Severian's dog Triskele had almost certainly been dead when he found him.

[telophase]

The only problem with the podcast is that you need to decide to consider their mispronouncing of words as charming. Otherwise, I enjoy it quite a lot.

There's another Gene Wolfe (and other authors) deep-dive podcast. I haven't listened to it, and their website is confusing in the way they list the episodes (the forthcoming ones are on the home page, and I don't know how to get the backlog titles without subscribing to it), so I have no idea which of Wolfe's books they've done so far.

I never even noticed that Triskele had been dead, that's how much I miss detail (probably a combo of ADHD and a fast reading speed that I'm unable to slow down much). It's a testament to Wolfe's skill that his books can be enjoyed on so many levels.

[rachelmanija]

I am now listening to the podcast and alternating between really enjoying it and gaining new insight, and getting aggravated by 100% disagreeing with a lot of their interpretations.

It's never explicitly stated that Triskele was dead (and the podcasters don't even mention it as a possibility) but I think he was. All the other animals were dead, he seemed dead until Severian touched him, the blood on his fur was frozen solid, Severian (or something working through him) raises multiple dead people later, and there's a lot of odd time-related stuff going on so it's completely possible that his ability/the Claw's ability to raise the dead, which works by moving people back in time to the point when they were alive, also went backward in time so he did it before he even got the Claw.

Also, his name is not pronounced "Tricycle."

[telophase]

The pronunciations are aggravating indeed. :) They do eventually make the Triskele-is-dead interpretation, though, and refer back to it multiple times when Sevarian resurrects others.

I think they’re trying to pay heed to as many of other interpretations they’ve come across as possible, but eventually settle on one or two for each thing. They also revise interpretations of stuff as new information is revealed in other chapters.

[thistleingrey]

I read it late in college, and agreed, it is a strange gift that keeps giving.

[telophase]

And one that you can't really explain to anyone else who's never read it. XD