From: Paul C Duggan <pduggan@world.std.com>
Subject: (urth) Re: Digest urth.v001.n021
Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 12:15:35 


[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]

> From: Geoff Alex Cohen <gac@cs.duke.edu>
> 
> I was there, and got to ask a bunch of questions.  There didn't
> seem to be many others in the chat - someone logged on as
> "Hierodule", someone named "KevinM" and someone named "Bluejack",
> as I recall.

Heirodule was me. A bit pretentious, but hey.

> SPOILERS, OF COURSE:
> 
> "New Sun" takes place 1000-2000 years in the future (but this can't
> be right!).

That was wolfe's answer to the second part of my question. I asked How far
in earth's future were the new sun books set, and how much time is bewteen
Typhon aSd severian.  Wolfe said that the books don't explicitly say, and
that 1000-2000 years was his guess but he'd have to reread to be sure (!)

I think he was answering the two parts of the question with two answers.
He made similar "complex" answers to other questions. The transcript might
make it more obvious that that was how he answered. (No transcript as of
12:14 PM EDT 5/27/97

"Heirodule"

"I am an impure thinker. I am hurt, swayed, shaken, |  paul           + | +
elated, disillusioned, shocked, comforted, and I    |                 --|--
have to transmit my mental experiences lest I die." |                 + | +
                     --  Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy    |  pduggan@world.std.com