From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan@gnt.net>
Subject: Re: (urth) Re: Digest urth.v003.n013
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 22:54:05 


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

Mean Ole Alga writes:

 No matter how Ratty may identify in guild-brother
>mode with Silk, I'll bet he'd be rattled at having to take knife in hand
>each Sabbath for such a task.

	Sure. I live in the New Covenant, which Silk is bringing. 
	Maybe there IS a shadow of this transition in "Tracking Song." If Cordo
Smith had written it, I'd have no doubt, since the same transition is in
"Scanners Live in Vain." But try this out:
	Age of Cold // Old Covenant, with animal sacrifices
	Age of Warmth // New Covenant, when these are replaced by bread and wine
	Transition = a new sun (Sun)
	Old men // priests of Old Covenant
	Old men perverted // scribes and pharisees
	Servants of old men (robots) // levites
	New men (Great Sleight) // new pastors of New Covenant

	Someone noted that Cutthroat is creating bonds among these estranged
underpeople: Cim with Ketin, the Pammaguka with the Wiggikki toward the
end, etc. He has ALREADY died and come back to life, and now goes to join
the Great Sleight where winged men (angels) are = ascension of Christ? If
it were 40 days instead of just 19....  (19 from Sufism?)

	Just some thoughts. As I said, with Smith this would be obvious; with
Wolfe....?

	Oh, and Mantis: cold and meat: Cutthroat does remark toward the end that
he'd really like some meat and especially some fat.

	Finally to Mantis: I can't deny some parallels between "Tracking Song" and
Severian, but I think virtually everything Wolfe wrote before Severian
finds its way into Severian (stuff from "Fifth Head," for instance). But
you did say that the first draft of Severian had alredy been written. Hmmm.

Nutria