From: "Andy Robertson" <andywrobertson@clara.co.uk>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Too literal on everything?
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 10:31:56 -0000

I mean primarily the Green/Blue thing, but it has applicability elsewhere.

The question about whether Green and Blue are Lune and Ushas or even St Anne
and St Croix in literal truth is irrelevant.   They are figures, archetypes,
of something inside Wolfe.      Perhaps he had a dream once.

So in one sense they are Ushas/Lune, and in another they are not.   Wolfe
would not be able to answer the question because he does not yet "know"
himself.

I am sure that if we knew the story of Severian's visit to Lune we would
understand better.  But Wolfe has not written it down yet, so it hasn't
happened, so even Wolfe does not know the answer.



It just seems to me that Wolfe is playing it by ear and sometimes has no
clear idea of what is going on himself.    He has these massively mythic
figures and he combines them and recombines them at his whim.    He relies
on instinct.   Sometimes he is really writing about a sort of dreamspace.
Sometimes it is literal.  But always it is the mythic import, the moral
meaning, that counts, and worrying about things like can inhumi actually
swim through space is not relevant.

If Wolfe wants them to, they will.

I am not criticising your attempts to pick up clues.   That is part of the
joy in reading Wolfe.    But I will note that if you start looking at
anything with a number tagged on to it as a clue you are sure to  be misled.
Wolfe is never *quanitative* in any meaningful way.    His universe is too
dreamy and  fluid.


    Andy R





----- Original Message -----
From: "maa32" <maa32@dana.ucc.nau.edu>
> Hey Andy, when you say I'm being too literal, do you mean about all my
word
> connections or just that Blue/Green time travel thing?