/lit/ - Literature

>>10806716
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand The Book of The New Sun. The symbolism is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of The old and new testament most of the symbols will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also Severian's nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation- his personal philosophy draws heavily from (insert literary movement name) literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these lines, to realise that they’re not just describing- they say something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike BoTNS truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the depth in Severian existential line “Men are said to desire women,” which itself is a cryptic reference to something extremely obvious. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Gene Wolfe’s genius wit unfolds itself on paper. What fools.. how I pity them.