Opinion on The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972) and related work
- Entry: “The Fifth Head of Cerberus” (1972)
- Entry: “‘A Story,’ by John V. Marsch” (1972)
- Entry: “V. R. T.” (1972)
Gene Wolfe (writer).
Read in 2022.
‣ “The Fifth Head of Cerberus” (1972
)
Gene Wolfe (writer).
Read in 2022.
A boy comes of age loathing his father’s medical experiments upon him. These occur on the remote colonial world of Sainte Anne, where biological practices outlawed on Earth can be concealed, and where the curious debate what became of the world’s aboriginal population.
This is the first of three novellas in a collection of the same name. It deals with slavery and briefly with genocide, but its colonial theme is muted beneath a riddle of sorts: A massively fictionalized future autobiography of the author. Wolfe’s characteristic interests in casual cruelty and literary rococo are already fully formed here, and already dressed up as genre fiction.
‣ “‘A Story,’ by John V. Marsch” (1972)
Gene Wolfe (writer).
Read in 2022.
A cannibal vision quest on pre-colonial Sainte Anne uncovers the translucent roots of its history.
Marsch is a character in “The Fifth Head of Cerberus”, but is mentioned here only in the title, and does not emerge as a major character in his own right until the final novella in the collection. If it were not for the reference in the title, implying an extra layer of Wolfian unreliable narration, this story would qualify as a prequel to the first. It is iconically trippy 1970s New Wave, intelligently elaborating on the first story’s so-called “Veil’s Hypothesis” without really confirming or rejecting it, all while having the appearance of a dysteleological monomyth misfire by a late A. E. van Vogt.
‣ “V. R. T.” (1972)
Gene Wolfe (writer).
Read in 2022.
An officer leafs through the papers of a prisoner: An anthropological field worker or a spy.
Here’s the full-blown crypto-French/British colonial dystopia in fragments, with a supernatural element. The beggar is a stereotypical character, but everything else is very good.