There are levels and levels to what's going on in the writing. The early chapters are there to set up that he's lying to you, in a way that's heavy handed and devilishly subtle at the same time. Reading Gene Wolfe is like playing a poker game with the author, and no matter how hard you try to pay attention sometimes you look down and chips are missing, like Penn and Teller were just "explaining" a magic trick to you. It's frustrating and difficult and fantastic all at the same time, but obviously not for the same market as someone expecting a typical coming of age fantasy novel.
I know this is leaning into off-topic territory so I promise not to do the fiction-debate-thread thing, but a lot of readers (myself included) disagree with the suggestion that he ever lies to the reader. :)
