You know--- have any of you seen any of Atom Egoyan's movies? his style in cinema is very similar (LOOSELY) to what we're getting at (or around) here: his general style is to create a sort of circle, as such, around a particular event. Most visual expressions concern a specific event.... but Egoyan covers all BUT the event. The event is to be figured out by the viewer/observer. This has occurred to me more than once while rereading Wolfe. So many events are delineated simply by looking at the periphery. Severian's narration is packed with it: so much is left to the reader. Just a simple thought/association.