Subject: (urth) Catherine

From: Roy C. Lackey <rclackey at stic.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 07:45:04 +0000

Robert Borski wrote:

>>For starters we have a slight problem in ages. If Dorcas is pregnant (and
I
do believe she is), when does Sev impregnate the adult version of this
child?<<

    I never suggested he did. The Contessa (Carina)/Catherine is _not_
pregnant by Sev. Not at all. I didn't know you were doing an article on this
subject for NYRSF, or I wouldn't have said what I have; there's too much
overlap--I think. <g>

    I don't see the "old fashioned name" angle as an obstacle.

>>Lastly, it seems unlikely that Dorcas is
tall enough to
confer upon Severian via "Catherine" the exultant height he allegedly
has--more likely with a double dose of her petititeness (one from Ouen, one
from "Catherine") he'd be on the runtish side, if even viable, given the
higher likelihood of paired lethal recessives.<<

    "Katharine" is tall and so is Ouen. Sev describes Ouen, in _Citadel_, as
being "about as tall as Drotte". At the beginning of the same chapter Sev
says that he (Sev) is taller than Drotte by "the width of two fingers", i.e.
about an inch. So Sev has the genes for height. (For example: I'm a head
taller than my wife, and the older of our sons is an inch or two taller than
I am.) There was no need for Wolfe to mention Drotte's height--twice--except
to draw attention to Ouen's.

>>And
while it's possible the adult version of "Catherine" might be able to
travel back in time via The Corridors or Atrium of Time, I see no evidence
that
Dorcas understands how to access them <<

    She doesn't need to.

>>Re: Catherine = Katharine--mantis is almost certainly right here, and
it's one of *many* recursive loops in New Sun.<<

    Yes indeed. As for "Catherine" being of prime, child-bearing age; she's
able to kill time in the same way as "Katharine" has for so many years, by
the agency of whatever "higher power" is running the show.

Roy

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