Silk corrupted?

John Watkins · 22 Jan 2009, 23:12 · from 2009-January.txt.gz

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From: john.watkins04 at gmail.com (John Watkins)
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:12:44 -0500
Subject: (urth) Silk corrupted?
In-Reply-To: <1f7617370901221501pfde96b2g1e86785100d62554 at mail.gmail.com>
References: <W648292421519261232665018@webmail26>
	<1f7617370901221501pfde96b2g1e86785100d62554 at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <93d4039f0901221512v7d9dcb2s31c761b3fa0009d4 at mail.gmail.com>

It might be a miracle, or it might be the work of Technology
Sufficiently Advanced, which, as we know, is indistinguishable from
magic.

Either way, the Hierogrammates are the apparent architects of the link
between Severian and the fountain. Either they are angels or vaguely
sinister aliens (it might be better to say that either the bond is the
will of God or it is only the Hierogrammates' own agenda)--and that's
its own interpretive conundrum--but whatever they are, it's clear that
the connection is something Severian has done to him, not something he
is, despite the weirdness that time-travel brings into the story.

As for the inevitable question "yes, but why Severian" there are lots
of possible reasons that have nothing to do with him being an avatar
of God.

I don't want to demystify him entirely, though--I think that Severian
does act as God's catspaw throughout the novel, just in an oblique
way.

On 1/22/09, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 2:56 PM, Son of Witz <sonofwitz at butcherbaker.org>
> wrote:
>> violence?
>> that may be overstepping.  any great work is larger than it's author's
>> intention.  But I'm sympathetic with your feeling, despite having to poke
>> at it a bit.
>
> Interpretive violence. If that's too strong for you, OK.
>
>> What I don't understand, all Christ arguments aside, is "How does a star
>> have the consciousness of Severian? How does a star resurrect humans? How
>> does a star steer time?
>
> I have long since given up trying to make sense of this and accepted it as
> a canonical miracle in the Briahverse.
>
> --
> Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant
> -----
> http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
> http://www.danehyoakes.com
>
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> Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce. -- T. Pratchett
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