Urth Digest, Vol 56, Issue 37

Jordon Flato · 16 Apr 2009, 22:57 · from 2009-April.txt.gz

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From: jordonflato at gmail.com (Jordon Flato)
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:57:53 -0700
Subject: (urth) Urth Digest, Vol 56, Issue 37
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I just have equally compelling arguments in my head for each of those
instances that point to other things, that's all.

It is a big book indeed.

And no, I'm not tweaking your ear about Oreb.  Maybe Wolfe didn't do as good
of a job in thinking about the inability to distinguish between alive and
dead birds as you, but to me, it seems ridiculous to posit a resurrected
Oreb.  By whom?  Is Silk Severian now, and Oreb Triskele?  Was Oreb Scylla
the entire time?  Can Mainframe gods ressurect dead animals?  What point
would ressurecting a character have when that character was just introduced.

If you could answer any of those questions (maybe you can) then I might
entertain the thought.  I can't think of possible expliantions for any of
them, though.

On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 3:50 PM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:

> I also just don't see how it adds anything
>> to the thematic content, and to me it also
>> takes away from it, which is one of the tests
>> I usually posit Wolfe Textual theories against.
>>
>
> It is loaded with thematic content.
> 1) Foremost, it is a rationalization of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy
> Spirit--the same and yet distinct.  In Augustinian theology, the person of
> the Holy Spirit is the relationship, the love, the connection between the
> Father and the Son. Of course, it works even better if one accepts that Horn
> is a clone of Typhon and that Silk is the son of Typhon and Kypris and that
> Silk is possessed by (or in some other way *is*) Pas/Typhon. But it is not
> necessary.
>
> 2) Also, the ability for the Ring Bearer Horn to receive the rights to Blue
> is analogous to the right of Jesus Christ to have redeem humanity and to be
> the Mediator between God and man: He must be 100% human and 100% Neighbor.
>
> 3) It also fits with concepts that Wolfe has tinkered with elsewhere, such
> as the alien VRT becoming a "perfect" imitation of Marsch and Mani the cat
> being neither a cat nor an elemental spirit.
>
>  For instance, seeing someone unmoving at the bottom
>> of a dimly lit pit from 30 feet, and assuming them dead,
>> does not, to me, seem at all unusual.
>> [snip]
>> And Oreb was clearly faking it.  Not resurrecting. ;)
>>
>
> (sigh)
> Maybe you're just tweaking my ear. But, there are readers who believe
> this so I'll act like you aren't:
> An ability to perfectly feign death well enough to fool four expert
> witnesses is a power I was not aware night choughs possessed. I'm sure
> you've held birds in your hand before. An avian heartbeat is not something
> that one would fail to detect. But maybe Horn learned it from Oreb.
>
>  And as for the neighbor saying "I am Horn" I can write more
>> on that later.  That one line, if taken by itself, may indicate
>> what you mean.
>>
>
> This would mean nothing to me except when combined with the other stuff.
> Sure, you can individually dispense each of these in turn. Seawrack could
> not be as sure Horn was dead as she claimed. The Neighbor identifying
> himself as Horn could mean many things (even if the *Rajan* is Horn, it's
> not absolutely clear what it means). Horn's denial that he was on Green was
> to draw out Fava (then why tell the story?). Silk is a an anorexic
> masochist.
> Oh yeah, then there is the *Rajan* saying that he killed Hide and Hoof's
> father.
>
> But you pile all these together and they point to something else. They do
> to me, anyway. I could be wrong in the particular explanation, I guess, but
> there is something more than Horn-->SilkHorn going on, and I don't know what
> resolves all these better than what I've presented.
>
> Of course, I'm right but Wolfe's stories are big enough for the both of us.
> ;-)
>
>
> J.
>
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