Severian the Memorious

Michael Straight · 17 Dec 1998, 17:11 · from urth-v0022.mbox · original

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From: Michael Straight <straight at email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: (urth) Severian the Memorious
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 17:11:33
Message-ID: <urth-v0022-0053 at digest.urth.net>
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On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, Dan Parmenter wrote:

> From: David_Lebling at avid.com
>=20
> >Another one.  After describing his near drowning on the day he rescued
> >Vodalus, he says "I never went back" to the river.  Yet a few chapters
> >later, ("The Last Year", I think) he describes taking the apprentices do=
wn
> >to swim in the river, "though I could never dive in deep water without
> >fear."
>=20
> Hmmm, perhaps a better list would be "Severian inconsistencies" since
> it's conceivable that they are not lies. =20

That's the thing.  If he didn't go on about his perfect memory so much, we
might cut him some slack.  But as it is, if Severian is so perfect, what
alternative do we have but to call him a liar?

However, I rather like the idea of a narrator who tells us he's got a
perfect memory, but who really doesn't. =20

I remember on my first read thinking Severian's memory was just a cheap
trick to justify a memoir having such great detail.  Now I wonder if maybe
his constantly going on about it might be an attempt to convince himself
of his own perfection.

And was his cloak *really* that dark?

-Rostrum

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