The Two Katharines

Jeff Wilson · 16 Aug 2010, 17:26 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: jwilson at io.com (Jeff Wilson)
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:26:05 -0500
Subject: (urth) The Two Katharines
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W83D5808AC070F2D671B31CF9B0 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W83D5808AC070F2D671B31CF9B0 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <4C6974AD.5080906 at io.com>

On 8/16/2010 8:41 AM, Lee Berman wrote:
>
>
> I think what Severian was supposed to do is not quite confirmed as happening during
> his ascension ceremony. Everything is a bit wobbly and thus suspicious. It may well be
> that Wolfe is only hoping to show that Severian is as apprehensive in becoming a torturer
> as Jeff was to becoming married. (I will not pursue that line of thought any further ;- ).
> But perhaps there is more to it. I find it possible.

Heh. It wasn't that I was apprehensive, I wanted very badly to be 
married. But I was extremely anxious about getting through the day and 
earnestly praying, "Please don't let me screw up the ceremony."

> Would it have been different if I had been a character in a Wolfe book? When faced with the choice of
> a hot air balloon tent or magical flying cathedral in science fiction, is it the same as the real world?
> Must we always think the prosaic answer is more likely? If one purpose of SF is to stun and amaze us I
> think the opposite is true. 		 	   		

Well, "science fiction" in particular is supposed to appeal to the 
authority of science to suspend disbelief. In this way, unscientific 
things are less believable than in the real world, because fiction is 
supposed to make sense.


-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
IEEE Student Chapter Blog at
< http://ieeetamut.org >

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